Picking the right tow vehicle

[DT6]

Hi,
I could not find a topic for this (specifically), so if there is one please let me know before getting a new one going.
We just purchased a new Escape 19 (yea!). We were purchasing an F150 2.7L V6 w/tow pkg but walked away from a crooked Ford dealer before taking delivery. Now we are opening up our search for a tow vehicle. My question is this: Is it reasonable to consider the small/mid-sizes trucks like a Nissan Frontier or Chevy Colorado for this trailer?
From what I researched the Escape 19 is about 4,000 pounds loaded, and between my wife, our dog, and the rest of our gear in the truck bed we are probably another 1,000 pounds.
Again if this is covered elsewhere, please let me know, otherwise advice is appreciated!
Thanks

[Randy in Maine]

Find another Ford dealer.

[the5reeds]

I bought a 2019 Honda Ridgeline as a tow vehicle for my soon-to-be Escape 19. The AWD version has a 5000# towing capacity. I love the truck and it is getting 26 mpg around town. Not a huge bed, but in my opinion, will be a very well built, reliable and long lasting vehicle. I have always had great luck with Honda and Toyota, and Consumer Report and other review sites gives the truck high marks. I will also be towing with an Andersen LD hitch. My brother has a Ford F150 with the 3.5 turbo and likes it - he tows an Airstream.

[Chama]

We have a mid-sized GMC Canyon DuraMax diesel, rated to tow 7800 lbs. as I recall. We have been towing another 21' trailer with it and it does really well. Comes equipped with in-dash brake controller and exhaust brake for speed control downhill. Gets good mileage and we plan to use it to tow our E 21'. Might check out the Chev Colorado or GMC Canyon (same vehicle mostly) with DuraMax diesel as a tow vehicle. Only knock on it is that the side mirrors really suck for towing and we are planning to replace them with some aftermarket product.

[thiggins]

I fought getting a full size pickup for many years...resistance is futile.

We love our F-150 ( 6 years and 102k miles ) . I'd just find a dealer you can work with, which I know is quite difficult . ( I absolutely detest the retail car business.)

[steve dunham]

Originally Posted by Randy in Maine

Find another Ford dealer.

Amen !!!! Don’t walk away from probably the best truck and tow vehicle on the market because of one dealer

[Chotch]

Think that F150 would be a great fit. I may be a bit biased as my F150 is a great tug for my 5.0TA. Walking away from a bad deal is the smart thing to do, but there must be other dealerships within a reasonable distance. That being said I’m sure any of the truck manufacturers has a vehicle you could be happy with as long as it’s specked out properly.
🤔 where did you get the 4000lb weight? ETI lists the 19 at 5000lbs GVW. When I went looking for a truck I based my needs on the GVW. No one tows an empty trailer. Pay attention to the payload also, in theory your tongue weight could go to 500 lbs.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by Chotch

... where did you get the 4000lb weight? ETI lists the 19 at 5000lbs GVW. When I went looking for a truck I based my needs on the GVW. No one tows an empty trailer.

While no one tows an empty trailer (which could weigh as little as 2,950 pounds dry and with no options), it doesn't need to be loaded to the allowed maximum (GVWR) of 5,000 pounds, either. 4,000 pounds is midway between, and allows half a ton for options, water, propane, and cargo.

As discussed many times, such as in Real world weights of the 19' new generation, 4,000 pounds seems like a reasonable planning value, although having tow vehicle capacity for 5,000 pounds couldn't hurt.

[Chotch]

🤨 No one will be towing empty for sure, but I’ve read on this forum and others about over weight trailers more than a bit. ETI gives the 5k gvw and if I was looking for a new vehicle that’s what I would be looking for, even if I probably never would load it to the max.If I had already had a tow vehicle rated for 4k I’d use it and not loose much sleep but if I went to buy new I wouldn’t be looking at a marginal tow. Why skimp?😎

[NCBill]

Its all about payload. You WILL run out of payload capacity on a pickup truck long before you run out of towing capacity. My F150 is rated to tow up to 9,800 pounds, but I run out of payload capacity with about a 5,000 pound trailer. Still fine for my Escape 19.

Ford payload ratings are all over the map, open the driver's door and read the sticker on the door jam. Some are very low, like 1,100 pounds or so. Mine is 1450 pounds. Subtract all the gear in the bed, passengers, camper top if you use one, any options added after the factory, etc.

Best way to buy a new vehicle IMHO is to buy through Costco. You will likely get the very best deal, and NO GAMES!

[rbryan4]

Good point Bill. There are lots of ways to buy a new vehicle besides visiting a dealer and hoping that they are honest and knowledgeable.

In my case I do use a dealer, but the salesman is an old friend who always plays straight with me. They are also unique in that they only sell Ford trucks - no cars, no SUVs. So their knowledge level far surpasses the other dealers in the area.

Before I was in the market for trucks, I bought a couple other vehicles using the guidance from carbuyingtips.com. It doesn't take much research to find the wholesale/invoice price, dealer hold backs, incentives, rebates, etc. I just plugged those amounts into the carbuyingtips spreadsheet, printed it out and made that offer to a dealer. If they say yes, fine, if no, then walk away. I had to walk away twice, but in both cases that same dealer called me later and accepted my offer. It was WAY below MSRP in both cases. One example: MSRP on an SUV was 46500. Paid 37500.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by NCBill

Best way to buy a new vehicle IMHO is to buy through Costco. You will likely get the very best deal, and NO GAMES!

That's a U.S. thing; in Canada the Ford / Costco deal was just $1000 off at a dealer, and there doesn't seem to be anything now.

[salmo7000]

Last week we picked up our new 19. The import sheet says 3,420 lbs dry weight, with some of the heavier options (thermal windows, extra insulation, air conditioner, oven, power jack, etc). I can't imagine a 19 with a dry weight of 4,000 lbs, even with every option they offer. Our 2017 Colorado duramax towed it home with no trouble, which included several long and steep grades plus interstate and stop and go traffic. While I definitely knew the trailer was back there, the truck did not seem to be working very hard, towing easily at 2,000 rpm or less. The exhaust brake was the BOMB going downhill, holding at 55 mph with no additional braking needed, on an 8% grade. We averaged 31.5 mpg on the way to Chilliwack, and 18 on the way home with the trailer. So far I've been very happy with the truck and think it's a very good match for a 19. I too had a bad experience with a Ford dealer, which is one reason I ended up with the Chevy. It seemed to me that the Chevy dealer was much more willing to work with me and made a great offer. No regrets so far, even though F-150's do have a bit more capabilty, depending on options. Both are fine trucks.

[Dougandlori]

Another vote for GMC Canyon with mini duramax diesel.
Traded in a 3/4 ton ram for the canyon to pull the 21.
I bought the truck first and put a deposit on a 21 this past weekend

[Escape2Yukon]

Very happy so far with our 2018 GMC canyon diesel; especially love the exhaust brake and great gas mileage. Did an admirable job towing our new 21 all the way back from Chilliwack, encountering some pretty high winds and rainstorms along the way, plus northern adventuring since....
As for the side mirrors, we've used a pair of inexpensive clip-on mirrors we found at a local rv dealer, and they've worked just fine!

[Chris & Patricia]

We ended up with an F-150 as we liked the way it drove as a vehicle as well as having more than adequate payload and two capacity. We also like the larger size as we felt that the smaller trucks felt a bit restrictive in size on long journeys, but I have very broad shoulders.

The other thing you could do is find an auto broker to work with.. They work independently of dealers and will work to find you the vehicle with your desired options at a better price than you can get yourself. They will know which dealers are honest and those that aren’t. They can find enough discount to get you a discount and get paid a fee by the dealer so you get a better deal than you might have otherwise got on your own.

[DT6]

Originally Posted by Brian B-P

While no one tows an empty trailer (which could weigh as little as 2,950 pounds dry and with no options), it doesn't need to be loaded to the allowed maximum (GVWR) of 5,000 pounds, either. 4,000 pounds is midway between, and allows half a ton for options, water, propane, and cargo.

As discussed many times, such as in Real world weights of the 19' new generation, 4,000 pounds seems like a reasonable planning value, although having tow vehicle capacity for 5,000 pounds couldn't hurt.

Yep, that is where I got the 4,000 pounds from. Great reference! When I add up the water capacity, plus weight for our typical stuff, I usually end up in the 4,000 pound range or a bit more.

[DT6]

Thank you all! Great advice here, especially for the Canyon diesel. We will be taking a look at that one. I’m also working with some other ford dealers. Biggest problem is the configuration we want is very very hard to find (XLT, supercab, 2.7L, BLIS, tow pkg, nav). Thanks again for the great tips!

[sprinkledavid@gmail.com]

Towed my 19 Escape for 8 years and 65000 miles with only airbags on my 2009 Tacoma...no tow issues over the mountain passes...back of truck had canopy with two paddleboard on top...had a 1 ton Dodge Ram but didn't like it when I unhitched and driving around town and off road.

[NCBill]

If you end up going with Ford, they have three different towing packages. Compare them side to side, IMHO you will want the top tow package.

Having three different versions allows the sales person to tell you “yes this one has THE towing package” when in fact it may have the most basic tow package.