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I posted this before, but it seem appropriate to repeat. About a year ago, the automotive blogs reported a story from a GM engineer who stated that the GM 4.5 V8 turbodiesel that it had developed would get get up to 30 mpg highway in a 3/4 ton 4WD pickup. It was reported to have the same horsepower at the 6.6L Duramax did when it was first introduced. Supposedly the 4.5 had already been tested and EPA certified. When GM got into financial trouble, plans to offer the engine were shelved and no plans have been announced since to make it available. So, there is a vehicle that would meet the OP's needs, but GM won't market it, probably because they think it would steal sales from the 6.6L Duramax that they already offer. No wonder GM had to be bailed out.
Not sure if it would have enough room for you or the towing capacity but the Subaru Forester 2.5 4 cyl is a great car. My GF drives one daily and puts appox 30K per year on the car. It's gets low 20mpg around town and 29/30 mpg on the hwy if you drive at 65mph.
With good tires she has followed me to various lakes and cabins on some pretty nasty back roads without too many issues and I have a lifted locked truck.
If you don't need a true hardcore truck or SUV then the forester is a great choice.
This is a case where you have to give on something. You can do everything but tow in anyone of the "cute-utes" like the Rav4, CRV or Equinox. Of those the Equinox has the most versatile interior owing to the sliding middle bench and is bigger than either of it's rivals. However, in order to tow 3,000 pounds you need to spec the V6 and when you add AWD, your MPG is right back where you are right now. If you skipped on the towing, you could get the I4 with AWD and get mid-upper 20's for MPG.
The Toyota Sienna is available in AWD and would do everything you want, but again, the MPG will suffer and will be about what you currently get.
The Subaru Outback or Forester seems to be the best all around choice, but you had reservations on those do to comfort and MPG.
If it were me, I would see if it was reasonable to give up the towing requirement and then you would have far more options that would meet your needs and return close to 30 MPG.
Here's a novel idea. Keep the van for pulling and the dogs. And get a beater for the rest of the driving.
The downside of that is the double insurance premiums, which will cost more than the beater. Nearly double. You get a second-car discount, maybe a whopping 10%. Woo hoo.
His van liely is epa rated at 19/28 if it averages 21. I thnik the van he has best fulfills his stated needs as not mnay that cqan tow wil average 30 which means the mid 30's highway or at least with any real towing ability.
This is a case where you have to give on something. You can do everything but tow in anyone of the "cute-utes" like the Rav4, CRV or Equinox. Of those the Equinox has the most versatile interior owing to the sliding middle bench and is bigger than either of it's rivals. However, in order to tow 3,000 pounds you need to spec the V6 and when you add AWD, your MPG is right back where you are right now. If you skipped on the towing, you could get the I4 with AWD and get mid-upper 20's for MPG.
The Toyota Sienna is available in AWD and would do everything you want, but again, the MPG will suffer and will be about what you currently get.
The Subaru Outback or Forester seems to be the best all around choice, but you had reservations on those do to comfort and MPG.
If it were me, I would see if it was reasonable to give up the towing requirement and then you would have far more options that would meet your needs and return close to 30 MPG.
The Subaru Outback is currently my top contender. It does everything except tow. I'd still need to keep the van for towing which is something that I was trying to avoid.
If my geography and frequent trips north during the winter were not an issue I'd keep the van and go for a Fiesta, Corolla, Accent or some other higher mpg car for commuting to work.
Not a perfect world. If we truly had a free market then we would have more choices akin to what is offered outside the US.
The downside of that is the double insurance premiums, which will cost more than the beater. Nearly double. You get a second-car discount, maybe a whopping 10%. Woo hoo.
No it doesn't. This is a stupid statement. If you have insurance with a company where the agent can adjust the prices, you are with a crooked company. Any legit company requires there agents to be licensed. So yea, the agent will risk getting their licensed revoked and terminated to give some people a discount. That makes complete sense.
The Subaru Outback is currently my top contender. It does everything except tow. I'd still need to keep the van for towing which is something that I was trying to avoid.
If my geography and frequent trips north during the winter were not an issue I'd keep the van and go for a Fiesta, Corolla, Accent or some other higher mpg car for commuting to work.
Not a perfect world. If we truly had a free market then we would have more choices akin to what is offered outside the US.
I think I just thought of one vehicle that can "do it all" assuming you have the coin. The Toyota Highlander Hybrid. The base model hybrid is well equipped and has a ton of room. It only comes in AWD and is rated 28 city and 28 highway, which it actually gets with many owners reporting better than that. It is also capable of towing up to 3,500 pounds. Only downside is that it costs well over $30k new.
I would recommend checking out the GMC website. The GMC Acadia is a great vehicle. You may lose on some of the MPG ratings but as far as comfort, size, and towing capabilities, you may find it to be a great choice.
It gets 17/24 city/highway MPG. It has a max conventional trailering capability of 5200lbs.
I would check out the gmc.com website for further information. That may help.
I hope this information is useful, good luck with your search.
Brent
GM Customer Service
I guess our customers must have all received the reject Acadia's that GM sent out,
We had nothing but bad transmissions on new and low mileage Acadia's.
Every single one of our GM schooled technicians thought that the Acadia was a dog.
This is not the forum for Manufacturers trying to sell their cars.
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