Tom R.

Z
i have a couple thousand dollars of gm card money. if you decide to go gm contact me and we will work something out.

since you buy, i bet you can get a screaming deal on a 06 leftover if you can find one with the options you like.

kgorman

I have an F350 6.0l Diesel. I get ~20mpg as my daily driver. I love it.

I suggest getting a used 7.3l F250 CC. It will last forever, tows like champ, can serve as offroad 4x4 mud fun when needed, and is completely bulletproof. You can get one with ~100k miles (barely broken in) for > 20k now.

DrJupeman

But Larry will tell you it handles like a dump truck...

Sean F

How are you getting 20mpg? I only get 14 with my Diesel Excursion.

M758

Z-man,
If you want your daily driver to also tow then you MUST compromise. For towing I have access to a 99 Dodge 2500 quad cab 8.0LV10. Tows like a champ. Ride is ok and I probalby could handle it daily. The issue is that it gets maybe 12 mpg no towing and with a 80 mile round trip daily drive it would quickly suck up money faster than the tax man. So it is used just for tow only. Maybe if I get job with 10 mile one way commute I can sell my daily driver and just drive that.

So my point is if it is a daily driver first make sure it suits your needs as a daily driver. Then consider not just what you are towing, but where, how far and how fast. Here in Az I have two type of towing. In town and out of state. In town tows are to the local tracks at 50 mile range with max city freeway speed of about 70 mph. Routes are a very gentle up and down hill. I live at about 2000 ft elevation and the tracks are about 1000 feet so it is downhill to them and up hill back. No really climbs however. For about 2 years I used my daily driver 4.0L 6 cyl Jeep Cherokee to tow my 944. It was marginal, but it was what I had. The other types of tows we have in are long distance freeway with hills. Driving to California is 5-8 hr freeway tow with Az speed limits of 75 mph. We get summer temps of 120 in the deserts and climbs of 2000ft are common. My Jeep would not have been enough for such tows. The 8.0L dodge does it with ease.

Now one day I may loose access to the 2500 dodge for town and then will need to get something else. My wife as ML320. This has a 3.2L v6 and I can get by in pinch towing local with it. For longer tows and to have some comfort margin I would need at LEAST a V8. Beyond that the trick is how much to compromise daily to give me more margin and comfort 1 weekend per month?

Zman if you plan to tow "everywhere" to all kinds of tracks every month then you probably want to get at least a 250/2500 type pick up or super SUV. If you just want to be able to do short tows 5-6 times a year then don't compromise to much in your daily needs.

Z-man

Joe:
The plan is to tow 6/8 times a year - ranging from 2 hours (Lime Rock, Pocono), 4 hours (Watkins Glen, Summit Point), and 8+ hours (VIR, Mid Ohio, Mosport). The eight hour tow would likely occur only once a year. More typical will be the 2/4 hour tows.

I found that in most trucks I'm looking at, the gas usage difference betwen a V6 and a V8 is 1-2 mpg only. Hardly a reason to go with a V6 - so I'm definately only looking at V8's.

Great points from everyone. So the plan this week is to test drive the Ford Sport Trac and possibly the Toyo 4Runner, maybe some others. Also need to see what is the best way to get this from a financial point of view. (Car loan or home equity? Any suggestions?)

-Z-man.

Larry Herman

#1 If you know it's going to be a keeper, buy it. #2 Check on the car loan rates first; there are low interest deals out there to help move inventory. #3 If you have the equity room in your home, and the rate is good and know that you will not need that money for a while, get a home equity; you can deduct your interest payments. You may want to get a higher credit amount, because it can be difficult to up the line once you have gotten one. That varies from bank to bank.

JimmiLew

Z-Man,

I have a 2006 Ford Expetition Eddie Bauer. Its a great daily driver (around 17MPG) and tows great with the 300hp 5.7L V8. Its super comfy, yet quite the untility vehicle. Best yet, I bought it used with $9k miles on it and paid less than 30k. Maybe something you should consider?

JL

JimmiLew

Z-

I forgot to add, when getting a certified pre-owned, which my truck was, you get an extra 5 years and 100K mile warranty. When you factor in the decpreciation and the CPO warranty, its a compelling deal for the money. You can also finance this of course. I really like my Expedition, which is basicly a F-150 with a comfy box on it!

JL

Greg Fishman

Go to edmunds and check the incentives on new inventory. When I bought my wife's Denali it was 0% for 60 months with GMAC. Hard to beat that, I think Ford (at the time) had a similar offer.

MDL

I have a F 250 6.o turbodeisel. The truck is just awsome as far as comfort and towing. I use mine as a daily driver and I like being in something that large. So what if Larry thinks it rides like a dump truck, is he going to be riding with you? I prefer to call it a man's ride. Its no secret these trucks have some reliability problems and I've been thinking about trading for an older model with the 7.3 if I can find one. The one other thing I thought about is the new Toyota 4 door P/U with 385 hp and 405 lbs of torque! And its a six speed automatic. I have not actully seen one yet, just looked on line.


Dan.

Larry Herman

Hey, Hey, Hey!

Don't take my quip the wrong way here. I have a dump truck of my own.

VERBOTN

+1 for Denali pulls featherlite box nicely and is not to bad around town.

MDL

Larry, I forgot you had a dump truck also.

My brother in law actually refers to my truck as "The Cement Mixer"

BostonDMD

Z-man, why not a Cayenne S titanium edition?

It is quick, it is stylish and it is all in the same (porsche) family......

Anyway, that is why I bought mine....