Used luxury SUV advice please! (to tow 3.5t)

[bluepony]

Hello, I have narrowed down to:
BMW X5 (F15)
Audi Q7 mk1 facelift
Range Rover Sport Mk2

Needs to be able to tow 3.5t and I do just under 20k miles per year (about 15% of that is towing atm)

I have a £14k ish budget, so am looking at cars around 2015 ish
I have had two X5s before (E70 and E53) so am quiet well versed on fixing those and we managed to do a fair few repairs at home (air spring replacements/faulty handbrake/discs and pads etc)
However a change might be nice....

I have tried to find some reliable reliability data (see what I did there!) but it is so confusing. One article from WhatCar put the RR Sport as the 3rd most reliable, and then in the same breath another article says it's the worst. Some articles say the X5 is brilliantly reliable, others say it's awful.

So, if they are all both wonderful and awful depending what you read, which of those options will allow me to repair certain things myself, to keep costs down?
And are any a genuine no-no?
Have I missed an obvious alternative?

ps I have considered Pickups, but they seem expensive for what you get and not great to drive

Thank you!

[loskie]

Touareg ?

[Doofus]

Grand Cherokee Overland. Summit is more luxurious, but will only tow about 3t, not 3.5.

[rallycross]

At that age and price range and a planned 20k miles avoid any Land Rover and Q7.
Touareg 3.0 tdi would be a much safer bet if that has enough towing limit. You’d get a facelift model in your budget they are fairly robust even past 100k miles ( expect a prop shaft refurb along the way).

[unsprung]

Probably making a nuisance of myself, but if you fancy a self import: a used Ford F-150 pickup won't break the bank.

It'll tow more than 6 metric tonnes with capacity to spare.

Runs a version of the "small" 3.5-litre EcoBoost V6. Will run for years and years.

A bit left field, but there we are.

[GeniusOfLove]

Channeling your inner 300bhp/ton with that suggestion

Now off to the "what car to replace a C3 Picasso" thread to suggest a fox body Mustang to do a proper job of it

[troika]

Think I’d buy £5K’s worth of Shogun or similar for towing and spend the rest on something like an E Class.

[jfdi]

Mercedes ML/GL (GLE/GLS in later years) all pretty reliable witn no major issues and well equipped certainly the 3 litre diesels will tow well.

[unsprung]

GeniusOfLove said:

Channeling your inner 300bhp/ton with that suggestion

Now off to the "what car to replace a C3 Picasso" thread to suggest a fox body Mustang to do a proper job of it

Wot?!! A former Citroen driver isn't entitled to 250 percent more torque?

I did acknowledge that the F-150 would be a left-field choice. But... The work that it does when towing is effortless, safe. And doesn't cost the Earth to run.

I'll add that I've enjoyed comments from 300bhp/ton. Does his homework and takes a wide view of the world. Having a laugh now and again is fun, but some here have been hard on him. Never understood why.

[Wheel Turned Out]

Doofus said:

Grand Cherokee Overland. Summit is more luxurious, but will only tow about 3t, not 3.5.

This. The Cherokees often get overlooked, but are very capable and quite well equipped.

[rallycross]

unsprung said:

Wot?!! A former Citroen driver isn't entitled to 250 percent more torque?

I did acknowledge that the F-150 would be a left-field choice. But... The work that it does when towing is effortless, safe. And doesn't cost the Earth to run.

I'll add that I've enjoyed comments from 300bhp/ton. Does his homework and takes a wide view of the world. Having a laugh now and again is fun, but some here have been hard on him. Never understood why.

F150 great for towing .
300 was an annoying **** but he certainly came up with some interesting / different views that no one else would have thought of (About 15,000 of them!).

[ZX10R NIN]

ML 350 would be my pick:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202406070...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202407181...

Cayenne:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202407302...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202406271...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202407091...

Touareg R Line:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202406200...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202407262...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202407081...

[bluepony]

Thanks everyone!

[bluepony]

Thanks everyone!

[Register1]

loskie said:

Touareg ?

I would also say a 2013 to 2016 Touareg

[Allmyown]

The Touaregs fly under the radar.
Big enough, not too big.
Loads of grunty pulling power.

[55palfers]

Have you considered a G350?

[66HFM]

Register1 said:

I would also say a 2013 to 2016 Touareg

Wasn't it 5th Gear who used a Touareg to tow an aeroplane or is my memory fading me...?

[ScoobyChris]

66HFM said:

Wasn't it 5th Gear who used a Touareg to tow an aeroplane or is my memory fading me...?

It did but think that was the V10 diesel

Chris

[wol]

Register1 said:

I would also say a 2013 to 2016 Touareg

Without dragging this off topic too much, could you elaborate as to why those years?