Finally time to get a tow vehical. 18 ft I/O bowrider. The Merc, 2005, would have AWD and V8. The Buick, a 2006, could be V8 or a really strong 6,rwd with limited slip or AWD. No hills to worry about. Anybody have an opinion?

AWD drive would be nice in Chicago in the winter. Other than that I don't know anything about either of these vehicles.

If the engine (6)that I am thinking about is in the Buick, it was a big diappointment when people started using them. My BIL was impressed with how well his Explorer towed with the V6 and the 4.6 is a good engine.

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Any particular reason you are not looking for a Chevy TrailBlazer or Ford Exploder?




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I did a quick check with Edmunds and C&D. The Mountaineer is rated a little higher in every major catagory I noticed, including the reviews. The Ranier was not seen favorably in quality and fuel efficiency. With used, it is often more a matter of what you find and what condition it is in.

A good friend of mine has a 2004 Mercury Mountaineer that he bought a couple years ago to tow his Baja Islander. He currently has it for sale on Autotrader. I have personally seen and driven this vehicle, about as clean as they come. If you are interested, PM me and I'll give you his contact info.

2004 Mercury Mountaineer AWD, Premier

The V8 in the Buick (5.3L) will probably out preform the 4.6L used in the Merc. I think I give Merc the +1 on the interior design over the Buick. Quality I think tips back toward Buick. The 4.2L I6 used in the Buick is butterly smooth, so smooth you absolutely cannot feel it at idle. It's a rev happy engine, so it cannot bother you having it rev up to accelerate. Just making a note on that. The V8 in the Buick should come with DOD or AFM, which basically means it goes to 4cyl mode when possible. Back in the day, the V8 was rated a higher fuel economy number on the hwy than the I6 was. Ratings don't mean squat, just making the note on the V8.

A bunch of ramblings without officially recommending one or the other!

I have the Mercury's sister (04 Explorer). It has the 4.6L and I love it.

MIL has an 05 Envoy w/ V6. I will say that is rides better than mine. I would think the Buick would too. Of course, that is only my opinion.

I don't think you can go wrong with either. AWD will come in handy at your local slippery ramp...and the occasional treck to unknown waters.

Friend of mine has an 05 Mountaineer. It is a nice truck, nicely apportioned, but it has the V6 but offers decent power. the Ford engines are usually a bit more torquey than the GM, but the GM are typically smoother. Personally, I am not a fan of the I-6 from GM, seems quite peaky.
His mountaineer though has a lot of wind noise at highway speed. Don't know anything about the Buick, but the Trailblazer I've been in is a little quieter.

Any reason your not looking at a Durango? I've put 30k miles on mine, and not a problem. It only gets around 14mpg though with the hemi...

Thanks all for all input!

Capn-No problem with the TB. I grew up in a Ford family so I look that direction first and have heard mostly good stuff about the Exp/Mtnr. Only Chev I've had threw a rod. But it was beat when I got it and probably not well maintained. I never should have bought it and I don't really hold that experience against the bow ties. The wife like the Merc (chick car?) over the Ford.

Roc-Your friends ride looks showroom new and it is tempting, but I'm trying to find something with 20-30 on the meter.

Fire-Only thing against the Durango is what I have heard about the MPG. 95% of the time this vehick will not be towing, it will be sitting in Chicago traffic, so an xtra couple of MPG will be appreciated though I know I'll still be a regular at the pump no matter what I get.

Why the Buick? Have a Park Ave now. 15 years old, 106k on the meter. No problems, love the comfort, 25mpg on the highway at "left-lane" speeds.

I have also considered the Jeep Commander but am concerned about reliability. Newer Pathfinders also but don't see many for sale.

As kind of a different flavor, look at a Saab 9-7X. They are a Trailblazer with a stiffer frame, and somewhat nicer interiors. They can usually be had pretty cheap as everyone runs from the Saab name.

I am a GM man, myself, so the Buick would be my choice. Actually the Chevy Trailblazer would be my choice and I would get the V8. I don't like that I6, too rev happy and too thirsty for fuel.

I'd sure +1 on Pathfinders. I'm on my second ... bulletproof.
Currently @ 46K with zero issues. Strong V6, tows my 20'er just fine.

everyone runs from the Saab name.[/quote]

WM...Thanks for the input. My only experience with a Saab is pushing a friend's down LSD in Chicago. Vapor lock. Thought for sure my death was imminent.

The true saabs are a little quirky. The 9-7X is as quirky as a chevy.

WM: Ironically, yesterday when I left my office the first thing I saw was the Saab you mentioned. I believe it was the first one I've seen. And to be fair that vapor lock Saab I mentioned was probably an 82 or something like that. I assume they have worked that out.

The main advantage of a late model Mountaineer is it has a 6 speed trans. I think TB magazine did a tow test with midsize SUVs a year or so ago and the 4.6/6 speed out performed a 5.3 powered GMC Envoy, IIRC. I can't comment of the fuel economy of a 5.3 powered Rainer, but from EPA tests, a 5.3 powered TB gets about the same fuel economy as a Suburban.

I will add that a 5.3/4 speed combo is not a great towing combo. The gearing of the trans plane sucks for towing. I just got back from Branson, MO and made up a bunch of words I can't say on the board while Towing our travel trailer up the hills in Missouri with our Suburban, basically ran in second gear listening to the 5.3 scream for mercy. Granted I was pulling nearly 6k lbs up those hills.

Either of your choices will tow an 18 footer w/o a problem.

I've towed my uncle's 23' Sea Fox with his Envoy before, and it did a real nice job. I figure the boat probably weighed 6000lbs on the trailer, and it has a hard top. So its not exactly the most aerodynamic boat. Wasn't a rocket by any means, but it did the job adequately.

And the week before, I used the Envoy to tow a loaded U-Haul trailer from Buffalo to Brunswick, GA -- 1000 miles. Did an awesome job with that. Fuel economy in West Virginia sucked because of the trailer and the hills, but I keep my foot in the throttle -- easily averaged 72mph or greater, probably more like 75 or 80 through there. Fuel economy for the rest of the trip was pretty good with it all loaded up.

It has the 4.2L I6, and is the XL version.

I don't own one, but I do a put a lot of miles on a Buick Ranier. Its our "work truck" that is a retired executive ride so that we don't have to use our own vehicles to go to outlying locations. Even though it is a "work truck" it has lived an easy life. Exec was nice to it, and its me and 2 women that drive it, so it has not lived a hard life at all. It is the 5.3 liter V-8.

FWIW: I'd feel unsafe towing anything with it, and absolutely hate the thing.

The only way I can describe the ride is "squishy". It rides fine going down the road, and is rather smooth. From stop light/sign when you step on the gas it feels like the front end pulls off the ground and you are doing a wheelie. Step on the brakes and it feels as though the rear axle just came off the ground! Go around a corner (even at low speed) and there is a LOT of body roll to it. You'd swear the inside rear tire lifted! I have checked tires on it many times, when it was in the shop they say everything in the suspension is "in order". It has 64,000 miles (90% highway/10% city) and is a 2004. It gets "OK" mileage, 17.5 on average according to the computer in it. But when you give it the gas, it does have plenty of power on tap.

Personally, I'd be scared to death to tow anything with it. With the suspension the way it is combined with the short wheelbase, I just wouldn't feel comfortable towing with it. Doesn't' seem like it would take much to get it out of shape. I have no idea what the tow rating is (has a factory 3" receiver in it) or what rear end it has.

One other odd thing, when I stop at a light sitting in "drive" with my foot on the brake, after about 30 seconds there is a "thunk" and the truck shifts a few inches. It literally sounds/feels like you were bumped lightly from the car behind you. Not a clue what causes it, but really makes you wonder when you look in the rear view mirror and there is no car behind you!!! LoL

Brand names aside, I'd much rather drag a trailer 100 miles with my 1/2 pick up then pull anything across town with our Ranier.

The clunk might be the A/C engaging or disengaging, which can effect RPMS enough to "surge".

Even with the climate control "off" like it was when I was driving it yesterday?

Personally, I think its transmission related, though it shifts fine, but I am also not an mechanic either.

Thanks for the first-hand Jake. What year was that Rain? I've read they did something about that for the 2006 version to make it steadier. Having said that, I drove an '06 over the weekend and came away a bit unsure about it myself. No towing was involved and I pushed it kind of hard in the rain. Not used to an AWD and decided I'll have to give it another try.

Pathfinder is creeping into choice #1, but I'm going to take a few more drives before I do anything. The next decision will be rwd v AWD v 4wd. Most every ramp I use is good and I've read good rwd will do the trick, but of cource I'm torn on that choice also. My main concern there is repair /tire issues down the road. 95% of the time this will just be going around town, so I'm fearfull of having a system I don't need but might have to put big $ into down the line. Snow really isn't a concern. Grew up in Mich driving rwd cars like a nut. Never really been stuck and I actually go out and goof around in it when most others are hunkered down for the monthly storm of the century.

Thanks for all feedback. Anybody with repair stories about 4wd or Awd?

It could also be the "high-speed" clutch engaging on the cooling fan, which places additional load on engine, which is countered by throttle increase.

My Suburban does something very similar except it never happens from a dead stop (unless I'm going from reverse to drive). If I accelerate and let off the gas as the trans upshifts it has a loud clunk. It will also do this under light acceleration when shifting from 2nd to 3rd (very annoying). It has done this the whole time I've owned it. Before and after my trans rebuild. The trans guy told me it's driveline lash and affects many GM trucks and SUVs. Basically their is to much free play somewhere between the trans and the rear end.

The lash is pretty common with all vehicles unless they're top end racing machines.

I did not know your Tranny was rebuilt. What happened?

I did not know your Tranny was rebuilt. What happened?

Made the misfortunate decision to have my trans flushed instead of a standard drain and refill @ 50k miles about 3 years ago. I won't mention where I had the flush done, but it was a place that has a tire name on the building. Had the trans flushed then picked up and made it about 50 feet out of the parking lot when I noticed I was running nearly 4000rpm and going 20mph with nasty shuddering.

Since I opened my big mouth before I had the flush and said that I was getting noticing a hard 2-3 shift they used that against me when I was dealing with their claims department. So we settled on splitting the rebuild 50/50.

The trans shop said he had rebuilt many trans after flushes and said to stay away from them.

As for driveline lash, yes, a lot of vehicles have it, but what I experience seems to be more severe than other vehicles I've driven.

The thunk after coming to a stop, is probably the driveshaft yoke splines binding in the splined shaft coming out of the transfer case (or transmission tail shaft if 2 WD) it's a farily common occurance on both RWD and 4x4 trucks, in fact it was real common on the 99-00 Grand Cherokees and recent Toyota 4 Runners and the Lexus equivalant. The usual cure is to drop the driveshaft and lube the splines. What happens is when you come to a stop, the rear of the truck rises slighlty and that pulls the splines out of the transfer case, and when you ease up on the brake it releases the stored energy in a THUNK. My Grand used to do it also, only in 4x4, it turned out the front shaft was binding on the differential splines, a little marine wheel bearing grease fixed that some years back.

BTW, I would not be wit