Tow car advice Jeep Grand Cherokee / Disco 4 / X5

Well what can I say, just take a look at my avatar and says it all. Brilliant towing and very comfortable. Descent fuel consumption for a vehicle nearly 2.5 ton. Loads of extra's as standard on the Jeeps. Hope to change next year for a newer Jeep GC. 

I'm on my 6th Landrover stretching back 25 years and all have been superb tow cars. Currently I have the 3-0ltr Discovery 5  which does 34 mpg solo on mixed running but very little Urban. Towing a large caravan at 1950 kgs I get about 25 mpg. I had the Discovery 4 but a 2010 model which did 31 mpg solo and 25 mpg towing a 1750 kg twin axle. I sold it at 7years old with 85.000 miles on the clock. All have been totally reliable and the only non standard repair was to replace the front shock absorbers after 5 years on a 1993 TD300. Incidentally. Most large, sturdy 4x4s have been designed to take the stress of towing heavy trailers in a way traditional cars could well struggle. Certainly they have  towed over steep mountain  passes over long distances home and abroad without any effort and kept the caravan very stable. The Discovery has air suspension which is a great thing to have, keeping the car level when heavily loaded and allows for a very heavy tow hitch weight allowance. I don't know if the Jeep has air suspension but otherwise expect they will also be very capable tow cars.

Most Grand Cherokee Jeeps have a fancy air suspension 

Trouble with this sort of question you always get the same sort of answer.   Which is I tow with an xxxxx and to be honest mate I can’t fault it.

I tow with a 2015 Touareg which is Euro 6 it has marginally more power and marginally less torque than a D4.  It has lower emissions, and tows our 1900kg van easily  up and down hills and out of muddy fields with ease.  The problem I can see with it, is it doesn’t have the correct badge  on the front.

Ps.   I was talking to an US colleague a couple of weeks he has just bought his first Caravan (trailer). He was concerned that his tow car wasn’t going to be up to job.  I asked what he had.  He told me that it was a 5.7L Grand Cherokee. I think he is wrong btw, it just amused me. 

+1 boff, I’d seek out independent reviews from trusted sources not ‘I drive’ types as not many will admit to spending silly money for a dog of a tugger👍🏻. Plus it usually ends in bickering & a P’ing contest🙄

I'm another fan of the Touareg and have been towing with one for about 6 years. I'm a bit surprised you haven't got that on your list. The current one is the Escape model - which was discontinued in 2016, and has raised and stiffened suspension, diff locks and low ratio box - so it will go almost anywhere.  Indeed, it has pulled a very large motor home off a very muddy CL in the past.

But - I was a Landrover 'fanatic' -as my wife described me - having had 4 Discos in the past and into serious off-roading.  There probably isn't a better vehicle in terms of the compromise between comfort and ability.  However, I did have serious reliability issues with the Disco 4 which seemed to spend as much time with the dealer as it did with me - something I haven't experienced with the Treg.  Most problems were electrical and the most annoying one was when the electronic parking brake locked on and the car just couldn't be shifted!

The VW falls down a lot, in my opinion on load space since it simply doesn't compare with the huge amount in the Disco - but I live with that and can still get a fair amount of gear, including the awning, table and chairs - and all the other junk in it.

That said, as a tow truck, it is every bit as good as the Disco - stable, comfortable and with an incredibly smooth engine and drive train - but like all big 4x4s - heavy on tyres.

Although I'm slightly reluctant to admit it, I don't think I would ever go back to another Disco - and certainly not the latest ugly monstrosity to come out of the Disco stable!

I'm a Disco fan, although I don't always understand why - they can be costly to repair.  The torque converter is going on my Disco 3.  Do I bite the bullet and get it repaired or bite another bullet and replace it.  Common sense says replace it, so I'll probably keep it going for a while and then look for a Disco 4 or 5.

David 

Mine happens to be an Escape.  To non Touareg people, these are quite rare.  Approximately 5% on them were Escape’s.  We have had ours for 18 months and we haven’t used the low ratio or the lockers in anger yet.  However leaving a very wet Bristol ballon festival due operator error ,mine. It managed to tow the 1900kg van from a standing start through a 105 degree right hand turn followed by a left hand hairpin. It was in off road mode and much to everone’s  Surprise especially my own.   The electronic trickery it chugged us through the mud and on our way.   Compared to the previous Pajero and Landcrusier it is much more like driving a (very) large hatchback, rather than a white van.  

I would try and drive some examples of what’s on your wish list. Possibly make two other provisos in terms of must have features, and would like features, and then see how your budget stacks up. 

We have only ever towed with either LR models (Defenders, Disco’s, Range Rover, Freelander) or Jeeps (Wrangler TJ, Cherokee 4.0, Grand Cherokee, Patriot, now a Wrangler JK)

All the above (except the Freelander, didn’t put a towball on) have had fantastic towing capabilities, plenty of torque, excellent at maintaining power up big inclines etc... and differing levels of comfort and gadgets. 

We like LRs, but switched to Jeeps because they gave us better value for money, and better reliability. The one car we should never have traded in was our old Cherokee 4.0, the boxy type. It was dual fuelled with LPG, so despite that big engine, the fuel price differential gave us good MPG figures. And it went like a Bansheee......

Keep an open mind, try out what you fancy.😁

The old adage of "a land rover makes a mechanic out of all its owners"still stands today