Vehicle advise...

[Dougal Short]

I drive a small AWD car most of the time. I also have a Tahoe, which I use on occasion to pull boats and stuff, in the 4,000# range. I'd like to get rid of both of these vehicles and replace them with one. The small car racks up about 40000 km annually, and another 15000 or so on the truck. Mileage is not hugely important, but certainly a factor.

I've been wondering about a Toyota Tacoma, tarted up some. Does anyone have one? Like it? Do you pull anything with it?

Are their other vehicles I should look at? Powerful enough to pull, but decent economy.

Or is this the vehicular equivalent of a unicorn...

Oh, I don't want to spend a fortune...

Any bright ideas?

 

[HEYHEY]

6 cylinder, 300hp
6,700 lbs towing capacity

8-10 liters/100km on the highway

13-14 liters/100km in the city


Problem with toyota tacoma is that its towing capacity blows, and for the price of a used tacoma you can buy a brand new f150.

 

[SexyFriendsTO]

I drive a small AWD car most of the time. I also have a Tahoe, which I use on occasion to pull boats and stuff, in the 4,000# range. I'd like to get rid of both of these vehicles and replace them with one. The small car racks up about 40000 km annually, and another 15000 or so on the truck. Mileage is not hugely important, but certainly a factor.

I've been wondering about a Toyota Tacoma, tarted up some. Does anyone have one? Like it? Do you pull anything with it?

Are their other vehicles I should look at? Powerful enough to pull, but decent economy.

Or is this the vehicular equivalent of a unicorn...

Oh, I don't want to spend a fortune...

Any bright ideas?

I would get a jeep wrangler. I used to have one when I was younger and those things are really fun off road and in the summer. If you don't have a big boat Jeep can haul it no problem and if you go up north with your boat you will always find some trails to go offroading.

 

[SchlongConery]

Tacoma isn't a good vehicle to regularly tow 4,000#

The new aluminium f150 is an excellent vehicle and there are loads and loads of incentives on right now. Like $10,000 worth of deals.

 

[Richard.TO]

Tacoma isn't a good vehicle to regularly tow 4,000#

The new aluminium f150 is an excellent vehicle and there are loads and loads of incentives on right now. Like $10,000 worth of deals.

Haha in your dreams buddy

 

[SchlongConery]

Haha in your dreams buddy

Ok, "buddy" what exactly is a dream about my post?

 

[anon1]

You drive 55,000 km a year or 1000 km a week
You want a truck to haul 4000#
This is going to be expensive any way you look at it.

 

[brad200]

Take a look at the eco-boost Ford or the 3.6L V6 Ram. You could probably get a decent price on either one. I know someone that got the new F-150 on a 2 yr. lease for $350 a month.

 

[nottyboi]

Take a look at the eco-boost Ford or the 3.6L V6 Ram. You could probably get a decent price on either one. I know someone that got the new F-150 on a 2 yr. lease for $350 a month.

He will mile out such a lease within 8 months based on his miles. The problem is I think it will be hard to not blow much money, because any vehicle that can tow 4K lbs is not gonna be very fuel efficient. Why consolidate? It sounds like you have a pretty good plan now? Is the insurance $$ too much?

 

[DanJ]

It doesn't make sense to me to consolidate into one vehicle that's capable of doing what you need 20% of the time, and paying that fuel bill on the other 80%, when both jobs are so different.

 

[JohnHenry]

He is always better off with one vehicle. The difference in annual fuel usage is less than the insurance on the second vehicle.
40,000km at 6l per 100 = 2400l=$2400.
15,000km at 10l per 100=1500l=$1500

55,000km at 10l per100=5500l=$5500 difference of 1600 per year.
Hopefully he doesn't do the 40k within the GTA.

 

[Ceiling Cat]

Take a look at the eco-boost Ford or the 3.6L V6 Ram. You could probably get a decent price on either one. I know someone that got the new F-150 on a 2 yr. lease for $350 a month.

I have heard the commercials on the radio offering the $350/mo. 2 year leases. I can only guess that there is far more production than there is demand for these trucks before they will pump out these trucks on a two year lease only to get back a depreciated truck to dump on the used market. Several years ago Chrysler had no demand for their Pacifica trucks and had to put out 2 year leases on that vehicle to employees and family of employees and anyone that knew a employees of Chrysler or a family member of an employee for $125 a month just to get rid of them.

Keep in mind that there are some of the most stringent car mileage restrictions coming in 2016 to 2018 to hit the car industry. Some of the car manufacturers are planning 1 liter engines with duel turbo or turbo/supercharged engines to meet these new regulations. Some of the larger engines like will have cylinder deactivation. The new smaller Honda Ridgeline is rumored to have a small V-6 with cylinder deactivation with turbo charging on 3 cylinder operation plus supercharging on 6 cylinder operation.

O.P.

It sound like you are not hard up for the bucks and just want to make the most economical choice. Your best bet may be to wait and see what the new 2016 models have to offer.

 

[Dougal Short]

You drive 55,000 km a year or 1000 km a week
You want a truck to haul 4000#
This is going to be expensive any way you look at it.

Yup... the good news is that 80% of my mileage is legitimately tax-deductible. I've made a point of cultivating some decent clients in cottage country and my employment contract "forces" me to work from home. The minute I leave my driveway, I'm claiming mileage...

 

[Dougal Short]

He will mile out such a lease within 8 months based on his miles. The problem is I think it will be hard to not blow much money, because any vehicle that can tow 4K lbs is not gonna be very fuel efficient. Why consolidate? It sounds like you have a pretty good plan now? Is the insurance $$ too much?

I may be coming to this conclusion...Both my vehicles have a lot of mileage on them now... 260K on the truck, 150K on the car. The car is probably good for another 100K. Even the truck runs like a clock, but there's always something going... wheel bearing etc.

But I'm starting to think that I should maybe just replace the truck with a gently used F150 or something and hang onto the car for a while.

There is certainly a high cost to just having a second vehicle hanging around.

 

[Buick Mackane]

Yup... the good news is that 80% of my mileage is legitimately tax-deductible. I've made a point of cultivating some decent clients in cottage country and my employment contract "forces" me to work from home. The minute I leave my driveway, I'm claiming mileage...

Very sly!
Do you also write-off the boat for entertaining "clients"?

:thumb:

 

[TeasePlease]

Wranglers are fun but not very comfortable or practical in terms of usable space.

Why not a 4Runner? A more livable alternative to the Taco....

 

[HEYHEY]

I would get a jeep wrangler. I used to have one when I was younger and those things are really fun off road and in the summer. If you don't have a big boat Jeep can haul it no problem and if you go up north with your boat you will always find some trails to go offroading.

Fun yes, reliable? Hell no!

 

[bishop]

Jeep wrangler can not tow for sh*t since the wheel base is so short, I think my honda civic is rated to tow bigger loads than my previous car; a jeep wrangler.

 

[DanJ]

I have heard the commercials on the radio offering the $350/mo. 2 year leases. I can only guess that there is far more production than there is demand for these trucks before they will pump out these trucks on a two year lease only to get back a depreciated truck to dump on the used market. Several years ago Chrysler had no demand for their Pacifica trucks and had to put out 2 year leases on that vehicle to employees and family of employees and anyone that knew a employees of Chrysler or a family member of an employee for $125 a month just to get rid of them.

I'm sure these are base model, basic 2 door, probably no features. Both my dad and my wife's dad have 4 door XTR's and they are very nice, but I doubt they are on 350/month leases.

 

[nottyboi]

One option I forgot is to get an F150 and have a dual fuel Propane option. Propane is about 1/2 the price of gasoline. So you will get rid of one car, keep your fuel costs roughly the same and you can write of the conversion kit since it is a business expense. DONE!!!Another option is a used Mercedes ML350 CDi that can pull a boat like that quite easily and still get around 25 mpg...