Our 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee might be breaking down on us. We're a small family with a ~5,000 pound RV that we need to be able to tow. We're hoping to spend less than $27k to get something to replace it. Beyond the ability to tow the RV, we really only care about reliability.
Our question is: Which make/model/year of SUVs are good, and which should we avoid?
In order to pull a roughly 5k pound trailer, you want something that can tow about 7k or so.
I would go with Toyota Sequoia.
Thanks for the recommendation! Do you think we should steer clear of any years besides the 2018 that it seems Scotty didn't like?
I would think that anything in your budget would be a bit older. That being the case, just get the best one you can, and you should be fine.
t'd be great to know if, for example, the 07-17 sequoias or the 2020+ sequoias are good.
Why not go to sites like carcomplaints.com to get an idea of what the failure trends and recalls are for specific models?
Interesting website, looks like it could help!
see what's available around you in your budget, then check out scotty's video reviews (bottom of the main page)
We've done a bit of that so far- checked out several videos he made on the jeep grand cherokee, toyota sequoia, ford expedition, and chevy tahoe. We left a little bit unsure because Scotty obviously can't make a video on every year of the makes/models available, and sometimes it seems like "This and that year of this model are okay, but now they're crap." That leaves us unsure if the year we're looking at is still okay to buy. For example, he only made videos on the 2001 - 2007 sequoia, and then made one video on the 2018 sequoia titled: "I'm Calling Out Toyota, Why Did You Make This POS." It'd be great to know if, for example, the 07-17 sequoias or the 2020+ sequoias are good.
Also, sometimes it seems like he just does a diagnosis of the problem with that particular car without giving an explicit "seal of approval" on the car as a whole. We really feel comfortable looking for the cars he recommends in his "top 5 used SUVs" videos, because it seems like he truly recommends each one, but we were hoping to get a bit of an extended list, since we haven't found any of those exact models in our area yet!
Don't pay any attention to the video titles at all. Listen to what he says.
I don't think you need to worry much about the particular year, but I wouldn't go much older than a 2015 Sequoia just due to age. As always get it checked out by a mechanic.
Thanks!
A truck based SUV seems to be the best fit, and the only one isn’t that category I would recommend is the Sequoia.
2015, 2016, 2017 might be interesting years to look at. There were no major changes in those three years, and that generation Sequioa had been out for sometime already.
Thanks, we'll check it out!