Vehicle ideas.

ryan351w · Addict Joined: 26 Jan 2009 Posts: 532

Ok so right now I have an 96 aurora, daily driver. And a 91 Ram Turbo Diesel. The aurora does me no good with what I need, it just drives real nice and gets almost 20mpg in the city. The ram will tow ANYTHING but is a std cab work horse. It has the nickname of the dildo and half-track. Laughing

I have an 86 supra DD closed bow that whatever i get has to be able to tow.

The current vehicle im looking at is a 2000ish Jeep Cherokee sport. 16mpg in the city the 4.0 is bulletproof. I don't like how its a little small and doesn't seem to have the springs for a high tongue weight (maybe im wrong)

I then thought of the Envoy. Has only 1mpg less but can tow more, 5800 vs 5000 but will be able to handle higher tongue weight. However, my buddies dad is a GM mechanic and his exact response was "I wouldn't want to own one." Laughing

so i guess thats out.

I also have an open car trailer that I use when friends' cars die. Not a huge issue because i can borrow my buddies truck if need be. Any heavy towing would be city- 20-30miles.

I thought of the 2000ish Durangos but they get 12-13 in the city and thats just a bit too crappy. I drive 45 miles round trip to work.

So what other vehicles am i missing that would fit this criteria. 4wd would be nice, I live in MI. $6-7k

Ideally a 4 door short box diesel would be best, but a year that rides nice are still too expensive for the budget.

kartman · Posted: Apr 04, 2010 12:14 pm Post subject:

i have a 2002 mercury mountaineer that does the job just great. it can tow 5500, has a 300hp 4.6 v8, i get 15.8mpg in the city, don't know the highway mileage, haven't took any road trips. when im towing my 21' bayliner, i get 15mpg with a mix of highway and city. i have towed a few cars and trucks with it, and it does the job. not like a diesel, but it works good. its really comfy and rides extremely nice and the awd system is great on the snow. i highly recommend them for what we all do. . i think we picked it up for 5400$

ky1e · Wakeboarder.com Freak Joined: 31 Mar 2008 Posts: 2693

I had a 2001 Jeep Grand Cherokee as my first car and I loved it. No complaints whatsoever. It got really good gas mileage for an SUV and pulled my X-Star (X-1) out of the water with no problems and towed fine on the road and it was a 2wd. I really like the look of the car too, and I bet you can even get one of the limiteds for around the same price and those things are SWEET. My buddy had a 2002 Grand Cherokee Overland edition which was just an awesome car. It was a 4.7L V8 265 hp 330 lbs of torque but felt like it had 350+ hp. This thing could tow anything. He used it to tow a 37' Contender and never had a problem at all. I guess I am just partial to Jeeps and still am. I think the SRT8 grand cherokee out now is one of nicest SUV's on the road. 6.1L Hemi V8 with 420 lbs of torque and 420 hp I bet would leave my truck in the dust because it is so much lighter. They say it is 0-60 in just under 5 but I'd have to see it to believe it.

ryan351w · Addict Joined: 26 Jan 2009 Posts: 532

Hmm interesting! I never thought of the mountaineer. So it did ok with all the tongue weight pulling a car, thats good.

ky1e, Thats good to hear too. SRT8s are BADASS! I would LOVE a commander but they are still too $$$.

Thanks alot guys!

Something interesting i was thinking of, my buddies dad, all he works on are GM products. But every car i've asked him about he "wouldn't want one." After thinking about that when you work on something mechanical for 20 years I probably wouldn't want any of whatever it was either. All he has ever owed was dodge. I work for a tier one automotive seat supplier, and every company has good points and bad points. So, whats the difference.

tball · Wakeboarder.com Freak Joined: 24 Feb 2004 Posts: 3953

I had a 2000 F150 supercrew for a few years....best hauler I've ever owned. That 5.4L Triton was a beast (for a gas engine). Easily better tow performance than GM's 5.7, 5.3, or even the 6.0 gas engine I have now in my HD. If you can't find a diesel in your price range, it's worth a look.

Suprahunter · Soul Rider Joined: 28 Apr 2008 Posts: 486 City: Lowell

I towed my 89 Sunsport for years with a GM Safari van First with a 88 then with a 2001. The 4.3L engine puts out a ton of torque and it got 12 mpg towing and 21 highway non-towing. Not exactly an eye catcher but it hauls the boat and 8 passengers great and the dog can drive it easily. When I got the 08 210 it did tow it but just barely. I now have a 2005 Savana 3500 6L it can pull anything . It gets 10mpg towing and 15mpg non-towing.