Looking for suggestions for a winter/travel/possible tow vehicle

[Rich McP]

MTB only with dropper down, I suspect?

MTB and roadie. Dropper down, yes, or at least not fully up.

 

[JohnnyG]

How about a truck from a DEA auction?

Good story:

 

[bbinder]

Does anyone know what type of premium that used pickup trucks are commanding these days?

 

[Ogg]

Does anyone know what type of premium that used pickup trucks are commanding these days?

About 30% from what I've seen listed.

 

[bbinder]

About 30% from what I've seen listed.

Well, wow!

 

[bbinder]

Well, we came up with a solution that will delay us needing to buy a vehicle. My son in law is willing to lend us his Titan again this winter. So our plan is to ship our skis, clothes, etc. to where they live near St Louis. Marcia and I will drive out with the dog and cat in our BMW sedan, stop and visit with Meryl and Josh along the way, swap vehicles, and voila!

 

[bbinder]

Back to thinking about this. The trip last year worked out great. Unfortunately, Josh's truck now has 180,000 miles on it and had a couple of small issues during the past year - this has us thinking that we will probably have to pull the trigger on a vehicle that we can travel across country with and possibly use as a tow vehicle. We are not in a rush - we can wait to see if prices drop over the next few months (probably not) and whether there is more inventory as time goes along. It does seem that there is a price difference of about $10,000 between SUVs and equivalent pickup trucks, so we may still be looking at trucks.

 

[snwbrdr]

You can always consider the new Sequioa... with a boost in power, torque and fuel efficiency with its standard hybrid powertrain

 

[Philpug]

(probably not)

Not likely. Be it today or 6 months from now, its not time to have to buy a vehicle.

 

[Philpug]

If I was looking right in todays market and knew that I had to over pay for a vehicle. I would want to look for a vehicle that has at least a little bit of vetting and would be keeping and an eye on Bring a Trailer and Cars & Bids, preferably the latter right now. If I was selling BaT, buying ... C&B.

 

[Tom K.]

If I was looking in today's market I'd find a dealer that will accept an order in advance for a reasonable price, like @Snowfan did for his Subaru.

They are out there, but it ain't easy!

 

[chilehed]

A few weeks ago I bought my late brother-in-law's (RIP) 2015 F350 Super Duty Lariat. Crew cab, short bed, 6.7 Powerstroke diesel, 4x4, 170k miles, very well maintained. Blue book is $30k-$33k.

This thing is a beast. Driving it empty from New Jersey to Detroit it averaged 18.4 mpg @70 mpg. Towing a ~ 4,500 lb camper and a bed full of gear to last night's stop in South Dakota it averaged 11.3, and it was a very easy, comfortable pull. Empty the ride is pretty harsh (it's got the stiffest spring option they had), so when not towing I lower the rear tire pressures to 60 psi to keep it from skittering around on broken pavement. I'm pretty sure I'm gonna put a Kelderman 2-stage air ride system in the rear, it'll improve the ride a lot and I'll still be able to haul the biggest 5th wheels they make if we decide to do that.

 

[Andy Mink]

A few weeks ago I bought my late brother-in-law's (RIP) 2015 F350 Super Duty Lariat. Crew cab, short bed, 6.7 Powerstroke diesel, 4x4, 170k miles, very well maintained. Blue book is $30k-$33k.

This thing is a beast. Driving it empty from New Jersey to Detroit it averaged 18.4 mpg @70 mpg. Towing a ~ 4,500 lb camper and a bed full of gear to last night's stop in South Dakota it averaged 11.3, and it was a very easy, comfortable pull. Empty the ride is pretty harsh (it's got the stiffest spring option they had), so when not towing I lower the rear tire pressures to 60 psi to keep it from skittering around on broken pavement. I'm pretty sure I'm gonna put a Kelderman 2-stage air ride system in the rear, it'll improve the ride a lot and I'll still be able to haul the biggest 5th wheels they make if we decide to do that.
View attachment 172570

You could probably drop the psi down to 50 running empty. I drop my dually down to about 45. It's not too bad except on a few spots where the concrete expansion joints and wheel base line up. Then things get bouncy no matter the psi. Nice thing about these big trucks? On worn road surfaces they're usually quieter than most cars. Tall side walls and higher from the road surface.

 

[chilehed]

You could probably drop the psi down to 50 running empty.

Actually, I checked the load and pressure data from the manufacturer and run it at 40 most of the time.

 

[Jerez]

We are stuck buying a new vehicle. Driving across country visiting the various kids and grands and were rear-ended at the halfway mark. Everyone in the car is fine, but our beloved 2015 diesel Jeep Grand Cherokee was deemed totaled.

Waiting on the insurance money to come through, delayed due to holiday and administrative BS. We feel lucky we found a new/used 2019 diesel Jeep not too far away for spot-on what the KBB value is, 23K miles, one owner and a clean CarFax report. It is a less fancy version. But the thought of buying a new/new car right now did not seem like a good plan. Very limited choices and high prices. Ordering a new car takes up to 8 months, so that won't do for us given the circumstance.

 

[DanoT]

I'm pretty sure I'm gonna put a Kelderman 2-stage air ride system in the rear, it'll improve the ride a lot and I'll still be able to haul the biggest 5th wheels they make if we decide to do that.

I have had a Kelderman Air Ride suspension system on my 91 Cummins Dodge for almost 30 years. When the truck is empty the harsh ride is completely eliminated and when my truck camper is on board it acts as a load leveller. With a heavy diesel engine, I strongly recommend getting the air bag set up for the front axle as well. With mine, when the front bags are properly inflated I get about a 1" lift.

 

[bbinder]

Update time. I have spent the last few months keeping an eye on truck prices and looking at options and such. I test drove a Silverado and an F150, and decided that I liked the Ford more. I was also looking at equivalent size SUVs and they all seemed to cost at least $10,000 than an equivalent pickup truck. About two weeks ago, I was reminded about the Nissan Armada, which was a vehicle that we rented previously and liked driving. I was surprised to see that an Armada equipped similarly to the truck that I was looking at and with similar mileage were costing $8-10,000 less than the trucks. And I was also surprised to see that all late model Armadas come equipped with a tow package and have a towing capacity of 8500lbs. Gas mileage is not great (18mpg highway), but is similar to my son in law's truck.

I saw one at a dealer that was 40 minutes from our house and Marcia and I made a field trip. Long story short, we bought it. It was certified and we were able to add bumper to bumper coverage fro a reasonable price. I was ready to trade in one of our vehicles, but Marcia has a sentimental attachment to the Saab, and wasn't ready to give up her BMW. Now we will have 5 vehicles. Which is, in a way, nuts. I rationalize the gas guzzler aspect in that most of the time our thirsty vehicles will be sitting in the driveway. So, in a way, I am keeping vehicles with bad gas mileage off the road. Yeah, that's it!

 

[Andy Mink]

So, in a way, I am keeping vehicles with bad gas mileage off the road. Yeah, that's it!

Rationalization is good. Good for cars, good for skis, good for, well, pretty much anything!