260DET

Euro mate said both the Toerag and the Howdy were good tow cars, his opinion on maintenance etc is based on his own experience, he runs a euro workshop in Sydeney. I asked him about the little VW diesel SUV, whatever it's called, for towing but it's too light. And probably too fragile. Have driven a Santa Fe, not bad if you don't mind the FWD bias. My searching for 'what tow car' is over, will post once the buy is done

From a maintenance/reliability point of view.

According to a Euro specialist I was talking with about tow cars, Audi Q7 good, VW Toureg not so good.

Not everyone has their own personal petrol bowser

Noone tried a turbo diesel KJ Jeep? In theory it ticks all the boxes except the five speed auto does not have a sports mode sequential shift. My problem is that what happens if it cracks up on the Newell? Stranded big time?

'Can I' questions are seekers of approval, if someone says 'yes' then you feel a whole lot better when thinking of doing something dodgy BTW, can I.......

Go the tow Val, towing is not rocket science, you just have to be aware of what is going on and adjust accordingly. Any dumbo can tow with a Landcruiser, brute force may be foolproof but it is not essential.

Once I get a tow car the Z will be trailered locally too, with the twin plate clutch I'm not keen on too much driving in traffic and it is no fun to drive long distances anyway. No cruise control

KJ diesel Cherokee is off the list, too likely to have big $ problems which of course may affect reliability too. Pity because they look cool, suit me to drive and have a 2800kg towing capacity.

Good to see young Daniel hold off Das Boot for a point, he seems to think that he will stay with the team for next year. Nothing official yet though.

Agree that a good diesel is better than a comparable good petrol on fuel consumption and towing performance but for an all purpose vehicle other things come into play. Which is why I am dithering around like an old mole trying to decide which one

Territory would be my petrol choice, Barra donk has reasonable torque.

No love for the 2.8 CRD Jeep? The silence is ominious But seriously, CRD's seem like a bit of a lottery in the used car market and if they stuff up, which they can do, then it's big bucks, bloody thousands just for a fuel system. I'm starting to think that, other than the old school diesels, petrol is the way to go for a part time tow car.

Had a beaut low km KJ CRD Jeep lined up to buy for under $20K but chickened out and will now settle for something more common in case of a breakdown out in the sticks. Damm, I really wanted that Jeep

C'mon Harry, Shoemaker has been second rate all year and is only going to get worse from here, if he had a competent team mate it would be even more obvious.

No ute for me thanks Tekky, they invite work like cleaning up stuff for the dump Actually what I would like is a KJ Jeep Cherokee CRD, looks cool, low km ones under $20K, heaps of grunt and would suit me 100%. But what happens if it breaks down during an interstate towing trip? At least with a common Jap make parts should be available while who knows what the future of Jeep is in Australia? Pity because they make some interesting vehicles.

Petrol Jeep won't tow enough for me, it's yours Ben. Thanks for the heads up Tekky.

Noooo, not the confusion Disco comment was in response to MBS206's question, Challenger mentioned for anyone else interested. Looking at the CRD reliability/durability question again, it seems that it's the Euro's with their particulate filters that have the problems, there are diesel Santa Fe's around that have done over 200K so they seem to be holding together nicely. The one I mentioned before had only done ~80K and drove well but had not been serviced properly and had done most of it's K's towing I suspect.

Yeh, no Rovers but no big Jap fourby's either. They make towing sense as far as capability and reliability go but otherwise, meh, no offroad adventuring for me. A properly maintained diesel Santa Fe or Sorento would do and be more comfortable, I drove a Santa Fe the other day which according to the log book had spent it's life travelling between Townsville and WA, it drove nicely. Sorento has a better towing capacity though, according to the forums they are both reliable. But reasonable K's to keep the CRD bogey away? For anyone buying new a Mitsey Challenger could be the go, 5 speed auto tows 3000kg.

Good point about the petrol -v- diesel total cost thing Ben, CRD's are great to drive with a good auto but I reckon that diesels are becoming just a bit too fashionable which is influencing used prices, from what I've seen lately. So what 2000+kg tow rated petrol vehicle has potential? Petrol Jeeps any good, up to say $20K?

What sources of info do you have on the Jeeps Ben? Some Jeeps do seem to be problematical or is that a bit of a furphy.

Disco's seem to be one of those love em or hate em vehicles so the advantage is they are a bit cheaper than the big Japs. I find by doing a Google search on a particular vehicle that plenty of info comes up, including towing, problems etc. Bloke on PF had one for sale, gone now but he may be good for advice http://performanceforums.com/forums/showthread.php?67270968-98-Land-Rover-Discovery-TDi-PF-Price-4500 Looked at a new Santa Fe the other day just for fun, jeez the interior and particularly the dash is overdone. One thing the Euro's can do is nice, simple interiors.

What is wrong with the stepped noses, in all my ignorance I thought they were better aero wise than the curved ones common previously. The step would generate downforce whereas the curve could do the opposite. Please explain.

Wouldn't mind a Territory but too heavy on the petrol, apparently they are shockers when towing. Sort of decided that a Falcon is the only petrol vehicle I'll consider, they are not too bad on the juice. But I like driving a good turbo diesel, nice when you can get them working in the torque band.

Drove a KJ, 60k zone only but subject to a 100k speed tryout it's a proposition. Front seats are basic and probably not long distance friendly, auto compared with the ripper Falcon six speed is crude. So, the diesel short list for me is - Santa Fe, borderline towing capacity; Cherokee KJ, maint costs; Kia Sorento, price. Plus a Falcon, awkward driver access/egress.