Thread: Tow Wagon

So the Mrs has arrived at the arbitrary, unilateral and unconsulted decision that my ute (2015 Colorado) must be sold and a more "family friendly" wagon be obtained. If this was an employment relationship or some other commercial contractual arrangement, I'd be all over it - but it is not. She is the boss and I will do as I am told because it is too cold to sleep in the shed.

The key reason she wants it gone is "it is too big" and "I cant drive it in town" and "Its a manual".

So the brief for the new car is that it has to be automatic, big enough to fit a family of four (plus a dog) and all our gear for a week away, but nice to drive, small enough to parrallel park in town easily, fuel efficient but fast, powerful and able to tow the boat (5.8m Lazercraft on alloy trailer). Needs to have the comfort of a nicely appointed european limo, but with the maintenance and running costs of a jap matchbox/shopping trolley.

Obviously the brief is impossible, so I am going to try out a few at car yards in the near future to see what she can/can't live with.

Key questions I have for you fine folks are
a. "what do you drive and what do you tow?"
b. "does it work for your needs?"

I am particularly interested in the mid sized SUV options (think RAV4, VW Tucson size) as I think that is what she is going to want but I am not sure it will tow my waka. I only live 10 min from the boat ramp that I will launch at 90% of the time, but I would want to be comfortable towing as far north as the BOI or down to the Coromandel.

In a perfect world I would get a Toyota Highlander, but there are two issues I can foresee - With my budget I will be looking at a 2012-2014 model with between 120-150k KM on the clock, and I think she will still have problems driving it in town.

Budget is $30k max and the newer the better as far as I'm concerned.