Time for a new Tow Vehicle

[lugoismad]

Squiggy, our family picked up a 2009 Mazda cx-9 last June after my Mercury Mountaineer was totaled. I was t-boned in an intersection by a red light runner. :evil: The Mazda has a towing capacity of 3500# and had all kinds of power with the 3.7 It pulls just as good as the Mercury did with a v8. We needed another 7 passenger vehicle and have been really happy with the cx-9. We bought it with 87,000 miles and are now at 106,000. I have pulled our 20' pontoon with it and it does great, even up hills.

I rented a ford edge (same platform as the CX9) a few years ago and really liked it. Nice driving crossover/suv thing.

 

[DAN]

OP, you can't go wrong with a Toyota Tacoma or 4Runner. Both are in your size and 4wd category.

 

[muskiemike12]

When I first test drove the cx-9, I was like man this baby handles like a car! I love the way it drives.

 

[jethro]

I frequently tow approx. 2500lbs with my Toyota Tacoma, and I will put my seal of approval on it. It's great even through the mountains. Plus it has the bonus of being the most American made pickup truck on earth. Even the motor is manufactured stateside and the truck is assembled in CA with over 50% American sourced materials. Sorry, no pic of it towing the boat, but I tow this trailer with two snowmobiles and loaded with 500 lbs of ice fishing gear on average 1000 miles a month in the winter. It's close to 2500lbs loaded and it doesn't even have trailer brakes. Does great and my mileage isn't even that bad- goes from 20mpg highway to about 14.

This is my 2nd Tacoma, the 2004 went to 235k miles with nothing more than fluids and filters, brakes and tires and one new exhaust can. And then I sold it for very good money! You will never lose on a Toyota Tacoma, the resale is amazing (or disgusting, if you are looking to buy it used). I will likely never buy anything else I like them so much.

 

[hipster dufus]

im a nissan guy. on my 4th one. have had 3, 4 cyl. the king cab 4 with a manual tows my 1500 lb jon easily. it has a 3500 lb ratimg. the auto only has a 1500 lb rating. that being said my newest one is a 6 cyl auto crew cab with a 6500 lb rating. as far as the import business goes, if american brands were a little cheaper or competete in price i would have looked. the tacoma got a a bad consumer reports review and is always overpriced. check out the nissan frontier. u might like it.

 

[nowgrn4]

We have been waiting a few years for the Mazda CX-5 Skyactive diesel to hit our shores. The car of the year in Japan and the UK last year. They are sold on every continent but this one. This little 2.2L twin turbo puts out over 300 ft/lbs of torque yet gets 42MPG combined and 48MPG highway.https://www.mazda.co.uk/cars/mazda-cx-5/


Come on Mazda and the stupid EPA. WE WANT ONE!

 

[Tallpine]

We sure like our 2005 F150 crew cab. Tows like a dream with 5.4l triton and has plenty of room for gear and fishin buddies.

 

[lugoismad]

We sure like our 2005 F150 crew cab. Tows like a dream with 5.4l triton and has plenty of room for gear and fishin buddies.

I had a 1993 F150 with the 5.0. I kick myself in the butt for selling that thing. I sold it 3 years ago for $700 because I was worried it was going to break down and leave me stranded, and I STILL see it driving around. Definitely screwed up on that one.

 

[Insanity]

Im sold on the tow packages. I like everything already on the vehicle when I buy and I want the push botton for towing loads. Plus the transmission cooler/ radiator. Makes stoping easier when the engine is staying in lower gears. If it doesn't have the botton it's not going home with me. I always seem to have stoping issues with most vehicles.Then again I always seem to be following some idiot that didn't get the turn signal package.
Current vehicle is a Silverado 1500 5.3 4x4 four door with the tow package. It does good but my 12 ft dove tail trailer is getting an electric brake axle as soon as I get the darn money. Just with the zero turn mower its to much to stop. If I get a fiber glass boat of any kind it will have an electric axle one way or another.

 

[muzikman]

These are all good opinions and they are all worth consideration in your final decision.

If I may say this though;

It will ultimately be decided by what YOU like/want the most and are the most comfortable in.
I have been an auto/lt. truck mechanic for nearly 30 years, and one thing I have learned - buying a new/new-used vehicle is nearly always ONE persons decision, no matter what sound advice is heard from others. So buy what works best for YOU.
The only "advice" I would offer - which you are free to take or discard - is regarding the Colorado diesel;
I tend to steer away from any new engine package simply because they have not been proven over time in the real world. I tend to wait 2-3 years to see if it held up under various conditions. And small diesels traditionally do not have a good track record.
I could say more regarding the Colorado itself, but that would be personal preference, so I'll end this here. [-X
Final words:
Test-drive, test-drive, test-drive! :!: :!: :!:
Whatever you are thinking of buying, test-drive the H**L out of it before you buy it. Put it through its paces. Too many people go for ONE test-drive only and in 3 months time (or less!) are hating what they bought.

Best of luck and I hope you pick a winner! \/

 

[turbotodd]

Would you all feel 100% confident the SUV with a 5000# capacity could handle that load-most importantly stopping it in a hurry, or should I start thinking about a truck?

No and I'll tell you why. TIRES. They all come with the cheapest passenger car tires you can get, which are barely adequate for the vehicle much less any load applied to it's already heavy nature. If you can, get a truck...you'll be happier in the long run, if you plan on towing that much boat. I'm just the opposite, I tow a 1548 jon boat with a F250 diesel, because I don't really want to put a hitch on my Mustang to pull the boat with.

When reading the towing capacities of vehicles, read the whole thing and understand it. A particular vehicle might have a 5000 lb towing capacity, but it might only be with a certain kind of hitch and with certain tires and trailer brakes. My F250 has a 15,000 towing capacity; but that's only with a gooseneck hitch. Bumper pull (aka tag) is rated max 13,500 lbs and that's only with a weight distributing hitch. Just to give you an idea.

 

[New River Rat]

I would much rather buy from a company that employs American workers, rather than mexicans and funnels all the profits back here to a couple of rich CEOs.

I guess the US is the only car manufacturing country not too honest, huh?


https://www.wsj.com/articles/volkswagen-ceo-winterkorn-resigns-1443007423


https://www.forbes.com/sites/joannm...ustomers-agrees-to-1-2-billion-criminal-fine/