SimonJester

Thank you to all who replied to this post. After much deliberation and checking out of vehicles, large and small, we decided to go with a Ford F-150 to replace our Tacoma. We opted for a four wheel drive F-150 with a 5.0 liter V-8. We hauled our Elite II for 1100 miles. We covered the mountains from North Carolina to Southern Pennsylvania along Interstate 81 and then east to Delaware. We averaged 13.5 miles to the gallon. With the Tacoma we averaged 12.9 covering flatter ground. The ride of the F-150 is much smoother and hence the comfort is a couple of orders of magnitude better than the Tacoma, not to mention the additional room in the F-150. Thank you for your consideration! Joe Cox

Russ and Mary, Thank you for your note about your Jeep Grand Cherokee. Have you towed your Elite II in the mountains yet? If so, please comment on how well it did. Thank you! Joe

Thank you, Stan! As a previous German Shepard owner, I understand the room that they can take. What model of Oliver do you all own? Joe Cox

Most of the Tow Vehicle comments in other forums are from pick up truck owners. Being a pickup owner, I understand the pride. However, we need a new tow vehicle, and would live to hear from SUV owners, especially as it relates to pulling an Elite II. Thank you!

We just picked up our Olie last week, an Elite II. Dry, the Olie weighs 5200 pounds. We have a 2016 Tacoma with and automatic transmission and would not recommend that for towing an Elite II. We averaged 13 MPG on a trip from Hohenwald to Webster, Texas, and back to western North Carolina. While the Tacoma would pull the Olie at 70 miles and hour, we felt that 65 was a better speed on the interstates. Most of the time the Tacoma traveled in fifth gear and only on a long level straight stretch of road, would the Tacoma go into sixth gear. We read the article in Trailer Life about a Tacoma pulling an Elite II. We are now in the market for a new tow vehicle... Some other comments on the Tacoma; We find the Tacoma small and not as comfortable our 1999 4Runner that we sold just before we acquired the Tacoma. The doors are smaller and we must both bed down to enter and I stand 5'10" tall. Unladen the gas mileage runs between 20 and 21 MPG. The Tacoma accelerates strongly and will keep up with most any other vehicle. When climbing a long hill while pulling the Olie, the Tacoma would down shift, often times to fourth gear and lower. On a long climb, it occasionally downshifted to third gear and the tachometer showed RPM's between 4000 and 4500. It was LOUD. It pulled it, but it was not a pleasant ride. One positive note, the 40 foot turning radius of the Tacoma made for excellent trailer maneuvering. We read most of the other forums on tow vehicles and we are not looking for a vehicle that will pull at least 8000 pounds. Good luck! More later...