Tow for the road puts a hitch in their plans

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Hi, Guys: My wife, Susan, and I are about to buy a 19- to 21-foot ultra-lite trailer such as the Surveyor- SP-191T. It weighs, unloaded, 1,270 kg and the GVWR [gross vehicle weight rating]is 1,789 kilograms. This trailer will be used to tour seasonally in Canada and the United States in our retirement. Our present Buick Allure cannot pull this weight. We require a vehicle that will do the job and also be our primary four-door transportation. But we do not want anything that is longer than the Allure. Also, we really are turned off by "pickup trucks." We haven't got a clue what to get. Please help us out. – Logie in Etobicoke, Ont.

Cato: Before you head out on the road, Logie, I want to recommend a very slim book for you: Over The Next Hill: An Ethnography of RVing Seniors in North America.

Dorothy Ayes Counts and David R. Counts are a couple of completely serious anthropologists who spent years studying the RV lifestyle and then produced this book. First edition in 2001, second in 2004. You want to know what it's like to live on the road, dig in. It's brilliant.

The Counts, from Hamilton, Ont., treat RVers like the Parlevar-Tasmanian Aborigines. Believe me, finding the best tow vehicle is the least of your concerns. You go out there with other RVers, you're joining a community.

Vaughan: Logie, you are in luck. Willie Nelson's tour bus is going to be auctioned off in Toronto in October. It's a diesel-powered Eagle motor coach with six beds, twin lounge areas and a modern bathroom.

Given Willie's well-known fondness for smoking a certain plant, I'm sure this old bus will need a good airing out but it'll make you the stars of any trailer park you pull into.

Cato: That's helpful? They're looking for a tow vehicle, not a smelly, ol' On the Road Again motorhome.

Vaughan: At least as helpful as recommending an "ethnography" to turn them into Tasmanian Aborigines. Well maybe Willie's bus isn't entirely appropriate, but it includes a key piece of the puzzle – a diesel engine.

If Logie and Sue are going to be dragging a trailer all over, they want the smoothness, torque and fuel economy of a diesel. A Mercedes ML is top of the line, but very expensive, so maybe look at a Volkswagen Touareg TDI starting at $53,190. Add $705 for the trailer hitch receiver. Tow rating: 3,500, which is superb.

It's the size you're looking for and you'll be impressed with the quality of the interior. You want something comfortable for the long days on the road and the Vee-Dub is first class.

Cato: Ouch – that's nearly twice what they would pay for a new Buick LaCrosse, what the Buick Allure is now called.

Logie, you're a Buick type, you want four doors and all the bells, so let's throw a Buick Enclave into this. GM Canada has thousands of dollars in incentive money in play on this crossover SUV: $4,700 in your basic Cash Delivery Allowance, plus I was able to find another $3,000-$4,000 in additional sales sweeteners, if you're the qualified buyer.

The base price here is $43,685, plus you'll need to buy the $550 trailering package; it bumps your tow rating to 2,041, well within your needs. In any case, the "real" price for a starter Enclave come in around $37,000 or so. That's just a bit more than you'd pay to replace the Allure with the exact same thing, just newer.

Vaughan: That's a good suggestion. The Enclave is the GM unibody SUV that is dressed up as a Chevy Traverse and a GMC Acadia, too. The Buick version has the best interior of the lot.

Buick has quietly built a great reputation for quality in the last few years and the Enclave should be reliable for the long run. The only problem is that there's no diesel available.

Cato: The gas motor is worth 288 hp and 270 lb-ft of torque, so it's fine. And GM throws in OnStar for free – for a limited time – which is a good idea for these road warriors.

Okay, then there's the Honda Pilot. Another steal. Honda has money on these, too – $4,000 for cash buyers, when last I checked. You'll need to get the $392 tow package, which boosts the trailer rating to 1,590 – well within your needs.

Vaughan: I like the pricing of the Pilot and Honda builds great quality, but this isn't the one you want to be sitting in for days on end. The seating is uncomfortable, the ride is rough and all the buttons and controls on the centre console are indecipherable. Buick Enclave if you want gas-power. VW Touareg for diesel.

Cato: They all meet your needs, Logie.

If money's tight, the Enclave. But the VW is the best pure tow vehicle of the bunch and the easiest to park, too. Bite the bullet and treat yourself.

*****

HOW THEY COMPARE

Source: car manufacturers

Jeremy Cato and Michael Vaughan are co-hosts of Car/Business, which appears Fridays at 8 p.m. on Business News Network and Saturdays at 11:30 a.m. on CTV.