Cheapest, Most Fuel Efficient Tow Vehicle?

[Chip Hindes]

A lemon's still a lemon, and they grow in every MFG's backyard.

Absolutely. In fact, my '97 Explorer blew the transfer case at something around 90K, and I replaced the tranny in my 5.4L Expedition at 68K, front tranny seal again at 90K (under warranty). Both vehicles were bought used with around 40K on the clocks. I'm not certainly not partcularly happy with either of those, but the point is, I expect stuff to go wrong after 50K, and certainly when approaching 100K. Fixing even major stuff is still way cheaper than a new vehicle, and with the current longer warranties, it's way less of a crap shoot than were our Astros.

It's just that to have several things go wrong before 10K miles, and major stuff before 40K as it did on my Astro is just wrong. Part of my distaste with the experience was based on the incredibly indifferent attitudes of both the service department and management of the dealer where I bought the truck. I wrote both the dealer and GM letters of complaint, neither of which was ever even acknowledged. The truth is, that experience only lasted a few years, but my adverse memories will last the rest of my life; I'll stop driving and switch to a bicycle before I'll go back to that dealer to buy any vehicle.

So far, since then I haven't been able to bring myself to consider buying any GM product, though I admit I'm pretty much in love with the latest generation Corvette. If I can wait a few years for the depreciation of one of these to reach low enough to avoid the hit to my bank account, I'll have one.

[Terry]

"People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."
Maya Angelou

[Rich Walton]

I tow with a 99 mazda B4000 extra cab. (Same as ford ranger) Before my trailer mod (added a second axel and disc brakes to all 4 tires) I would shake with fear every time i would tow! now with the trailer mod it tows it just fine. So it you are going to tow with a ranger you will need to upgrade the trailer. Or go with something BIG a used suburban is dirt cheap right now due ti the high price of gas. I have a friend wit a old surb. and i would have him tow my boat with that and you never evan felt it back there, evan with one axel.

[Craig LaForce]

Well, all I can say is I bought a 1/2 ton chevy van in college for $1700, used and abused it for 13 years. Drove to college and back dozens of time hauling me, my junk and a bunch of classmates. changed the oil a few times, the plugs and brake pads once. No repairs of any kind. You could not kill that van. It had a tendancy to lose traction though due to the light rear end. I drove it into a fly ash pond and got stuck,got it stuck in a mud road dip, got it stuck on a sandy beach in Canada, drove it through blizzards in Buffalo, bounced it over a 10 inch high curb going 40 mph (snow drift hid it in a mall parking lot) drove it to houston and launched boats off the Texas City dike for a few years, let it sit in the back yard without touching it for a year, and when I went to sell it, it started right up. great power and acceleration.

Bought the Ford van in similar condition, and have replaced just about every moving part in one year. Radiator, trans, engine, water pump, windshield washer pump, HVAC vaccuum door actuator, thermostat, even a freakin bolt snapped off that held the serpentine pulley! 50% of the trips to the lake resulted in a tow truck ride home and then to a repair shop.
It is very handy when it is running, but I would have better odds of reaching my destination driving a beetle through Iraq.

I have also had experience with some fords my dad owned over the years, Falcon, Torino, and a '67 mustang I had as a kid. Just about made me into a certified mechanic keeping those things on the road. (although the mustang was a sweet riding 289 screamer when it was running right.

SInce then I have owned nothing but GM products and have been very pleased with the quality. Impala, Regal, lesabre, ciera, supreme, Supreme with HO engine, and now the GMC truck. No major repairs in about a million miles of hard driving in Buffalo, NJ, Pa, Oklahoma, and Texas, other than a trans convertor that blew on the HO Supreme that I drove like a race car.

YMMV.

[Lovekamp]

... 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.

In my family, we have a '91 Chevy Astro (owned it since 70,000 to now over 150,000 miles) and our "new" vehicle, an '04 GMC Safari. While I never trailered all over the country, the Astro pulled a Catalina 22 from Florida to Illinois, hauled it around whenever it traveled, and now hauls my 26X. The Astro is starting to act a bit tired, but it has NEVER had any significant problems.

I compare that to my wife's previous minivan, a '02 Grand Caravan. Only had it from about 25,000 to 35,000 miles. Never towed anything (didn't have a hitch), but the transmission failed twice. Lost money on the deal, but I was glad to see it go. Chrysler's off my future list.

I have little experience with Ford. My very first car was a '72 Maverick and I loved that car. On the other hand, my parents had a '73 Gran Torino: lemon.

Mainly, I am a fan of tried-and-true engine/drivetrain technology: the Maverick was well-tested Detroit iron and the Astro/Safari's engine dates back to the '60s. I also have a '79 Beetle. Enough said.

[tomasrey88]

Hey,

Rich Walton, what do you mean, "I shake with fear every time I tow with a Mazda B2000 (same as Ford Ranger)?" I looked through a list of small suvs, cars, and light trucks. I only looked at vehicles with a 4 L or smaller engine that have a towing capacity of 4500 lbs or more. Smaller engine cars are more fuel efficient and less expensive. Out of this list of 15 cars, I looked at the most reliable cars. The list shortened to 3 cars; The Ford Ranger, Toyota 4 Runner, and Infinit QX4. The most fuel efficient of the 3 is the Ford Ranger at 18 city/22 hwy MPG. The Toyota 4 Runner gets 17/21 and the Infinit QX4 gets 15/18 MPG. However, the clincher is that the Toyota and Infiity both cost several times more than the Ford Ranger as a 10 year old used car. Also, although the 2 Japanese cars are a bit more reliable than the Ford, the Ford costs significantly less to maintain. Therefore, I am planning to tow with the Ford Ranger. I will take the other poster's advice and buy a 4WD model. This will decrease fuel efficiency some, but give better traction at the wet launching ramp.

I will be towing at a reduced speed of 55 MPH regardless of the speed limit. As long as I don't drive too fast and stay in the right lane, I should be O.K., right?

Thanks for all the good advice, guys,
tomasrey88.
P.S. Is the 4 wheel drive model Ford Ranger really necessary? I mean, the Macgregor is designed to be launched without dunking the car in water due to it's ability to float in just 2 feet or less of water and the retractable keel. The other poster said that there's very little weight on the rear wheels. What if I were to put 80 pounds of gear over the rear wheels on the pickup bed? And go real slow in a low gear. Will this wipe out the need for 4WD?

I'm thinking this because I think (please correct me if I'm wrong) that 4WD introduces more mechanical complexity and therefore more possibiliity for something to go wrong in an old car. Also, there's the 1 or 2 mpg decrease in fuel efficiency, too.

So anybody who tows with a 2WD Ford Ranger (0r a Mazda B2000?) have something to say? Is it do-able? Basically, I'm considering a 2WD Ford Ranger Super Cab 4.0 L V6. However, I'm open to suggestions if something else is better. I'll look into the Isuzu Trooper that the other poster had suggested.

Thanks a million for the helpful info!

[Robert]

We have owned two Olds Silhouette minivans. The 1998 was back for warrantee repairs 27 times in the first 45K miles (we had an extended warrantee), then we sold it for fear of more repairs. We replaced it with a 2002 Olds Silhouette minivan. The service department was excellent most of the 27 repairs were done quickly and they made sure we could still get around with offering rides or loaner cars. We paid $9000 below sticker each time becuase of family of employee and GM card kickbacks so given that we were going to get a minivan and it was going to be GM, we did not seriously consider any other brand. The 2002 needed a return to dealer for some finer adjustments of the shifter and a couple other things and the CD player/radio has been replaced 4 times. We have 90K on the 2002 now with no problems in a long long time. We figure the 1998 was a lemon. We are fortunate that the dealer was great (combined Olds/Cadillac). The dealer has since separated the repair department of Cadillac from the rest (now they do Pontiac and GMC). Ever since the repair department has been separated, the service for non Cadillac sucks. We don't go there anymore unless we suspect a warratee issue.
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I tow with my Izuzu Trooper. The Trooper has a stiff truck type suspension with strong side to side control in the rear and does not have any sway problems. Troopers also have 4 wheel disc brakes that seem powerful. Troopers are no longer available new, but they have a low resale value. If you have an Isuzu specialist shop nearby that can perform a pre-purchase inspection, you can be pretty sure to get a reliable tow vehicle, but rated for only 5000lb. I have been driving Isuzu Troopers since 1984, I have put 200K miles on the first one, 140K miles on the second one still running and looking like new before it was rear ended and totalled, now I have a 2001 I bought at 30K miles for $13.5K and it has almost 100K miles now. A 50K miles 2001 or 2002 Trooper would probably go for less than $9K now. Only issue is that two of my three Troopers use a little bit of oil on the order of a quart between oil changes, so I have a habbit of listenning to the engine at startup, if there is a few lifter ticks then its time to check the oil.

[tomasrey88]

Ford Ranger 4.0 L V6 Super Cab, 10 years old
purchase price $2500
highest MSN reliability rating
maintenance cost slightly lower than Isuzu Trooper: likely repairs cost only less than $300 total.
14-15 actual mpg as an automatic

Isuzu Trooper 3.2 L I-6, 10 years old
purchase price $3000
highest MSN reliability rating
maintenance cost of likely repairs total more than $1000
15-16 actual mpg as an automatic

It seems like a close comparison. Since test drives at the dealer lot will exclude towing with a boat, anybody have experience in these vehicles? Preferably in both vehicles? Or any other cheap towers (I'm open to suggestions). Thanks!

[DLT]

A lemon's still a lemon, and they grow in every MFG's backyard.

I tend to agree with this...

I've owned lots of cars several of both GM and Ford. Some have been great. Some have been junk. From what I've seen both makes have some models that are more prone to problems. But, even beyond that, some of it is just a crap shoot. You can get a specific car, even from a model line that it generally reliabe, and that one specific car could be junk...

[Greg]

A ¾ or 1 ton van can make a good tow vehicle, handy to have around for hauling and transporting, and can often be picked up fairly cheap. Check around your area for auctions that sell used vehicles from utility companies (phone, power, gas), Government agencies etc. With a little research, you may be able to get information from the utility as to what they do with their used vehicles then call the auction company for more information. A lot of the vehicles are pretty well used, but some are in reasonable mechanical shape and had proper maintenance

Greg

[Robert]

Pickup or full sized 3/4 ton van is what I would get for a second car and tow vehicle. I would go with an 10 +years older one that was a very cared for by one owner preferably. I would probably go ahead and plan on new shocks and maybe other low cost suspension or engine upgrades to make it a better tow vehicle.
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As only an occationally driven vehicle, it will be hard to anticipate failures by noticing small problems easrly, so I would go with a domestic make, GM, Ford, Chrysler brand because if it ever does brake spare parts will be easy to find.
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Isuzu Trooper has been really great for me. I have rarely ever had to do anything but scheduled maintenance. The Trooper takes up less parking lot space than a Toyota Camry, and it is fun to drive with a stick shift. But without many dealers left and some parts not available same day in remote places.. I'd stick with a domestic brand for towing only vehicle.
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Between the Ford Ranger and the Isuzu Trooper I'd go with the Trooper if you don't need the pickup bed. The Trooper is great off road because of long wheel travel and locking center differential and limited slip rear diff. 5 speed manual gets 16.7mpg around town and 18mpg at 77mph or 21mpg at 65mph and about 11 to 12 mpg towing on the highway.
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Most vehicles have a forum or two on the web search for your vehicle of interest there and ask a bunch of folks who have owned it for a long time.

[David Mellon]

I owned a Trooper for 11 years. I towed a 17' Oday all over the western states with it. Granted the weight difference is great, but the Trooper was steady and roomy. I finally beat it to death off-roading, sold it for parts when the entire left front wheel assembly fell off. But, I had really abused it. One nice feature of the Trooper is its balance, open bed trucks don't keep enough weight on the rear axle. I towed my buddies F-150 out of the sand quite a few times.

[Hubert]

I been hauling my X since 2001 with a 94 Ford Aerostar (same motor and frame as the Ranger), 4L V6, AWD. It is a great tow vehicle.

[hiram6]

Had to have something to tow the Mac, researched on the web looking for a readily available used SUV or truck with these characteristics:

a 5000 lb towing capacity
4 wheel drive
4 wheel disc brakes
A/C
Automatic trans

Also preferred a 6 cylinder over a 4 or an 8. Also wanted something easily repaired/maintained, and hopefully something with a number of aftermarket parts suppliers so I wouldn't always be paying dealer prices. An active on-line forum for advice and help would also be anice thing to have.

I found all of these in a 98 Jeep Grand Cherokee with 85,000 miles for $5000. Other than regular maintenance items, I have only had to replace a few u-joints.

[Bobby T.-26X #4767]

I found all of these in a 98 Jeep Grand Cherokee with 85,000 miles for $5000.

that's a perfect tow vehicle.
you can even get a great insurance rate for a vehicle like that because you'll need only liabilty (vs. collision & comprehensive) since the value is so low.

Insure.com says: "Insurance companies often will "total" your car if the repair costs exceed a certain percentage of the car's worth. The critical damage point varies from company to company, from 55 percent to 90 percent."

that is, any kind of fender bender on a $5,000 car will probably total the vehicle anyway.