Our aged family hauler, 2000 Oldsmobile Silhouette with 260K miles, is in need of replacement as the engine is showing low oil pressure and a slight rod knock. At this point we are not willing to do an engine rebuild or swap. In addition we have an '93 Ford F-150 we use to haul a light weight 20' sailboat, make runs to the home improvement store and get us out of our dead end country road during winter time. The F150 maybe gets driven 1000 miles per year but has 185K miles with a recent engine rebuild about 2000 miles ago. The truck runs fine but is slowly rusting away. I have a 2002 Mazda Protege with 152K miles which I use as my commuter vehicle. We tend to keep our vehicles for a long time and use them until they are used up so ease of maintenance and reliability is important. I either repair them myself or hire the work out to my fairly talented farm neighbor. None of my cars ever see a dealership.
We are considering selling both the minivan and truck and purchasing a single replacement vehicle for my wife to use as a stay-at-home mother and to handle the larger chores such as towing, home improvement and small farm.
Need-to-haves include
1) Haul 2 adults, 3 kids, 1 collie and weekends worth of gear for trips to my mother-in-laws 3 hours away.
2) Good 4 Wheel drive as we live on a dead end country road which drifts quite badly, up to 6 foot deep of snow. Frequent snow falls of 8"- 10" at a time. Approximately 100 inches of snow per winter.
3) Good towing capacity to handle a larger 24' - 26' foot cruising sailboat in our near future, Approximately 6000 - 7000 lbs.
4) The best fuel economy, or better yet, best fuel cost dollar per mile as possible given the above constraints. Diesel has been less appealing lately due to price differential between gasoline and diesel as well as the upcharge for the vehicle purchase. I have looked at Mercedes Benz ML320 CDI and Grand Cherokee diesels in the past.
5) Good reliability with 95% of the maintenance able to be carried out either by myself or my neighbor.
6) Used
7) Purchase price under $20,000
8) My wife must like it as she will be driving it 80% of the time
Nice-to-haves include
1) Seating great than 5 incase one of our children wants to bring at least 1 friend or if our mother-in-law rides with us.
2) Combined unloaded fuel economy greater than 17 MPG (gas). Less concerned with towing economy.
3) Rugged and able to handle the daily abuse that family haulers normally see with children.
4) 2006-2007 vintage
5) Less than 75,000 miles, 60,000 miles is more ideal
6) Major components, engine, transmission, able to last at least until 250K miles.
7) Good rust resistance
Given the above criteria, what would you recommend from the below choices.
BMW X5
Porsche Cayenne S
Land Rover LR3
Chevy Trailblazer
Saab 9-7X (same as the Trailblazer)
Mercedes Benz ML350
Speedy
