Indecision agony: 10k budget for big SUV tow car: Help?!

[Sibsbibs]

Hi there,
Can you possibly help. I want to get a bigger tow can than my current trusty Outlander - although it manages, it feels a bit of a struggle when fully laden with two weeks worth of holiday gubbins, kids and a caravan hitched up. I like taking it far and wide and, with two weeks in Slovenia booked for the summer, I don't want to put the old girl through that journey with a big load up - she's not getting any younger and I want to add bikes and an inflatable canoe to the already heavy load, if possible.
This is where I need help: I don't want to spend more than 10K, so looking at high mileage 2006-2009 big 4x4s. Discovery 3s are much eulogized for towing and I LOVED being so high up/the general feel when we test drove a few. We nearly got one, but dithered while someone else snaffled it. This gave me time to look again at reliability issues - it seems to have many and since the main reason for buying a bigger car is peace of mind and greater towing stability/experience, buying an unreliable car doesn't seem the ideal solution. I've had Japanese cars forever because they just never go wrong (well, not much), so it makes me wary when branching out.
Anyway, for my budget, the most important things are reliability, towing capability and stability (I'll never need it for a big twin axle, but do want something I can load to the gunnels and still doesn't struggle with my large single axle (around 1,550kg).
Alternatives to a Disco I've looked at are Shoguns, XC90, Touareg, Pathfinder, Range Rover or possibly an M Class Mercedes. If reliability was no object, Disco would win hands down for the boot size, extra seats, ride height, visibility and general feel. But reliability is a big issue for me, so would welcome any advice about my best bet. I don't mind that Discos might be a bit more expensive to service/maintain; what I do mind is the thought of it being happier on the hard shoulder than the open road, combined with massively expensive running repairs. Aside from muddy campsites, not much off-road capability is required - well, none really - this is a dedicated tow car.. Thanks so much for any/all advice.

[Sibsbibs]

Now Landcruisers are interesting, but they seem disproportionately more expensive for the age of car - and hubby thinks we should avoid getting anything older than 2006 if possible because of possible Gov plans to target older diesels for God knows what.... I've not seen newer Landcruisers that come within our budget, so wondered why they are comparatively dear (is it just that they're huge...?).

[Sibsbibs]

Thanks very much for this - yes, Patrols look promising, but fewer come up locally, so less to choose from, which is a bit of a limiting factor. And when comparing prices, this is as expensive as a 2007 disco 3 currently advertised 16 miles up the road with just 94,000 miles on the clock, so looks expensive by comparison (and its 82 miles away - I'm in north Essex). Still, it's Japanese, so am I right to assume I'll spend less time at the garage getting things mended, even with more miles on the clock...?!

[Sibsbibs]

Sorry - I forgot to say: yes, I did like the XC90 a lot when we had a test drive, although it was noisier, lighter and not as roomy as the Disco. But, again, if reliability is much better, I wonder if it's a better bet, since it will still be appreciably more capable at towing than our Outlander, albeit not quite as big a size step up as the Disco 3. Would anyone actually recommend the Disco 3 or would you all avoid at all costs...?

[Sibsbibs]

Actually, Willy Nilly, no one seems to have jumped to the defence of Land Rovers yet; maybe that tells me all I need to know... but don't be shy, Land Rover lovers; do come forward and tell me why they're a good buy... There are a fair few Shoguns about at the moment - and they seem familiar/safe given my current Mitsubishi habit. But I guess they're that bit smaller than the Patrols/land cruisers? And Hiluxes? I hadn't considered pick up type things - do they tow well? They're oddly shaped, but that van-like capacity in the back wouldn't go amiss when it comes to squeezing in one more unnecessary holiday/caravanning accessory.

[Sibsbibs]

Thanks again for the advice - yes, a bit of research about pickups suggests there could be issues with towing too - something to do with suspension/vibrations being unkind to caravans?

I assumed XC60's wouldn't be any advantage over our Outlander, but haven't actually compared kerbweights/size - will do so. We nearly test drove an X5 but when we saw it, the boot seemed tiny compared to others, so we didn't bother (we tote a lot of holiday stuff). But I'll double check - maybe we ruled it out too hastily.

And still no votes for the Disco - which makes me think the nearest Patrol to come up on Autotrader is more and more worth the trip to view, maybe...

[Sibsbibs]

My Outlander is a 2007 diesel - very capable and we'll keep her forever, but would like more towing capability for heavily laden holidays.

Thanks all for the suggestions- will keep on researching

[Sibsbibs]

Thanks for that tyre smoke. Well we have thought of taking the risk on a discovery 3 for that reason - our local mechanic we always use is great - cheap and completely reliable, so a bit of preventative maintenance might just keep us on the road most of the time.

[Sibsbibs]

I tried a jeep Cherokee and couldn't find a comfortable driving position (and didn't really warm to it either - don't really know why...). Anyway, like a moth to a flame, I've gone for a Disco 3 after all - one came up in the same village as our mechanic - a bit older and with more miles than planned, but correspondingly cheaper - with the huge advantage that the Seller didn't blanche at my cheeky request to ''test drive" it down the road to Bob at the garage to give it an inspection for us. Bob didn't identify anything more troubling than slightly uneven wear on one tyre, so the deposit is now paid.

It'll either turn out a marvelous stroke of luck or an unmitigated disaster - but at least it won't cost me quite as much as I originally budgeted for. It's already booked in with Bob for its next service...

Thanks all for your advice - I may or may not regret departing from my Jap fetish...

[Sibsbibs]

Hi ho ho - hubby's upgrading our AA membership as we speak. It just made the round trip to the local Indian without a single warning light coming on. Might make it to Sainsburys tomorrow without incident, then...