Luxury Diesel SUV as tow vehicle

wintersun wrote:
Overall the BMW vehicles are among the very best in terms of reliability and quality. The VW Touareg is at the bottom of the heap and even worse than the Jeeps.

Yes, true, but BMW is no better. For longer-term reliability (3-years), rather than initial, this is a quote from US News Rankings and Reviews:

"The Touareg is ranked in the bottom third of its class due to its terrible reliability rating, which is tied with the 2011 BMW X5 for the lowest in the class. ".

wintersun wrote:

Not a diesel version available in the states but the Toyota 4Runner would be my first pick for a SUV to tow. These are the only SUV's to be built on a truck frame and not a car unibody (as with all the others, including the Jeep).

Except for the various versions of the Chevy Tahoe, Chevy Suburban, Ford Expedition, Infinity QX56 (QX80 2014), and Jeep Wrangler.

campingcanuck wrote:
We tow with a 2011 Audi Q7 TDI and have had no issues. You can pm me if you want more info. We recently upgraded our htt to a 21 foot TT with bunks and rear slide.

So weights aside, I am curious on if that has a separate trans cooler or if that is an added item that would be part of a towing package like some other vehicles.

Overall the BMW vehicles are among the very best in terms of reliability and quality. The VW Touareg is at the bottom of the heap and even worse than the Jeeps.

The Jeeps are grossly overpriced for what you get or rather what you do not get.

Not a diesel version available in the states but the Toyota 4Runner would be my first pick for a SUV to tow. These are the only SUV's to be built on a truck frame and not a car unibody (as with all the others, including the Jeep). Toyota does make a turbo diesel version that sells in New Zealand and Australia.

The Europeans are at least a generation ahead if not two of the USA car makers when it comes to making diesel engines for passenger cars. Want performance and reliability go with the BMW.

You need to look at numbers before you decide.

YBMW X5 xDrive35d....
....Towing capacity 6000 lbs

Mercedes-Benz ML350 Bluetec..
....towing capacity 7200lbs

Volkswagen Touareg TDI...
....towing capacity 7700 lbs

These are around the right tow capacity for a 2014 model.

ciscoios, that seems right in line with our experience. We averaged 14.5 US MPG hand-calculated.

Here's a reliability update on our Touareg after 65,000 miles. We had one low DEF warning that would not clear after refilling the DEF tank. Had to take it to the dealer who cleared it and it never happened again. Also had a glow plug warning light that I understand can mean a weak ground on the low-pressure fuel pump in the tank. That cleared after I shut it off and started back up. Never came back, so don't really know what that was.

For a super complex vehicle with gobs of power and refinement, I think this is pretty awesome reliability. Some truck guys seem to have a personal vendetta against them (and SUV's in general), but we love it so don't care what they think.

Someone commented on the WDH hitch issue using an Equalizer. You should try a standard (cheap) WDH like the Eaz-lift with 600 lb bars. I noticed a huge difference in leveling, steering, and braking with the proper tension applied.

We no longer have a TT to tow, but remember the experience wistfully sometimes as we are rolling in the F350 DRW with the truck camper down choppy pavement.

We have 2013 Audi Q7 TDI (3.0l). We are tow a 21' Holiday Rambler Campmaster with dry weight 3600lb. We travel with mostly empty tanks, so a loaded weight of less than 4500lb (just a guess). We use a weight distribution hitch but no sway control. The Q7 handles it like a breeze, and I am never short on power. Usually on highway the rpm stay below 2000 in either 7th or 8th gear. I have never felt a sway issue even on stormy days.

On our last road trip, driving from Edmonton Alberta to Seattle Washington then to Vancouver BC then to Jasper AB and then back to Edmonton, we averaged about 14mpg over 3600km with a lot of driving through the rockies. Drive down fron Jasper to edmonton on a calm day was almost 16mpg.

I have to say I am very happy with the Q7 as a tow vehicle.

I have a friend who bought a VW Toureg and his is always in the shop. What is dumb is assuming that one person's experience with their vehicle applies to all of the ones produced. If out of a 1000 Toureg owners there are 600 who have had problems with the engine or electrical system there will still be 400 who can say that they have never had a problem. Would anyone buy a car if they thought they had a 60% chance of problems that would require multiple trips to the car dealer or worry about breaking down on the highway while towing a trailer?

There are multiple owner surveys done by JD Powers and Consumer Reports and ones done of auto repair shops that are not difficult to find online and these provide information based on thousands of owners' experiences with thousands of cars.

For a tow vehicle reliability is at the very top of my list in choosing what to buy when comparing multiple cars or trucks.

The SUV you own and the ones you mentioned do not have the frame needed for heavy towing. The only SUV in their class that does is the Toyota 4Runner but I would still go with the Sequoia instead in an SUV.

Chrysler SUV's will never be on my list with their singular history of unreliability that is second to none.

^ Yeah I would wait a couple model years on that one.

The new Jeep diesel, engine made in Italy, will also soon be available in the RAM 1500.
It comes at a $4,500 premium and also requires 8 gallons of urea every 10,000 miles for emissions purposes. It looks good on paper, but I'm a little afraid of Chrysler products in their first year of production.