08 Dodge Nitro RT or Jeep Grand Cherokee tow Veh

Hey guys,

I just started my first Real job after graduating in May. I'm one step closer to being a boat owner. First i have to buy a new vehicle because I have a 91 ford explorer now which is in bad shape. I'm trying to stay under 20,000 so i'm going to buy used. So if you could give me your personal experiences or thought about each vehicle i would appreicate it.

I am looking at three vehicles. They are all 07-08 models. I am interested in a Dodge Nitro RT, Jeep Grand Cherokee and a Nissan Xterra. I am hoping to buy a boat next spring. I will probally be buying an 03 super air nautique or something along those lines. Don't want anything over 22 ft.

So the nitro RT has a 5000lb towing capacity. It would have the tow package with it and be 4x4. This has the 5 speed auto tranny where as.

The xterra's tow capacity is also 5000lbs. It would also have an auto transmission. It would be the 4x4.

The Jeep cherokee would have the 4.7 v8 and be 4x4. Don't really want the 5.7 hemi unless i absolutley need it. I drive 45 miles round trip to work each day so the hemi would be a little rough on gas. This has a 6500lbs tow capacity. Auto transmisson.

So would Nito RT and the Xterra be able to pull a 04 210 super air comfortablly 40 miles each way every other weekend. Might end up renting a storeage spot and leaving the boat 5 miles from the lake. I'm pretty sure that the jeep would be able to tow it pretty well.

I like the Nitro RT because of its sport performance and looks but don't know if it would be able to get the job done towing. Worried that all three vehicles might have to short of a wheel base. I don't want a pick up truck unless need be.

Find you a good older used vehicle and put the difference towards the boat. The bad thing about tow vehicles is they don't get very good fuel mileage.

$20k will buy you a decent half-ton and a pretty nice commuter car.

So most cars that i listed above aren't going to be a very good option for towing? I wanted something newer that is still covered under warrenty. I am pretty good doing basic repairs on cars such as breaks, waterpumps, new starter, etc..

I figured i will be using my SUV more than a boat so buying something that is used with a lot of miles is a little scary. Don't want to get screwed over and be working on my new purchase a lot.

not flameing but I have allways felt that jeeps do not tow as well as a half ton and needless to say a .75 ton. They have such short wheel bases that towing is given up. The Nitro I do not know much about. BUt I like the idea of the half ton and a commuter. More to insure but the truck NEVER leaves the trailer. I have a 97 f150 with 172k. Runs great. Took it over Eisenhour pass (11000ft) and it ran great. towing a 5000lb boat. I feel not wanting miles on the tow rig. Tough choice. Good luck

IMO none of those cars are good tow vehicles, nor are they good commuter cars. If you only carry liability insurance on the truck as a second vehicle, the additional cost isn't bad. Most vehicles built since the mid-90's are going to be pretty reliable. Plus if one has to be in the shop, you still have wheels. Also if you're buying a home you'll have plenty of other use for a truck.

Of the three the Jeep Grand Cherokee is by far the most acceptable.The 4.7v8 coupled with the 5speed tranny is an excellent combo.That drivetrain is able to tow over 7700lbs in a longer wheelbase vehicle. The Xterra and the Nitro are lighter,less powerful and still bad on gas. I would also recommend looking at a used Tahoe with the 5.3 v8 instead.Forget two cars,between insurance,upkeep,registration you will spend way more than you will save fuel costs.Do the math and you will see I am right.

Grant,

I bought a Jeep Commander limited 3 years ago. It has the V8 in it and recommended towing capacity of 7200 lbs. I think it pulls my 22 foot Moomba around great. Even when I have it loaded with gear and 5 people in the Jeep.
That being said - I know it doesn't tow as well as a 1/2 ton pick up truck, but I am more of an SUV guy.
Now - the idea of a 1/2 ton and a commuter sounds cool.
Or - get an Avalanche.

One other thing to consider is this, when you are done riding for the day, you will be throwing your boards/vests/towels etc into the back of your SUV. I normally have to fit 4 wakeboards, surfboard, and gear into mine. I ended up getting some snowboard racks that will accommodate one wakeboard. I still have wet gear in my Jeep, a truck or Avalanche would be awesome for this....

Doing the math - it's a wash costwise.

The buy-in is fixed at $20k whether buying one vehicle or two. One can also assume that maintenance & upkeep would be a fixed amount because you can only drive one vehicle at a time, so you put X amount of miles on one vehicle or spread between two vehicles.

Annual registration depends on your state, but in TX it's $60 for a half-ton truck, and inspection is $28 for a year.

A second vehicle liability policy on a pickup is about $70/mo for me with a clean record.

45 mi round trip to work is about 1000 mi per month just to and from work, so you are probably putting down around 18k mi/yr. Say you put 12k on the commuter at 30 mpg, and 6k on a truck at 15 mpg, you would burn 400 gal in each vehicle per year, or 800 total. If you put all those miles on just the truck, you'd burn 1200 gal/yr. That's a savings of $1200/yr at $3/gal, which is just a little more than the insurance & registration costs.

Thanks everybody for the input on a vehicle. Still debating on what i want to do. At work we have a craiglist type of deal and there is a 05 accord ex couple with 50000 miles on it and a five speed for 8500 or best offer which sounds like a great deal.

Would have to do some research on owning two cars first. I know i have a very good insurance rate as i've never had an accident or ticket and was a good student driver.

Still seeing what kind of deals i can on a jeep cherokee though. Going to rule out the nitro and xterra basied on short wheel base and not being very spacious. Will keep ya posted.

My family drives a 2000 Grand cherokee from Il to Maine towing a 19 foot i/o. I cant imagine having any issues towing a 22 ft boat 50 miles in a 4.7 v8 grand cherokee.

Get the accord. Then find an old ford or dodge single cab diesel 4x4. Leave it hooked up to the boat. I'm not sure about your boat ramp, but mine is about a 9 out of 10 as far as bad ramps. My 5.4L 2WD F-150 with towing would be the minimum that I would ever try to pull a boat out with. I have an '03 SANTE and I wish I had a diesel, at least a 2WD one. While you could probably pull that boat out with any of your three choices it's gonna depend on ramps. I always say go for more capacity and weight than just enough because you never want to be 'that dude' that has to be pulled out by another truck or burning out up the ramp.

I sold my F-150 for a Prius for gas reasons and wish everyday that I go outside that I had a truck permanently attached to the boat.

For example:

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Haha. One for $4K. Would probably tow for 5 miles at a time


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(Message edited by bmh2208 on August 18, 2009)

That sounds like a deal on the Accord unless it's trashed or salvage titled or something.

Diesel 4x4's are the ultimate tow rig, but given the choice I would rather have a gas 4wd than a 2wd diesel for sketchy ramps. I've seen many 2wd 3/4 and 1 tons not be able to pull a boat up a slick ramp without a lot of tire smoke and buddies jumping up and down in the bed.

As Brandon alludes to, stay far away from pre-Duramax GM diesels.

I have towed my boat with my 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee for the past five years with 0 problems. I usually take it to the river which is about ten miles from my house. I have towed it as far as Shaver Lake up towards Yosemite with no problems. I am actaully going to be selling my jeep within the next month or so if you are interested. Pic to follow...

Hey guys,

Yet again thanks for all of the input. Kind of torn what i'm going to do.

My ramp is extremly steep. My grandfather has giving me a 2004 16ft fishing boat with a 75 force out board. Its an alumium v hull. I tow it with my 91 ford explorer up and down our ramp. My truck slips pretty easily if i don't put it in 4 wheel. The ramp is pretty straight up hill. I leave that boat parked in front of our lake house. Use my step dad's 05 chevy silverado z71 to pull it twice a year from my house to the lake house.

He doesn't like me to use the truck a lot and doesn't want me to get a boat so thats out.

I'm going to call my co-worker and look at the honda. Really want an SUV to be a daily driver and tow decent but doesn't sound like the best option. So it looks like i got some thinking to do. I also want 4 wheel drive because we do get about 20-30 inches of snow here in cincinnati and its just easier to deal with the snow with 4x4

4x4 Diesel Tow rig should be your only choice you look at then. You'll never ever worry about getting out. I've pulled our boat out loaded with people, the tanks full, and in the rain with a 4x4 diesel dodge.

Hey guys,

So i ended up not getting the honda. The guy had a few problems with it and the idea of having 2 vehichles at this time doesn't sound to good to me.

So I only have one other option that i'm looking at before i make a decsion. I can get an 09 chevy colorado crew cab with the 5 cyclinder for 22,000. I have almost seven to put down. The 22 includes dealer incentives and my clunker money. It is capable of towing 5500lbs. Would that be able to tow a boat comfortably like SAM MCGOWEN's above? To use the clunker deal i have to get 18mpg or better which rules out a lot of vehicles.

The idea of having a new car that is under warrenty sounds good to me. Not set on this car
but the tow capacity sounds pretty good. It would have the Z71 package. Anyone with any experience. Breaks are suppose to be much better for 09

A couple of thoughts:

While the Colorado may have a tow rating of 5,500 lbs. I think it would struggle to tow a wakeboat. When you include the trailer, fuel, and gear most of these boats are right at 5,000 lbs. So you would be pushing the limits of that little truck. I don't think it's a good idea to tow so close to your capacity. Have you ever seen a compact truck towing a big boat... I haven't and I think there's a good reason for that.

$22K is way too much money to be paying for a 5 cyl. compact truck with sketchy resale value. If you can swing that kind of money, you are already into 1/2 ton price range... yeah, brand new just like the Colorado. 1/2 ton trucks are high-volume vehicles so the incentives are always crazy... like $10k off sticker and such.

Here are two I just found at my local Ford dealer with a 5 minute internet search. They won't qualify for the Clunker rebate, but who cares at these prices?

Just pick up your local Sunday paper... they are littered with ads just like this one.

I have a 01 GC with the 4.7 V8 2wd and the tow package (I think just a transmission cooler and class III receiver). I just picked up a 00 air nautique and towed it 11 hours (700 mi) back from missouri. It was not like towing behind a 250 diesel, but it went pretty well (even through Dallas Saturday morning traffic on my way back to Austin). I took it out to a steep boat ramp with a low lake level where the end of the ramp was pretty torn up and it pulled the boat out now problem with no slipping. I think the key is keep some good tounge weight on the GC.

Normally, I plan on taking the boat to a ramp about 10 miles away that is decent, so i am in a similar situation, not having to tow too far and I like it. Also, i get great milage in the GC. Typically 17/22 and even got 24mpg on the way up to missouri. Towing I am getting right at about 9.5mpg.

I had been debating whether to get a new truck or not, but the GC is in good shape and I didn;t want to give it away on trade. I am happy I kept it for now.

Had the Nitro, don't bother. Tow capacity is 3500. Then you can bump it to 5000 using an Equalizer, which is a PITA.
I ended up going to a Chevy Avalanche. I can tow more (7700), seat more (6), and gets better mileage.

Don't even think about the Nitro. Go with the GC for sure if it's only those 3 on your list. I would go with the Ford 150 for the price or anything with a V8. The pathfinder is much better than the Xterra. Some 07+ Tahoes would be on my short list and in that price range.

yeah i looked at the pathfinder i really liked it. They hold thier value pretty darn good so its hard to find an 05 or newer for under 20 grand.

I'm now looking at a few options. They are in no particular order

1. NEW 09 Chevy Colorado Crew Cab 4x4 5 cyclinder engine. 5500lb tow capacity... My explorer qualifies for the cash for clunkers

2. USED 06-08 Jeep Grand Cherokee with the 4.7 and 4x4. Worked at Lexus for 2 years as a lot tech durning college. Went up and looked at one yesteday on there lot and mechanics that i knew said they have a lot of tranny problems.

3. USED 06-08 pathfinder.

I really like the idea of having a new car that i'm going to keep for a while.

Just talked to my mom and apprently i could tow my boat down to my lake house and store it 5 miles away in an old walmart that his heated and locked for 65 a month

So i could tow my boat down and leave it there.

Going to go on some test drives next week if my new hire bonus at work clears.

If I was in your situation, I would look at an early 2000 Tahoe or K1500. The 5.3L is not going to overpower you but it gets decent mileage and tows well.

Maybe I wasn't clear enough in my first post... you are nuts if you get a 5 cyl. Colorado when you can have a V8 1/2 ton pickup with a V8 for same price. I don't care what the Colorado claims the tow capacity to be... that thing will suck for tow duty.

If you take away the clunker rebate, you are paying over $25k for that Colorado. Shop smart and you can have a brand new 1/2 ton truck for low-$20's with 8,000 lb. tow capacity. Then sell your Explorer for a few G's and call it a day.

You will be much happier towing with the 1/2 ton than a compact truck. Also, the 1/2 ton trucks are GREAT daily drivers... they drive like Cadillacs... so smooth and quiet inside.