You know how it's better to have a friend who owns a boat than to actually own a boat yourself? Well mine wants to stop paying marina fees and start towing his boat to the ramp instead. He's considering a diesel Touareg to pull a 6500 lbs. boat. I don't know a ton about them, but 2 mins on google tells me that it can pull 7700 lbs or more without issue, which may actually be cutting it close when his tanks are full, etc. He's towing on relatively flat terrain, from the Western suburbs of OH to Lake Erie. 40ish miles at most. My main concern with the Touareg is the short wheelbase. I was inclined to recommend a diesel pickup for that reason, but this will be a daily driver for my friend, and his most recent vehicles are a Malibu Maxx and a Mazda CX5... He's just not a truck guy. He will be if he has to, but he'd prefer to be a mid-large SUV guy instead. If he tows 20 times a year (every decent weekend of the summer), does he need a diesel? I know that would pull better, but I'm questioning whether it's necessary for less than 1,000 miles/year of towing. And that 1,000 would be in a perfect scenario where they're on the boat every weekend. I think they'll really use it more like 8-10 times a year.
Didn't VW tow a 747 from a dead stop with one? I think his buddy is looking at the 6. The V10 is rare and almost impossible to find because so few came to the US.
V10 is a very rare find, my buddy had one for a company car before they put a stop order on them. I loved that thing.
Not sure how much a slip cost where you are at, but I would not tow a boat. Been there, done that. PITA compared to just leaving it at a slip. Factor in gas, wear and tear, other costs.. and you wont be saving much. My .02
We'll be out on the boat with them Saturday, so I can see what their current setup is like. I try not to be nosy about costs, but it surprises me a little that they're concerned with money... They have an extremely nice and very large home in an affluent suburb. That said, nobody gets wealthy by writing a bunch of checks.
coming from a cayenne, i can tell you that the previous owner towed his Grady White (dunno which one tho) and his enclosed race car trailer with it. it towed my 6x12 easy. and the 17ft toy hauler (3300 lbs empty = bikes, gear and water (maybe 5k total)) not so easy. short wheelbase is the kicker. mine has air suspension, so i didn't bother putting on a WD hitch. might have helped. hated pulling with it that i ended up getting a truck. but that was also going up and down all those small hills around here. 40 miles flat is doable IMHO.
my friend isn't a dummy, but he's also not mechanically inclined. I think he would rather pay a premium to have the towing process as "idiot-proof" as possible. He's already said that he would prefer to not feel the trailer behind him, which is why he's set on diesels. I'm thinking he'll end up with a really expensive F250, once he sees how nice the interiors are...
....but daily driving one after coming from a freaking Malibu/CX-9 is going to be a shock, in more ways than one.
I'm trying to get more specific specs on his boat. he says 6500 with full gas tanks on the boat. I'll snoop around for more info when I'm on it this weekend.
Pretty much any of the latest 1/2 ton trucks should handle that with ease (maybe save for the bargain V6 fleet trucks). You say he's not a truck guy, but if he hasn't driven some in the last 10 years or so, he may be pleasantly surprised......
They are also nearly impossible to find running........ I like the Touareg and the Q7 but stay away from the V10.
Down in ky there are a lot of places that have very cheap dry storage. You just call ahead and the put it in the water for you. You drive whatever car you want and your boat is waiting for you when you get there.
Over 70% of all Porsches made (going back to 1946) are still on the road today. IIRC, the number I read was 74%. While they do come with a very good warranty, I doubt any of them came with a 70 year warranty.
