New work vehicle
 

I have been looking for a new work vehicle and can't figure out what to get.

I run a commercial painting company and drive around the metropolitan area doing estimates, going to meetings, etc. I drive around 25 - 30,000 miles a year. Much less these days due to the gas prices. I have been driving suv's since I have been old enough to drink. Currently drive a Mountaineer and am used to that sized vehicle.

Req's

1. Good mpg. My company's gas usage is in the 6 figure range. We need to do better.
2. Room for 4 with a large trunk to haul the occasional emergency order of materials or a paint sprayer. I must admit, I can't remember the last time I delivered anything but it could happen at any time. The back seat needs to be big enough for 2 large car seats for the little ones. We use the Britax 5pt harness ones big enough to last until the kiddies don't need car seats - they really are quite large.
3. Has to be a luxury type vehicle below $50k or so.

I have found quite a few vehicles that meet my criteria except for the mpg requirement. They only things that get anywhere near 30 mpg in the city are small cars and I don't think I can deal with that. I'm not a Corolla type of guy.

What kind of mileage are the Cayennes getting around town?

How much weight do you need to put in the vehicle at any one time?

Luxury and 30pmg? Keep dreaming. ;)

You should look at the Mercedes ML 320 CDI. I've had one for a year and am very impressed with it. In fact I think it is the best all around vehicle I've ever owned.

Mileage is great (8 or 9 liters per 100km — not sure what that is in mpg). And it certainly is luxurious.

The diesel has huge amounts torque, and the car is very quick. And although the car has lots of room inside, the outside dimensions are actually quite compact—for an SUV.

It's an amazing car really, that gets rave reviews—in Europe in particular. The first series of these cars had some quality problems, but the new series (since 2006) is built like a bank vault.

Honda Pilot gets 25 MPG, plenty of room. New Toyota Highlander is similar. Rav4 or CRV 4-cylinder will get you upper 20s, but a car seat would be pushing it. One of the new Mercedes diesels might be a good bet, one of our BBS members (forget who) has an ML and regularly gets 30+ MPG. If I recall correctly, I think the X5 will also soon be available with a diesel.

Edit: obviously I need to type faster. There's another BBS member that has a CDI ML besides Dottore.

I was thinking one of the crew-cab, short-box hybrid Silverados.

With six-speed and the ability to shut-down cylinders, it should get decent mileage:

http://www.chevrolet.com/silverado/hybrid2009/

Accords, Camry's the similar Lexus and Acura might fit your bill. A loaded Accord is very close to TL pricing.

V70 2.5t. All that and a bag of chips.

not sure what the mpg figures are on the newest model V70 but if you insist on losing your ass on a brand new car i'll check for you;)

I drove a loaded accord (i think the v6's are all loaded by default) recently and was kinda unimpressed with the interior. NOT cheap either (nearly $30k IIRC)

My Dad bought a Honda CRV last winter and gets almost 30 mpg cruising around town (suburbs). Should have enough room for two car seats in the back seeing as I'm 6'1'' and can fit back there comfortably. With the seats folded you should be able to fit a paint sprayer in the back. Also look at the Acura RDX if you want a little more luxury and a little more power and want to spend a lot more money.

I just picked up a Mazda Tribute for a customer. Actually quit roomy and great mpg.

We have one of these. It's absolutely the best vehicle we've ever purchased. Just as Dottore says, it is very powerful, fast, and returns amazing MPG. It also handles very well. I highly recommend the ML320. You're lucky you live in Missouri. In CA. NY, Mass., Vermont and Maine, the M-series diesel is not legal.

Thanks for the tips, the MC320 CDI looks interesting. I just built one on their site and it may fit the bill. I have not considered a diesel before, I need to go take one for a spin.

Is 30 mpg really possible? Their site does not mention mpg as far as I could tell.

30 is easy on the highway. For long extended periods of driving, we get close to 40.

But the fuel mileage is only part of it. The torque is amazing. It has 400 pounds of it, so when the ML320 gets going, it really flies. The only engine available in the M-series with more torque is their AMG V8. The ML320 is a 3.0 V6 turbo.

Regardless, I have no doubt the ML could give my 911 a run for its money up to 60mph.

You're going to love the ML320.

Lexus RX hybrid?

Perhaps you need to talk to these guys?

http://www.customvehicles.com:80/

My bad...re-reading your post. I thought you wanted something set up for the job itself...

One word of advice if you buy one: in the very latest Bluetec model they have elmininated the spare tire (because that's where the urea tank—affectionately known as the 'pi$$ tank' in MB circles—goes). Instead you have run-flat tires, which are not widely available and stupidly expensive to replace. So I would look for a 2007 or 2008 pre-blutec model. There are still plenty around—at least in these parts.

But they're brilliant cars. You won't be disappointed.

Here's the way we roll...


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1217534537.jpg

We bought a 2007 model. At the time, there were only two for sale in the entire U.S. :eek:

Supposedly pre BlueTec models have better power/performance than later ones, though it's marginal, IIRC.

Hey Dottore, what I'd like to do is import a B-Series Mercedes into The States from Canada. I saw a bunch in Europe. They're sweet little vehicles. The U.S. is getting the GLK-class, which doesn't look nearly as nice.

current bimmers are brilliant when it comes to milage
the X5 does on average 1 liter/100km less then the ML

BMW X5 3.0 d Aut. (5d) 211pk
city driving 10.2 L/100km
highway 6.9
combined average 8.1

MERCEDES M-Klasse 3.0 320 CDI (5d) 224 pk
11.9
7.8
9.4

that's more then 10%

Unfortunately BMW isn't yet selling any diesels in North America. Supposed to start soon—and at that point the X5 would be interesting.

Also: the ML 320 CDI gets much better mileage than the factory numbers. It's so notorious, that this is one of the first thing the dealers here will tell you when you are looking at one of these cars.

dd74: Re the B class: Do you mean the A class? The B class is a horridly cheap little car. All plastic, rough engine, handles like a truck and ugly as sin. I don't know why these sell as well as they do. Now the A class on the other hand is a very nice compact car.

They must all be in Canada. The diesel ML is getting to be as common as a Camry up here.

[QUOTE=Dottore;4093770]run-flat tires, which are not widely available and stupidly expensive to replace. /QUOTE]

Tell me about it.
I have an '06 Honda Odyssey Touring with Michelin PAX run-flats. No spare. Only 1 tire made for replacement due to the special wheels. $1,200.00 a set for a mini-van.

I'm sure the tires for the MB are even more.

i remember reading an article about a 3 series bmw diesel that got something like 45mpg and did 0-60 nearly as good as the gas model. will we be getting such a car???

Dottore: this one. It's the B-series. All the road tests suggest it's everything the A-series was not in a reliable, well engineered Mercedes. So you don't like them? http://i.treehugger.com/files/mercedes-b-class-01.jpg
http://www.direct-vehicle-leasing.ne...0b%20class.jpg

Guess what? All of them are in Canada. That, or Germany. We had to sign and get notarized, in affidavit stating we would not sell ours outside the U.S. borders, or otherwise face a trade-imposed fine of up to $20,000. You see, Canadians and Germans come to the U.S. to buy high-priced cars. Why? Because of the crappy U.S. dollar. Why pay $60,000 Euro for a car when you can pay $60,000 U.S. in the U.S. which is really $30,000 in Euros.

I took my car in for service on a Friday and they kept it for the weekend and gave me a new B series as a loner. It was incredibly cheap and nasty. I didn't like it at all. Drove it for two days couldn't wait to get rid of it.

That's my only experience with these cars, so it's anecdotal, and maybe the car I had was the exception. But a truly rough and crappy engine, and very shoddy finish.

I told my guy at the dealership what I thought, and he agreed. Said he was embarrassed to be selling them. That's about all I know.

The A's on the other hand, I have often rented in Europe, and always enjoyed. Nice small car, very well made, and fast in the diesel version.

I thought Mercedes stop making the A series. I've seen the tiny Audi in Italy. That's also a sweet little daily driver car.

millage better then factory numbers

no offense, but that sounds too good to be true
and you know what they say about that

the numbers i posted, are not from a factory website, and the ones used to base road tax on in Belgium... I've never seen any car do better then those numbers, in fact, you gotta drive like a robot to get near those numbers, trust me, i do mostly highway, and i can barely get within +0.5L/100km of the posted highway millage, or +1L combined average for the car i drive, and only when i drive like i don't know where the loud pedal is located


first thing dealers usually say , is usually the first lie of many

well first i thought my trip computer was out. then i brought a calculator on a trip to california and confirmed that the trip computer was in fact correct, and that I was averaging 7 liters per 100 km. that's lower than factory numbers. then i started talking to some other owners and chatting on benzworld.org, and it does seem that everyone is aware of this phenomenon.

so there you go. too good to be true, but true all the same.

and i don't drive like a robot.

Stijn - I can attest to Dottore's claims. I too get much better than the 18/25 M-B claims for the ML320 - (that's in our ridiculous miles/gallon English system of measurement). We get more like 25 in the city, and about 35-40 on the highway.

Yes, this was a Car and Driver article, which is here:

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/hot_lists/car_shopping/green_machines/2006_bmw_330d_road_test

The first sentence is pretty funny in regard to the concern about $3 a gallon gasoline. :D

my bmw 118d,
expected to arrive in sept

is supposed to do

city 5.4 L/100km 43.5 Miles/Gallon
hw 4.0 59
average 4.5 52

Aren't the new BMW diesels supposed to be here for 2009?

If it weren't for their horrible reputation for reliability, the VW Toureq (sp?) diesel would be a good bet. V10 turbodiesel, if I recall correctly it made 500 lb*ft of torque.