What Commercial 4x4 For Towing At Work?

[danyeates]

Hi,

We’re replacing a 12 year old Shogun 2.8 diesel here at work with a new 4x4 on lease as our main tow vehicle. It will be used for towing boats, but needs to look presentable as it will be logo’d up and be used for taking customers for sea trials and collecting customers boats. It needs to tow the maximum 3.5 tonnes.

I would appreciate your opinions and suggestions please.

So far I have suggested the Landrover Discovery 3 or 4 TDV6 which is my favourite. Any comments on reliability and running costs? It will do a lot of miles and will spend most of it’s life toying.

The only other suggestions are Mitsubishi, Nissan and Mazda pick ups and the like.

Thanks,

Dan

Edited by danyeates on Friday 5th February 15:11

[durbster]

Daihatsu Fourtrak?

I'm a bit obsessed with them at the moment

[Sixpackpert]

New Shogun? Looks good IMHO. My Dad runs one, gets about 25-28mpg out of it. Very comfy, pulls well, good off-road.

I have an L200 (new shape), also pulls well, comfy etc etc. Commercial rate company car tax if it's going to be a company car, much better than being spanked for having a Shogun, Disco etc. Just done 60,000 miles with no problems at all.

ETA: Just noticed you said commercial in the thread title so I guess you're looking at the commercial Shogun?

Edited by Sixpackpert on Friday 5th February 15:19

[HellDiver]

Shogun is only rated to 2800kg braked.

Disco 4 is good for 3500kg.

[danyeates]

HellDiver said:

Shogun is only rated to 2800kg braked.

Disco 4 is good for 3500kg.

Yeah, that's why we're looking at the Disco. It's just we have no idea when it comes to running costs. We currently have 2 Shoguns, one is UK, the other is import. One is 1998, the other is 2000 (the newer shape) and they've been costing a fortune to run recently!

[Sixpackpert]

HellDiver said:

Shogun is only rated to 2800kg braked.

Disco 4 is good for 3500kg.

That is true! Same with most of the pickups I should think??

Unimog?

[300bhp/ton]

danyeates said:

Hi,

We’re replacing a 12 year old Shogun 2.8 diesel here at work with a new 4x4 on lease as our main tow vehicle. It will be used for towing boats, but needs to look presentable as it will be logo’d up and be used for taking customers for sea trials and collecting customers boats. It needs to tow the maximum 3.5 tonnes.

I would appreciate your opinions and suggestions please.

So far I have suggested the Landrover Discovery 3 or 4 TDV6 which is my favourite. Any comments on reliability and running costs? It will do a lot of miles and will spend most of it’s life toying.

The only other suggestions are Mitsubishi, Nissan and Mazda pick ups and the like.

Thanks,

Dan

Edited by danyeates on Friday 5th February 15:11

I like the Disco, but if you truly want something impressive, capable and cheap to run then I'd look at some of these:

[hairyben]

Disco will be a far nicer ride than the pick-ups!

Depends on the mindset of the customers you deal with too, what image you want to present- *some* will see the disco as being more ostentatious than an L200/navara etc.

Other options could be a van eg merc vito or sprinter/ vw transporter crewcab/bus variant, all avaliable with 4x4/ pokey diesel engines if needs be.

Edited by hairyben on Friday 5th February 15:56

[danyeates]

300bhp/ton said:

danyeates said:

Hi,

We’re replacing a 12 year old Shogun 2.8 diesel here at work with a new 4x4 on lease as our main tow vehicle. It will be used for towing boats, but needs to look presentable as it will be logo’d up and be used for taking customers for sea trials and collecting customers boats. It needs to tow the maximum 3.5 tonnes.

I would appreciate your opinions and suggestions please.

So far I have suggested the Landrover Discovery 3 or 4 TDV6 which is my favourite. Any comments on reliability and running costs? It will do a lot of miles and will spend most of it’s life toying.

The only other suggestions are Mitsubishi, Nissan and Mazda pick ups and the like.

Thanks,

Dan

Edited by danyeates on Friday 5th February 15:11

I like the Disco, but if you truly want something impressive, capable and cheap to run then I'd look at some of these:

They don't look too cheap to run to me!

Are they available in the UK? Would need to be a UK car on a lease deal. We don't want an import. What is the model of those trucks? Ford F150 and Dodge Ram?

[Chris_w666]

The best things for towing and looking presentable are definetly Land Rovers, depending on what you want a Defender might fit the bill even more suitably than a Discovery 3 or 4.

We have tested some of the pickup off roaders and found them rubbish at towing heavy stuff (L200 and Ranger), the Disco 2 TD5 and Defender TD5 we had were both fantastic at towing on and off road.

[300bhp/ton]

hairyben said:

Disco will be a far nicer ride than the pick-ups!

I think that's open for debate tbh. Ok a poverty spec UK model pickup is pretty pants. But the US ones are generally better equipped than many Bentleys.

Don't forget these trucks are designed to do mega mileages in short time frames. Such as 400,000 miles in 2 years or so.

[danyeates]

hairyben said:

Disco will be a far nicer ride than the pick-ups!

Depends on the mindset of the customers you deal with too, what image you want to present- *some* will see the disco as being more ostentatious than an L200/navara etc.

Other options could be a van eg merc vito or sprinter/ vw transporter crewcab/bus variant, all avaliable with 4x4/ pokey diesel engines if needs be.

Edited by hairyben on Friday 5th February 15:56

Thanks. We're buying a van too. The company usually has a small van or little pick up which doesn't ever tow (currently Proton Jumbuck), a big van which tows (currently a big VW thing, will be a Fiat Ducatti), 2 Shoguns, and 2 work horse pick ups which tows for the service engineers to run about in (currently a Ford Ranger and a Mitsibishi L200).

This is between two sites. We're currently replacing the big van and main 4x4 delivery and customer transport vehicle. They wear VERY quickly. The yards are full of boat trailers and drawbars which get hit and scraped all the time, they tow all the time and they're being dipped in and out of the sea often. Although is anyone were to even get a drop of water on the new 4x4 there would be big trouble!

[300bhp/ton]

danyeates said:

They don't look too cheap to run to me!

In what way?

danyeates said:

Are they available in the UK? Would need to be a UK car on a lease deal. We don't want an import.

Afraid they are only available as imports I think, although Dodge may have imported some Ram's at some point.

Lots of dealers though, so would have thought you could still get a lease deal on one.

danyeates said:

What is the model of those trucks? Ford F150 and Dodge Ram?

Yep Ford F150 and F250
Dodge Ram 1500 and 2500
and Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and 2500

They may not be your thing, but they will be more reliable and cheaper to run than any Land Rover. Very well specced, huge towing and hauling ability, comfy and a good choice of engines.

[danyeates]

300bhp/ton said:

danyeates said:

They don't look too cheap to run to me!

In what way?

danyeates said:

Are they available in the UK? Would need to be a UK car on a lease deal. We don't want an import.

Afraid they are only available as imports I think, although Dodge may have imported some Ram's at some point.

Lots of dealers though, so would have thought you could still get a lease deal on one.

danyeates said:

What is the model of those trucks? Ford F150 and Dodge Ram?

Yep Ford F150 and F250
Dodge Ram 1500 and 2500
and Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and 2500

They may not be your thing, but they will be more reliable and cheaper to run than any Land Rover. Very well specced, huge towing and hauling ability, comfy and a good choice of engines.

I like them, it's just I assumed they were big petrol engines but I guess they do diesel. They certainly look the part!

Ok, thanks. I'll pass it on and we'll look into them.

Dan

[jagracer]

danyeates said:

Hi,

We’re replacing a 12 year old Shogun 2.8 diesel here at work with a new 4x4 on lease as our main tow vehicle. It will be used for towing boats, but needs to look presentable as it will be logo’d up and be used for taking customers for sea trials and collecting customers boats. It needs to tow the maximum 3.5 tonnes.

I would appreciate your opinions and suggestions please.

So far I have suggested the Landrover Discovery 3 or 4 TDV6 which is my favourite. Any comments on reliability and running costs? It will do a lot of miles and will spend most of it’s life toying.

The only other suggestions are Mitsubishi, Nissan and Mazda pick ups and the like.

Thanks,

Dan

Edited by danyeates on Friday 5th February 15:11

What's the overall length of the trailer or boat, whichever is longer?

[hairyben]

300bhp/ton said:

hairyben said:

Disco will be a far nicer ride than the pick-ups!

I think that's open for debate tbh. Ok a poverty spec UK model pickup is pretty pants. But the US ones are generally better equipped than many Bentleys.

Don't forget these trucks are designed to do mega mileages in short time frames. Such as 400,000 miles in 2 years or so.

I was thinking more about the pickups the OP listed as they're known for being commercial biased, are the yankee efforts that much better in terms of handling as opposed to trim, comfy seats etc?

OP: Last guy I knew who used a 4x4 to launch a boat used an explorer on lease and got shot of it before any problems concerning regular salt water washes came about

[danyeates]

jagracer said:

danyeates said:

Hi,

We’re replacing a 12 year old Shogun 2.8 diesel here at work with a new 4x4 on lease as our main tow vehicle. It will be used for towing boats, but needs to look presentable as it will be logo’d up and be used for taking customers for sea trials and collecting customers boats. It needs to tow the maximum 3.5 tonnes.

I would appreciate your opinions and suggestions please.

So far I have suggested the Landrover Discovery 3 or 4 TDV6 which is my favourite. Any comments on reliability and running costs? It will do a lot of miles and will spend most of it’s life toying.

The only other suggestions are Mitsubishi, Nissan and Mazda pick ups and the like.

Thanks,

Dan

Edited by danyeates on Friday 5th February 15:11

What's the overall length of the trailer or boat, whichever is longer?

Could be anything. We're a boat dealer and need to tow up to the UK limit of 3.5 tonnes. Max I would say is a 9 metre boat, plus a bit for the engine and trailer drawbar.

[300bhp/ton]

danyeates said:

300bhp/ton said:

danyeates said:

They don't look too cheap to run to me!

In what way?

danyeates said:

Are they available in the UK? Would need to be a UK car on a lease deal. We don't want an import.

Afraid they are only available as imports I think, although Dodge may have imported some Ram's at some point.

Lots of dealers though, so would have thought you could still get a lease deal on one.

danyeates said:

What is the model of those trucks? Ford F150 and Dodge Ram?

Yep Ford F150 and F250
Dodge Ram 1500 and 2500
and Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and 2500

They may not be your thing, but they will be more reliable and cheaper to run than any Land Rover. Very well specced, huge towing and hauling ability, comfy and a good choice of engines.

I like them, it's just I assumed they were big petrol engines but I guess they do diesel. They certainly look the part!

Ok, thanks. I'll pass it on and we'll look into them.

Dan

If I'm honest I may be totally off my rocker!!!

But I think there is a place for them.

Diesels are available in all the makes, but you'll have to move up to the 2500/F250 class of truck as only petrols are offered otherwise.

[Fane]

You'd get heartily sick of towing with a Defender over long distances, but they do look the coolest....

[richyb]

Nissan Patrol? Not the same comfort as the discovery but good enough and a great tow vehicle.