A good family vehicle that tows well

[Heym SR20]

I am wanting a vehicle that is:

1) Able to comfortably seat three or four six foot tall people.
2) Be good for long distances - regularly have to drive 600 or 1,000 miles in one go and then have to be intelligent at the other end.
3) Be able to cope with forestry / mountain type roads with snow and mud. Not needing rock crawling off road type performance.
4) be able to tow 3 tonnes

Currently run an A4 Allroad with 140,000 miles. Does all of the above save towing capacity is only 1.9 tonnes.

If a Disco 4 was well built, reliable and not a fortune to run may be an option. I have seriously considered the double cab Pickups, but they are not really 4 seaters. Back seats in the Ranger, D-Max and Hilux are fine for short journeys and carrying luggage but not much more.

What else should I look at?

 

[Swedish]

VW Touareg?

 

[Essex stalker]

I recently purchased a new V6 VW Amarok and have found it very comfortable on 300mile+ trips from Essex to Scotland. Its a decent spec one so not cheap, but very capable

 

[willie_gunn]

What about a late plate Shogun?

No longer imported, but has a towing capacity of 3.5 tonnes, comfortably seats 4, and we’ve taken ours on multiple trips to Scotland each year. Our 67 plate is very comfortable over long distances, and until last year we did the same trip in our older ‘06 plate.

 

[mealiejimmy]

Landcruiser

Cheers

Bruce

 

[takbok]

+1 Landcruiser

 

[Feugh]

Landcruiser, or look again at the latest double-cab hilux.

 

[Pedro]

4X4 vehicles have drawbacks wherever you look really. There's Land Rovers - reliability. There's pickups - midgets only in the back. And so on.

I guess it comes down to what's more important, the mile munching or off-roading. I don't know if you are after new or second hand, but if the A4 has been good to you, how about an A6 Allroad? There's also perhaps some of the so called soft roaders that might fit the bill. A Honda CRV or a Nissan X-Trail spring to mind.

 

[Wilbur]

4X4 vehicles have drawbacks wherever you look really. There's Land Rovers - reliability. There's pickups - midgets only in the back. And so on.

I guess it comes down to what's more important, the mile munching or off-roading. I don't know if you are after new or second hand, but if the A4 has been good to you, how about an A6 Allroad? There's also perhaps some of the so called soft roaders that might fit the bill. A Honda CRV or a Nissan X-Trail spring to mind.

The secret is to put the midget in the front with the seat as far forward as comfortably possible then there’s plenty of room for lurch,w

 

[Donkey Basher]

Discovery 4 - I have had one for 4.5 years & it is by far the most comfortable & easy to drive car I've ever owned. It devours the miles & I can get out the other end fresh & ready to go. Loads of room for tall people & a huge boot.

 

[Pedro]

Discovery 4 - I have had one for 4.5 years & it is by far the most comfortable & easy to drive car I've ever owned. It devours the miles & I can get out the other end fresh & ready to go. Loads of room for tall people & a huge boot.

I've got one too, had it for 6 years. Love it. And you are right, they perform well and are as comfortable as hell. But the reliability issues do persist and they are not cheap to fix. They're complicated beasts and all that entails. It would do the trick for sure, but you've got to take the rough with the smooth. You pays your money, you takes your choice...

 

[jimo]

4X4 vehicles have drawbacks wherever you look really. There's Land Rovers - reliability. There's pickups - midgets only in the back. And so on.

I guess it comes down to what's more important, the mile munching or off-roading. I don't know if you are after new or second hand, but if the A4 has been good to you, how about an A6 Allroad? There's also perhaps some of the so called soft roaders that might fit the bill. A Honda CRV or a Nissan X-Trail spring to mind.

Think those two will only tow two tons. There doesn’t seem to be much that will tow three other than crew cabs. I’ve been looking around as our old Fourtrack can’t keep going forever. Don’t know much about them but came across Sanyong? Reston which some folk liked and has a good reputation as a tower. Think it may be a Merc under a different badge.

 

[Warren79]

I'm a big fan of anything green oval, have you considered a range rover?

 

[mealiejimmy]

I had a Rexton a few years ago and it's a good solid motor.
Merc 2.7 litre diesel and a good ZF gear box.
The new Rextons are a lot less ugly than the one I had.
The big downside is comfort - the suspension is really hard, making long journeys a real nightmare.

Cheers

Bruce

 

[Alantoo]

Audi Q7 or Volvo XC90?

https://cars.usnews.com/cars-trucks/audi-q7-vs-volvo-xc90

Alan

 

[Warren79]

Audi Q7 or Volvo XC90?

https://cars.usnews.com/cars-trucks/audi-q7-vs-volvo-xc90

Alan

I think the towing capacity on these are under 3 tonnes though

 

[HappyHunter]

Will always have a soft spot for the Nissan Terrano and do miss mine. A late plate low mileage one would definitely be worth a look. Mine was an old plate and age got the better of it. Very capable machine though.

One I always considered at the time but have no experience of is the Hyundai Terracan.

 

[Alantoo]

I think the towing capacity on these are under 3 tonnes though

True, the Discovery, Range Rover, Shogun and Land Cruiser would meet the towing spec...but the OP has managed with an A4 up till now and the XC90 jumps it up to 2.4 tonnes.

It is asking a lot...of any vehicle to do the long continental runs as efficiently as the A4. The towing capacity is the bad news economy wise, to take a tractor on long fast motorway trip if the towing is just needed for local-ish hops down to the slipway or out to the hill.

But I thought they were worth the OP considering...I have an XC70 for longer trips and an old Discovery 300tdi for legally heaving the digger around on the trailer...the Volvo is nicer to tow with however...

Alan

 

[paul o']

HSE Freelander 2 auto but they max out at 2000 in the book but its been the only one i dont get a stuffed spine in on long runs .

 

[nick.308]

+1 for toyota landcruiser amazon, 4.2-4.5 litre diesel.
my family have used these for decades towing cattle trailers all over the country. We wouldn't go back to anything less now. This may be overkill for what you want and they aren't the best on economy but they hold their value well. They stopped importing them around 2015 so you will struggle to get a newer one