Cheapest, Most Fuel Efficient Tow Vehicle?

[tomasrey88]

Well,

I've been borrowing my parent's van to tow the Mac, but they are moving away. My car is a Volvo S70 5 cylinder that only has a tow capacity of 3300 pounds. Since the Mac 26M with trailer and 50 hp outboard motor weighs 3500 lbs, I'll be needing a new tow vehicle (Doh!).

It's time I buy a tow vehicle. I have very little money because I've spent all of it to buy the Mac. I need a tow vehicle that is inexpensive (less than $2000 used or less than $12,000 new) , fuel efficient, low maintenance cost, reliable, low insurance cost, and just plain economical all-around. What would you suggest?

I'm thinking a ten year old Ford Ranger 6 cylinder extra cab pickup truck. What do you think?

Thanks,
tomasrey88.
P.S. I already saw the post about using a Euro motorbike to tow the Mac. This is not practical since I will be hauling 2 to 4 people, 150 lbs of gear, and a 3500 lb Mac 26M with trailer. This is a total of 4250 lbs that I will be hauling. Factoring a "fudge" factor, I will be hauling up to 4500 lbs. Therefore, the motorbike will not be practical.

[Paul S]

I would error on the high side (weight,power,etc). You CAN pull the mac with a full size car, minivan, small pickup...I personally wouldn't.

There is a lot of freebord on the Mac, on the highway you will get a lot of draft from trucks passing you etc. Even with our land rover, we get tossed around from time to time.

I would personally suggest either a full size pickup, full size SUV. Land Rover Discovery II can be had pretty cheap for a 2000, 2001,2002. They do a wonderful job towing. They are not nearly as bad (reliability) as their reputation suggests. Not super fuel effiecient though.

In your price point..There is nothing I can imagine..but for 8-12K you can get an 00-01 Disco. Buy the best you can get. If you get a 3-5+ year old domestic truck, you will have other siginificant issues (brake/fuel lines rusting, etc)

I dont even think you can buy a Kia for less than 12K. Certainly need to upgrade your budget..you will need a tow package installed (or install it yourself) - trans cooler, hitch, wiring, etc. You should ensure your brakes are at the top of their game - good rotors/pads/fluid/shoes/etc.

Don't buy a Super cheap car/truck only to have to drop a lot of $$$$ in repairs to get it trailer-road worthy. Your, mine, and everyone's lives depend on it. You don't want to have an accident at 50mph with a honkin boat behind you!

Or just rent/bowwor a proper truck to tow it when you need to. A tow vehicle is not the ideal place to start skimping!!!

Paul

[Terry]

This is not practical since I will be hauling 2 to 4 people, 150 lbs of gear, and a 3500 lb Mac 26M with trailer. This is a total of 4250 lbs that I will be hauling. Factoring a "fudge" factor, I will be hauling up to 4500 lbs.

Not sure it is legal to haul people in the trailered boat but given the weight with 'fudge factor' you may want a vehicle with at least a Class 3 tow rating which is 3500# - 5000#, a long wheel base (130+") would also be helpful in preventing trailer sway.

[KayakDan]

One option to consider is leasing. Since it sounds like you would be financing your purchase,you might find your monthly payment to be considerably less leasing a new or late model vehicle,rather than financing an older vehicle.
Things to consider-do you drive 15k or less per year? If so,leasing can work.
You won't own your vehicle-that's a hot button for some people,but if you think about it, you pay for a car for 60 months and when it's paid off,you own a 5 year old vehicle that's worth about 1/3 what you paid out.
Look at what 60 months of loan payments for a used vehicle is vs 60 months of lease payments for a new vehicle. Match your savings against what the used vehicle will be worth in 5 years(60 months). You might be surprised.
Just make sure the vehicle has a sufficient towing capacity,and that the leasing company doesn't have a problem with towing. As long as you're within the limits of the warranty,it shouldn't be an issue.
Manufacturers subsidise leasing by putting ridiculous residual values on vehicles,so they can get units on the road.
I haven't owned a car in ten years! (I'm in the car biz)
See if it works for you..

[Paul S]

another option is to just rent a truck/van for the few times a year you need to pull the boat. Just get one with a 2" ball and you will be good to go...no insurance, no payments, no repairs....

[Captain Steve]

Kayakdan,

Thats what I do...leasing the Hummer H3, my current tow vehicle

[Chip Hindes]

another option is to just rent a truck/van for the few times a year you need to pull the boat. Just get one with a 2" ball and you will be good to go...no insurance, no payments, no repairs....

Unless things have changed in the last year or so, not an option. No reputable rental company will rent you a vehicle for towing. BTDT. It's in the fine print of the rental contracts.

This was discussed at length a few years ago. Check this link. Guess the guy who was suggesting defrauding the rental companies in the thread thought again and decided to delete his posts, but you can pretty much figure out what he said from my posts.

I passed along the info in the link concerning Enterprise to a guy in the Conch Cruisers who needed to rent a vehicle for towing to FL last year, and he stated Enterprise said exactly the same as everyone else: No towing.

[Paul S]

u can rent a uhaul truck to tow oneof their trailers (Car trailer, etc) ICant imagine why u couldnt tow a boat if u rented it..

Never looked into it personally..but if I were in the situation..I would look deep..im sure there are places that will rent


Paul

[Chip Hindes]

u can rent a uhaul truck to tow one of their trailers (Car trailer, etc)

Yep.

ICant imagine why u couldnt tow a boat if u rented it..

Imagine it. That's the way it's written into their contracts. As I stated, I have tried and that's the way it is.

I don't argue that this policy makes sense, and it pretty obviously has as much to do with increased revenue for them as it does any kind of safety or liability issue, but it's their contract and they can write it any way they please.

[tomasrey88]

No,

leasing wouldn't do because I have a Volvo S70. I will only be using this car for towing once or twice a month. This tow vehicle will be my second car. No sense in leasing a car that is only an occasional driver.

Renting makes a lot of sense, but I think that the other poster is right, it is not possible due to rental companies' rental contracts. If anybody tells you different and actually has evidence that it is O.K. to rent a tow vehicle, then please let me know.

Buying an expensive new vehicle would not make sense as it is an occasonal driver. I think I'm going to get the 10 year old Ford Ranger 6 cylinder. I wll have to have a mechanice check it over before purchase and I will check it over before every trip since it is so old, it is necessary for safety. The way I look at it, old planes fly all the time, but the pilots are supposed to inspect it before every flight. I fly Cessnas. So, old cars are no different.

If I were to get rid of my Volvo and buy a new car to replace it, I'd lose money on the Volvo due to depreciation. As the other poster pointed out, it is more cost effective to lease unless you're going to drive the car until it melts. Only if you drive cars for at least a decade should you buy. Otherwise, you'd lose money on the deal. If you're going to trade cars every couple of years, it makes better fiscal sense to lease.

Which leads us back to square one. What is the cheapest tow vehicle to buy and OWN?

Thanks,
tomasrey88.
P.S. I'm not going to TOW people in the boat with the car. I'm going to HAUL people in the car while I tow the boat. There's a big difference between the two. The people will ride in the truck's cab. The luggage will be in the pickup truck's bed. The boat being towed will be empty while it is towed.

[Craig LaForce]

Check out the GMC Canyon

The dealer let me drive one until my GMC Sierra was delivered. I loved the truck. Still felt like a solid, big truck, good power. But I think it was actually more money than the big 4X4 I bought. (no rebate)

I would steer clear of Fords. I bought a cheap used E150 van a few yrs ago and it has been nothing but trouble. My $3000 van needed a trans rebuild and engine replacement after only 1 year, and I have enjoyed about 8 hours waiting for tow trucks on remote interstates. Not worth it.

A used silverado or sierra would be worth checking into. Lots of people trying to unload them to get better mileage vehicles.

[Bill at BOATS 4 SAIL]

I had a customer buy a boat from me last week that is re-locating to Florida.
He is coming back next week with a rental truck, carrying his belongings, to tow his boat to Florida.
I'll see which company he rented it from.

[Catigale]

I brought back Catigale from Art in Mass using a UHaul truck, specifically rented with the ability to tow in the contract - this comes automatically with a certain size truck (the one they advertise as haul your stuff and tow your car too ....I dont recall how big it was but it wasnt small....)

Renting from Hertz and the like, they all specifically exclude towing of course.

[Chip Hindes]

I would steer clear of Fords. I bought a cheap used E150 van a few yrs ago and it has been nothing but trouble. My $3000 van needed a trans rebuild and engine replacement after only 1 year, and I have enjoyed about 8 hours waiting for tow trucks on remote interstates. Not worth it.

You're kidding me, right? You buy an admittedly cheap wreck for $3K (because that's what you get when you spend $3K) and then badmouth the manufacturer? Gimme a break!

You want a horror story, I ordered a Chevy Astro, heavy duty everything and specially equipped for 5,000 lb towing, delivered brand new in 1986. Though I towed with it very infrequently, it began to self destruct and had been in the shop several times, several days each even before the pathetic 12 month 12,000 mile warranty had expired. By 50K miles it had a new starter, front end, power steering, transmission, differential and flywheel; at that point the motor was already well on its way out, 1.5 quarts of oil at each 15 gallon fillup, motor repairs approximately once each quarter until my teenage son mercifully rolled it into a ditch early one morning at 106,000 miles. Good freaking riddance. The van, not my son, who with his girlfriend was uninjured. BTW, the insurance company gave me more than I, knowing its history, thought it was worth.

My brother had very similar experience with an '87 GMC Safari. Pure junk, right off the showroom floor.

I was a GM man all my life until that; and it's the last GM product I've owned.

Regarding the Ranger, though I wouldn say marginal at best and I wouldn't recommend it for distance towing, I have my '94 shorty 4.0L 4x4 set up for towing the Mac, but as yet, as long as the Expedition holds up I have not had the necessity to try it. Depending on how equipped, the Ranger can at least theoretically be set up to tow well in excess of 4,000 lbs. I would recommend you try to find a 4.0L, extended cab, automatic (mine is a shorty manual) with higher than standard rear end ratio. The Ranger is incredibly light in the rear end and you'll almost certainly need 4WD to pull most ramps.

[Frank C]

... You want a horror story, I ordered a Chevy Astro, heavy duty everything ...

... My brother had very similar experience with an '87 GMC Safari. Pure junk, right off the showroom floor.

... I was a GM man all my life until that; and it's the last GM product I've owned.

And by comparison, I bought a new '86 Safari van and drove it more than a hundred thou.
Added gas & changed oil a half dozen times, it never skipped a beat.
Never went back to the dealer after the new delivery.

Then suffered a "horrid experience" detour with a '90 Ford Explorer V-6, which couldn't get out of it's own way, then disgorged the trans just past the warranty ... about a $3,000 repair.

Replaced it with a new '93 Astrovan AWD.
Drove that one about 50,000 miles, again without ever visiting the dealer.

Also had 3 trouble-free years with a '97 Expedition (5.4L V-8 ) - but again, the Ford couldn't get out of its own way, plus using a gallon every 12 miles, next tried a 2000 Durango (4.7L V-8 ). Same 3 trouble-free years, a bit faster than the Ford Exped, but just as thirsty.

Not hard to understand ... now back to a GMC Sierra (5.3L V-8 ).
Same thirsty nature, but this one goes like a rocket ...
and again, hasn't seen the dealer since he delivered it.

Truth is, Dad always favored GM, guess I do too. The $3,000 transmission got me tweaked me at Ford. The '97 Ford Exped was just okay (maybe improved in more recent years), but I feel better plunking truckbucks with the General.
Maybe it's true that, " ... beauty's in the eye of the beholder."
A lemon's still a lemon, and they grow in every MFG's backyard.


P.S. ... also agree with Chip's following post ... a major problem just past warranty is extremely disheartening - and especially when you get inadequate service, making you feel that "they put one over on ya."
Fortunately, the Service Mgr at my GMC dealer is a great guy who happens to be a real "car guy." I've dropped in several times to just jawbone with him, regarding after-mkt options, etc. His first alliegence is clearly to his customers.