Overwhelmed Choosing a Tow Vehicle

Raidra wrote:
Thanks for all the responses, guys! A few comments/answers:

We are not doing a large 5th wheel and big truck - we don't have that kind of cash on hand, and we're not financing that much.

Income: my husband is able to work remotely, he has a well-paying job.

We're not comfortable transporting the kids in a motorhome. Safety is our priority.

I have thought about an E350 passenger van, but have not found any capable of towing what we need, in our area.

They are out there, as are 3/4 Suburbans and Excursion...those who
'know' scoop them up in an instant...what is left are generally beat
up from 'work'...

BenK, thanks so much for the detailed info. We'd also be open to a Suburban, but haven't found any that can tow what we need. I'd always heard that diesels last longer, which is why we're interested in going that route when we're talking about a 15-year-old vehicle. We've never had a car over 10 years old, and while we do put a lot of miles on them (my husband currently commutes 2+ hours daily), towing a trailer around the country is a whole 'nother ball game.

You are most welcome!

Basically, we're just not sure how to weigh the risks of a 15 year old V10 Excursion vs my 10 year old Freestyle.. it sounds like a game show, "Which will break down first?" ;)

Everything WILL breakdown...and those who drive them HARD will accelerate
that and those who push the limits (either by always being there and/or
exceeding) will likewise will accelerate that potential breakdown...even
brand new can break down if driven HARD, exceeding ratings and poor
maintenance (both materials and mechanic)

Why having an auto club card is important...like any insurance whatever
is all about. Likewise have a much bigger TV, as there is a larger
safety factor (us engineering types call it design margin). It will
NOT have to work as hard, therefore last longer

This is the part I dislike so much...folks like you looking and not
knowing how the previous owner drove and/or took care. Too many today
just buy new...consume the design margins...sell/trade it in for new
to repeat that consumption of design margins....and why am here trying
to help with info for your decision(s)

The peace of mind comes from knowing your vehicle and/or trusting
your mechanic.

And then separately we have to decide whether the benefits to having a second vehicle (more storage space, better gas mileage when not towing) outweighs the costs.

IMHO, again...decide on which is more important and in this case, the
safety of the family while out there enjoying your RV'ing events

Why, I'd keep the 'car' for car usage (commute, groceries, etc) and
have a 'truck' (TV) for recreational things. This also reduces the
wear and tear on that TV...

My Suburban will last much longer not using it as my daily commuter,
of which it was while still working. Now it is only run on weekends
to keep the fluids and stuff up to snuff...and to refresh myself to
'know' the vehicle and catch anything needed attention

Raidra wrote:
We're hoping to hit the road full-time this November. We don't have an RV or a vehicle to tow it with yet, but we need a new car soon, so we'd like to buy the tow vehicle now. We're just overwhelmed with the choices.

RV-wise, we're looking to pay about $10k in cash, which means we'll be most likely getting a TT in the 28-30' range. We're looking for an older bunkhouse model.

Good info...most don't provide this on this kind of question. Helps
provide better recommendations

Vehicle wise, we need to be able to sit six passengers (four kids under 13, all in booster seats), and we also need to fit a dog and three cats inside the vehicle (I don't want them riding in the RV). Initially our thought was to get an Excursion since it could tow anything we've looked at, weight wise. However, we will be financing the vehicle and would prefer not to buy anything over $12k or so. That leaves us with mainly 2000-2002 gas Excursions with around 300k miles. We'd prefer a diesel because we figure that it'd be more reliable, but they're hard to find around here, and we need to buy soon.

Limits you to full sized vans and full sized SUVs in the used market place

Stay away from half tons and go next higher classes...3/4 ton or 1 ton

We could, in theory, buy a truck and keep my current vehicle (2005 Ford Freestyle w/ no car payment). We could skip the crew cab and get something smaller to stay within our budget because the kids/pets would ride in my car. The problems with this plan are many: double the gas, insurance, and maintenance since we'll have two cars; my car needs at least $1000 in repairs to fix the AC; if my car dies, which doesn't seem unlikely, we'd have to get a new car which means two car payments instead of one.

Am with you on this and do NOT need/want new for the exact same reasoning

Did buy a used 2000 Mini Van after the divorce...she got the 3 lux sedans
and only sometimes miss them.

IMHO, much more economical to fix them than the monthly...just be
good on the $$$ (quality both of materials and mechanic) doing the
repairs/maintenance

With growing kids and very soon...they & you will want to take buddies
along and this depends on how long you plan to keep these vehicles and
continue to RV

So my question is.. which do you think seems like a better choice? Are the 2000-2002 gas Excursions getting too old at this point? I'd feel better about a diesel Excursion in that year-range, but given that we're already having to sink a lot of money into our 2005 and 2007 cars, buying a car five years older than that seems like a big risk. Is it better to just deal with the extra costs of a two-vehicle set-up, knowing that we will also likely have to add a second car payment at some point in the near future?

You are talking 'trucks', work trucks and have higher levels of margins
for their expected usage...albeit today's are designed more for the
grocery getter crowd who use them mainly as a daily...where suggest
you first decide which is more important...car attributes or TV
attributes. Should help decide

Take my 1996 Suburban, which is 20 years old this month and has just
over 164K HARD miles. Just put in new rotors and pads. The rear brakes
are going to last another 100K miles or so with the level of materials
I've put in...plus this is next higher class from half tons..so has
the same rear axle as the 1 ton dually of that year...meaning TRUCK
margins vs car margins

Paid a whopping $200 bucks over OEM for the performance level parts
the last time did the rear brakes...IIRC around 120K miles or so

When braking HARD not towing and just me...watch the rearview more
than looking forward...have out braked a BMW 5 series where he rear
ended me 'cuz he couldn't stop in the distance I did

Same philosophy for the other maintenance areas. Auto trannies is
problematic on fluid change. Used to recommend flushing no matter and
now say only if it has been flushed on a regular basis, as if not, it
might have varnish/etc in close tolerance moving parts (valves are the
main) that will have a flush remove to both clog form loosened and
now no longer closer tolerance mating areas).

If you want diesel, then the only one is Excursion and am NOT a diesel
person, so others will advise you there...was interested for a while,
but in reading/studying saw the SMOG freight train coming down my
tracks, so passed on diesel. Did consider both diesel and V10 on an
Excursion, but also didn't like the idea of working on that V10 with
more it underneath the dash than in the engine bay...

Thanks!

Campfire Time wrote:
In this scenario I think you'd be better off looking for a class A motor home and towing your car.