New tow vehicle for under $30K?

Matt McGrain · **Posted:** Tue Oct 18, 2005 2:03 pm

My father is going to be purchasing a new Suv next year and I'm trying to find him something other than another Jeep. Currently they own two Cherokees and the reliability is what I'd consider sub-par.

Anyhow, he'll be pulling a 19' McKee fishing boat twice a week all summer and needs something with decent torque (3.5L or more). The catch is that the price range must be sub $30k, preferably closer to $25k. Also, it must be 4wd because they drive on the Outer Banks to go surfcasting.

So far I think the most practical thing seems to be the new '06 Nissan Xterra with a new 4.0 and 265 bhp, an improvement over the once standard 3.3 V6. These can be had with an Offroad Package (Bilsteins, bigger wheels, etc...) for around $27-29,000.

Any other suggestions?

thanks!
-Matt

Jason Mauldin · **Posted:** Tue Oct 18, 2005 2:20 pm

Check out the 4Runner. Apparently with the current rebates, you can pick up a v8 for less then the price of an equivalent v6 model. Not sure if they will get you down to under $30K on a new one though.

Brad Mackey · **Posted:** Tue Oct 18, 2005 9:15 pm

What Jason said!

You may stillbe able to find V8 2004's for 28K

Matt McGrain · **Posted:** Thu Oct 20, 2005 2:06 pm

Thanks for the info guys. Yeah, I checked out the 4 Runner and they probably are my personal favorite as far as the Japanese suvs go. They seem to have kickass resale value to boot. The price point is a little steep though and who wants the bare-bones base model? :wink:

Anyone else have any suggestions?

Matt Nicholson · **Posted:** Tue Oct 25, 2005 10:32 pm

Must be an SUV? Titan Crewcab is great.

MikeWhitney · **Joined:** Wed Aug 20, 2003 9:15 pm **Posts:** 4724

'05 Durango, 335HP Hemi, 4k miles, dealer demo, DVD, loaded, etc $23k. I love it and it tows 5000lb great. I'm amazed at the quality and how, dare I say it, nice it is to drive, so far at 8k miles. Powertrain warranty to 70k miles. Highly recommended if you can "trust" Dodge and can live with the terrible gas mileage (16 with a leadfoot around town, seen 19 on highway stretches). Overkill for a 19' boat though.

Dealers are giving them away. Mine's a RWD, plan to pay more for 4wd. The deals are out there on slightly used 'muricun cars.

Todd Breakey · **Posted:** Wed Oct 26, 2005 6:33 am

I just saw a couple of 04 Tundra V8s at Fred Anderson Toyota with $24000 tags hanging from the mirrors yesterday.

Matt McGrain · **Posted:** Wed Oct 26, 2005 9:52 am

MikeWhitney wrote:

'05 Durango, 335HP Hemi, 4k miles, dealer demo, DVD, loaded, etc $23k. I love it and it tows 5000lb great. I'm amazed at the quality and how, dare I say it, nice it is to drive, so far at 8k miles. Powertrain warranty to 70k miles. Highly recommended if you can "trust" Dodge and can live with the terrible gas mileage (16 with a leadfoot around town, seen 19 on highway stretches). Overkill for a 19' boat though.

Dealers are giving them away. Mine's a RWD, plan to pay more for 4wd. The deals are out there on slightly used 'muricun cars.

Yeah I was thinking about these too. I guess the reliability can't be any worse than Jeep considering it's a Dodge.

David Phillips · **Posted:** Wed Oct 26, 2005 11:20 am

We have a few Explorers here at the dealership (Parkway Ford, Winston-Salem). You can buy an XLT (cloth w/ lots of power options) for about $31,500ish...and get 0% financing for 72 mos...payment is like mid $400s. Its a great vehicle at an incredible deal.

Just noticed you said next year...Gotta love my reading skillz

Good luck! There are almost too many choices.

David

Diane Hall · **Posted:** Wed Oct 26, 2005 12:05 pm

The Explorers I've seen in the last few years come with the little receiver hitch though (like on my Miata) vs the bigger Class 3 one (like on my Tahoe).

David Phillips · **Posted:** Wed Oct 26, 2005 3:16 pm

Diane Hall wrote:

The Explorers I've seen in the last few years come with the little receiver hitch though (like on my Miata) vs the bigger Class 3 one (like on my Tahoe).

Yeah, that come standard, but you can get the class III/IV hitch as well...

Later,
Dave

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