Looking for a vehicle that is economical if there is anything?

[Oldlures]

Hey guys my '00 Ford Expedition that has 180K on it and I am interested in something that will pull a 20ft. Bass Boat with ease, if there is anything out there that will be more economical on gas is there any vehicle of any type on the market? Can anyone shed any light on this subject? I am tired of feeding the petroleum industry!

[jdw174]

There's lots of vehicles out there that will pull a 20' rig with ease......it's the "economical" part that's gonna be hard to come up with. I pull an older TR20 with a V6 Tacoma, and it gets around 14mpg towing, 19 around town, and 23 on a trip. Don't know whether that helps or not.

[davidsa]

No vehicle is going to do well towing a heavy boat and I'm sure you know that.

When not towing, the Honda Pilot 4wd model is the best I've seen on gas. This vehicle has pulled my 19'6 ranger fish and ski very well (about 12mpg) and when not towing gets about 19mpg in mixed driving. On the interstate, about 25mpg.

I was just looking last night at the Toyata Hylander Hybrid but it bearly does better then a standard Hylander or the pilot.

The best strategy to me is to get a lighter boat so you could pull it with a mini-van or something.

[billm_usa1]

to me your best bet would be to keep the Expedition just for towing the boat and get a smaller car for daily use.

[Carter1]

You might want to check out a Toyota Tundra. That is what I hope to buy in a couple of years or so.

[GeoFisher]

The new EcoBoost by Ford in the F-150 is supposed to fit that bill. Great Towing and much better all around fuel economy.

Supposed to get something like 25mph highway and 21 city......AND still have the horses to pull your 3500lb boat..........OH yea.

Later,

Geo

[peter]

My Honda Odyssey gets about identical milage towing and not towing a smaller 2000 LB boat motor trailer, contents as jdw174. My, (your) Buick lesabre also got about the same towing 2000 lbs.

[shakey head]

i have a trailblazer trying to get rid of it pulls my 21ft stratos great... around 13-14 towing and 17-18 in town.... filled it up in burnside and drove to watts bar lake in tn. and back before filling up... only reason i want to sell is need a truck to often to have a SUV.... as far as towing it works great...

[MrSplitshot]

Ford F150 Eco-Boost. Enough said.

[olgreenboat]

I would go with a diesel engine if I could it is going to give you the best of both worlds but on the other side of the coin fuel cost more. I have a flex fuel car ( 07 chevy impala) and the only place close to me to get fuel is louisville and when you use it your milage drops a lot so there is no savings there either. Deisel engines are easy to tweek to get better MPG horsepower and torque and it does not hurt the warrenty.
As far as V6 engines and goes just remember there is no substitute for cubic inches so stay away from small motors.
I have over 30 years of auto mechanic under my belt and now day's it seems one car / truck is pretty much like the other exept for ford's. At any one time you could walk in the shop and 7 out of 10 auto's in there to be repaired would be a ford and they allways cost more for parts and labor The same goes for toyota's and a mazda ,Mazda is a 100% ford drive train with a little sheet metal change.
I'm not trying to turn this into a piszing contest of who make the best truck/car I'm just stating the fax's and in my eye's there all cheep made pieces of shzit.
Sorry

[transamz9]

If you don't mind going used, look at the pre-'07 diesels. I have an '05 Cummins and get 16-18 pulling my Z9 depending on how much of a hurry I'm in. I pull a 40' fifth wheel with the Z9 behind it (around 18,000# and 13' tall) and get 11 MPG running 65-75. Empty everyday cummute is right on 19.5 and 22.5 @75 +- in the long trips. All these #'s are hand calulated. Did I forget to mention no shifting up and down either. I went from a 99 diesel to a 2002 gas once and it didn't take but 6 months for me to get rid of that POS and go back to diesel and will never go back. I also won't get a new one either until they get this emmissions crap straighted out. My current truck should be good for 3-400,000 miles. It has 65,000 on it now.

PS,
I do have a box on it and it is a Mustang/Camaro eater.