Looking for opinions.

[Flying Torquewrench]

Before I get shot down for possibly retiring the Patrol, please hear me out.

With the current problems going on in the world my job has become a bit insecure. The company is looking to make 525 of us redundant and unfortunately I will be one of them. But not all is lost as we have been given a last option. If there are enough people who take a part time option then this will save the people at risk of redundancy.

So worst case I will be made redundant and in the best case I will keep my job but only on a 50% Part Time contract. Hopefully 2 weeks on/ 2 weeks off but it could also be 6 months on (summer)/ 6 months off (winter).

Since the company told us about the possibility for redundancies I have been looking around for another job but as you can imagine they are hard to come by.

Before this all started I hired out my mini digger occasionally and I would like to do this now on a more permanent basis. Set up my own company and offset the loss of income. It also gives me another source of income incase the aviation industry does not recover.

At the moment I drive the Patrol and an Audi A4 for the journeys to work (200 mile round trip daily) The Patrol whilst towing sits at about 12MPG or even slightly less. And that is with a 2.5 tonne trailer behind it. If making more of a business out of it then I will need to add a little dumper to it which makes the trailer come closer to 3.3 tonne.

My plan is now to replace both the Patrol and the Audi with 1 4x4. I might start doing some green laning in the Patrol as I don’t want to get rid of it completely.

From a practical point of view a Pick up tickes most boxes but they are not ideal as a family car and they haven’t got the best fuel efficiency. Therefore I have been looking at the Jeep Grand Cherokee or VW Touareg with the auto gearbox. They seem to be ideal for towing and give a reasonable/good fuel efficiency for my commute to work. The downside is the lack of space for tools without getting the car mucky.

Does anybody use one of the afore mentioned cars for towing? Looking at a 2014 or younger model.

 

[Barrbeast]

Guy in my 4x4 club uses a Grand Cherokee as a tow vehicle (WK, gen before you're looking at) and really rates it. He looks to do a bit of everything including groundworks and tows a mini digger etc with it and has it at (and sometimes over) the 3.5T capacity a lot apparently.

Think he says it gets to about 17/18 mpg when towing heavy but goes up into mid/top 20s when not.

 

[FerdiNL]

I have a Shogun for the heavy towing and normal drive.
Probably less efficient than the Cherokee or the Touareq, but a very capable truck for the job.

Is the Amarok an option as well? It has some more space in the back (with closed bed) and might be the one to go for.

 

[Lazy-Ferret]

I have a 2011 3.0l JGC, and so far only towed my 1600kg caravan, but the car and roof box is also loaded with another 350kg of stuff( genny, fuel, drinking water, freezer, aircon unit, etc) plus ferrets, cages and 2 large adults, and it was returning 22mpg.

On a solo 465 mile run to Wales and back last Friday, She returned 27mpg on road tyres

I am by no means light footed, & more than happy to be first away from the lights, so I am very pleased with that.

What I have found is the BFG KO2 AT's knock 3mpg off, compared to the road tyres that it came with.

She drives pretty much the same with the caravan on the back, I have to watch it on the motorway, and use the cruise control, or it is very easy for the speed to creep up alarmingly.

Overall, I am very glad I went for the Jeep, I do still love driving the T2, just not on the long journeys, and considering how nippy I thought Suz's T2 was compared to my old T2, it now feels like a slug.

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

 

[Flying Torquewrench]

Barrbeast, FerdiNL and Lazy-Ferret, many thanks for your replies.

I thought that I picked two 4x4’s with a reasonable fuel economy but to be honest I am a little bit disappointed that even solo you only in the mid to top 20’s. Back to the drawing board it is.

In the pick-up range I have been looking at the Isuzu Dmax and the Ford Ranger. The Ranger has better fuel economy but it has a known issue with the oil pump, not a cheap fix if it goes horribly wrong. The Dmax is a bit more agricultural but bullet proof.

However I also know somebody with a Nissan Navara (2019) and solo you are up into the mid to high 30’s if driven sensible. According to ‘my’ mechanic the Navara does have a tendency to develop electric faults and that has put me off a bit.

A bit more research is needed.

 

[FerdiNL]

The Shogun does in kilometers 1 litre on every 11 km, with 2700 kilo's behind it 1 on 7 max.

For all the trucks, they have the shape of an appartmentbuilding and are heavy.

The Isuzu should be a capable off roader as well watching some Australian clips.

 

[Barrbeast]

DMax looks to be a decent pick from what I've seen of them :nenau

 

[weedave]

truck testing

having been through 2 redundancies in 2 years i feel your pain but food for thought and some good entertainment below. A newer model through the business maybe. The trucks are all 2020 in good all round situations.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ld1bMp5Hh1I

but over those last few years I've towed with a ranger, a bt50, a holden colorado and the dmax, for me the best mileage was the dmax. all good A/T tyres like cooper/Br Goodrich. All work trucks with tool beds etc
On the comfort side of things the ranger seats felt the best to me.

my conclusion to my experience, buy one you can afford and have it properly dyno tuned to your required road manners you're in the best situation then. Add a helper leaf to the rear springs too, the handling with a load is way better.

Cheers
Dave

 

[Flying Torquewrench]

FerdiNL, that is not to bad on fuel consumption. However if I keep my job then I do at least 2000 miles/3300 km a month and I need something more fuel efficient.

Barrbeast, always fancied the Dmax but on the slightly older models the fuel consumption is bit on the low side. However it seems that the newer model gets up to about 40mpg. Which is a lot better.

Weedave, it would be the 2nd time in just under 3 years that I will be made redundant. First company went bust and the second one is just taking the p*ss. Making people redundant for the winter and then having to recruit again for summer next year as they will have nowhere near enough people. Very frustrating.

A very useful video and it has muddled the waters even more. Obviously the landscape in the UK is slightly different then Oz but the Dmax did really well. May have to do a few test drives with several makes. Just convincing the dealer to give me something with a towbar so I can try it out whilst towing.

Pick-ups cost an arm and leg to insure in the UK. Lowest I can have with 15 years NCD for a Dmax is around £1000. Only pay £280 for the Patrol, but he is 22 years old. Start adding tuning etc to it and I pay more for the insurance then I do for the car.

 

[Flying Torquewrench]

Lazy-ferret, hopefully I am allowed to pick your brains for a second.

I had a look around and to be honest I keep coming back to the Jeep GC. Looking at a 2014 or younger model.

How is the reliability of the Jeep? One car magazine came up with a reliability of 35 out of 37, what is your experience? I don’t trust the car magazines as it really depends on who they are in bed with.

Any Jeep forums that you can recommend for me to peruse? Just like to get an idea what to look for and what the common problem areas are.

Last but not least, how is the spare parts market for the Jeep? Is there a good selection of retailers around or do you end up going to the dealer for the smallest thing?

I have decided that I was to optimistic. A 4x4/pick-up to drive 2000+ miles a month which is economic on fuel and can tow 3500kg might be an ask to much. Hence now looking for a decent 4x4/pick-up and get a 70+mpg car for the commuting.

 

[elty001]

I'm just going to leave this here:lol:lol

 

[Flying Torquewrench]

Where did you get my photo from?

 

[elty001]

Where did you get my photo from?

:lol:lol:lol:lol