Tow 19' Boat w/Toyota? Your Tow Vehicle? - The Hull Truth

pekoe · 03-27-2004, 09:55 AM

I currently have a 19' Conroy (Glastron) bowrider with 120hp Mercruiser that I am towing with a 1994 Silverado 4wd XCab that has 192K miles.

My wife is bugging me to get something that gets better mileage because we only need the truck to tow the boat about 10 times each year.

Any suggestions on an inexpensive tow (less than $5,000)vehicle that gets better mileage?

Thanks,

BarryBob

SEASWIRL PAUL · 03-27-2004, 10:04 AM

For 5K you can't buy ANY reliable tow vehicle. JMHO.

Maybe, if youre lucky you could find one for 15K.
Sorry for the bad news.

I'm sure someone will tell you that you can, but it aint gonna be me!

savage · 03-27-2004, 03:48 PM

A 10-year old 4-by-4 sounds perfect for a tow vehicle, but terrible for your commuter. Maybe you could park the truck except for those 10 times, and drive a sports sedan (or whatever) the other 350 days of the year.

Another thing to consider is that truck will be fine to pull your new boat.

duckear · 03-27-2004, 04:03 PM

I assume you are planning to trade in the Chevy? If so, at almost 200K and 10 years old, dont bother, you won't get jack for it. If it is reliable, and you don't tow far, keep it and buy a third something that get better mileage.

swrock · 03-28-2004, 08:23 AM

i agree with duckear
keep the truck for a spare vehicle and to pull the boat. buy something smaller for driving to work.
i have a full size truck that don't get very good gas milage. use it to pull boat and haul stuff.
drive a small gas saver 25 miles each way to work.
i know its more insurance to pay but it still saves me money in the long run with gas prices being so high.
i also have a jeep grand jerokee(daughters car now) that will pull a good sized boat and also gets good milage.
jeep has the 4.0 liter six cylinder. pulls my boat good.

mbb · 03-28-2004, 01:25 PM

in my experience, my toyota 4x4 doesnt get much better mileage than my z71.

Somethin-Fishey · 03-28-2004, 02:06 PM

You are already driving it. If you want economy AND towing, you have only one choice and it doesn't run on Gas.....

SeaPA · 03-28-2004, 02:32 PM

My son has a 6 cyl 4 Runner and I get comparable gas mileage on my V8 Yukon. I think to get any real fuel economy you'd have to get a straight drive 4 cyl. Just my opinion.

grreatdog · 03-28-2004, 10:21 PM

I agree with the above comments. My Toyota 4X4 pickup only gets about 20 mpg commuting. And my 20' Shamrock makes the poor little four cylinder beg for mercy. I would keep the full size truck for towing and look for a cheap car.

pekoe · 03-29-2004, 06:45 PM

Thanks to all for the information and entertainment! Keeping the truck seems to make the most sense. I have had classic cars for the summer and was trying to see what the different options were.

Being a car freak (and a poor one at that), now I just have to figure out between the two options (keep in mind I live in VT):

(1) Drive truck in winter and to tow boat, and buy classic for summer (more mileage on the truck but fun driving for summer)

(2) Drive truck to tow boat only and buy a cool car for less than $5,000 to drive all the rest of the time. I'm thinking 87-92 Mustang convertible 5.0 and using it all year round except when the snow is deep - then use truck.

Any favorite car choices?

Thanks, all

BarryBob