The lease on the VW Touareg is about up, so we decided to start looking at our options. I was considering buying out the Touareg, as it’s been a very comfortable vehicle, it’s big enough to tow the trailer, but small enough to fit into the garage. We had to go to a VW dealership to get the details on the buyout, since we’re within 90 days of the end date. The residual was about $25,500, but the “deal” that McDonald VW presented to me had about $6k in fees and crap added to it, making the cost over $31k. Their “offer” for me to buy the vehicle that I’ve been driving and paying for the past three years was about $500/month with $4K down! I quickly realized that I could get something brand new for that much…
I had been looking at options for SUVs that could tow over 7,000 lbs. and there isn’t much that isn’t full sized, or over $75K. I thought that if I wasn’t going to be able to fit it into the garage, and was going to have to pay that much, I might as well look at another pickup truck. My last pickup truck was a 2005 GMC Sierra K2500HD Crew Cab Long Bed with the 6.6L Duramax Diesel, which would cost over $65K now, with similar equipment. In my search, I discovered that GM has a smaller 2.8L inline 4-cylinder Duramax Diesel that they offer in the Chevrolet Colorado or GMC Canyon mid-size pickup since 2016. The small turbo-diesel only makes 181HP, but 369lb/ft of torque, which is 100 more than most of the V6 gas engines, including the Touareg. The 4WD Crew Cab Short Box with the 2.8L Duramax has a towing capacity of 7,600 lbs. which is more than enough for our 27′ Highland Ridge Ultra Lite. And it’s a bonus that even in a higher trim level, the price is under $50K.
We stopped at the Autonation Buick GMC near Park Meadows to check them out on the way home from the VW dealer. They didn’t have any of the Duramax Turbo-Diesel models in stock, but had an SLT with the gas V6 that was similar to a diesel that was available. We took it for a test drive, and were pleasantly surprised at how quiet it was, and how smoothly it rode. Autonation said that they could get the Duramax model that I wanted by Monday, so we made the deal.
Of the 2.8L Duramax models available in the area, the one that caught my attention was a 2019 GMC Canyon Crew Cab Short Box with the All Terrain package, in Dark Sky Metallic. This Limited Promotional Option package is built on the SLT trim level, and includes the Z71 off-road suspension package and Z82 trailering package with integrated trailer brake controller, automatic transfer case, Eaton locking rear axle, with 31″x10.50″ Goodyear Wrangler Duratrac off-road tires on 17″ alloy wheels, leather seats (with red stitching), 3″ black tubular side steps, spray-on bed liner, and all-weather floor liners. It also had the upgraded “infotainment” system with Apple CarPlay. Several of the other vehicles available were Denali, but I don’t really care about all of the extra chrome. The All Terrain has better equipment for towing and off-road, and is a couple grand less expensive.
It doesn’t have all of the bells and whistles that I had on the Touareg, but I’m OK with that. It doesn’t have pushbutton start and keyless entry, but it does have remote start. It’s only a single zone thermostatic temperature control, where the Touareg was dual zones. It doesn’t have the adaptive cruise control and automatic emergency braking. It does have almost 40% more torque, and will get much better fuel economy, especially when towing the trailer. Also, when in Tow/Haul mode, it uses the variable geometry turbocharger as an exhaust brake to help maintain speeds downhill and to assist when braking. I think that it’s going to make an excellent towing vehicle.