V-6 Van enough to pull a boat?

[Windy City Walleye Hunter]

The Escape is big enough for me, my three kids are in their mid-20's with kids of their own so I am looking for that vehicle that can get 20+ MPG and tow my 18 foot Lund with a 40 hp 4 stroke and loaded with equipment. I am a larger person so I need a little room to roam in the drivers seat. I currently drive an 01 Malibu and use our full size Dodge conversion van for towing the boat only. I would eventually like to get rid of both vehicles and have just one that would do both.

Any expert opinions out their on the Escape towing capabilities and comfort level compared to a Malibu?

Windy

[Iambjm]

The Escape can tow up to 3500 pounds with the v-6, but I am a larger person and I find the driving a little tight. My husband is even larger and he can barely get in it. My sister and her hubby have the Toyota Highlander Hybrid and that seems a bit roomier. Mine is a 2007, you might want to go to the dealer and check them out for yourself.

[Gus]

I just looked at towing capacity for a Grand Caravan. Pretty weak, only 1000 pounds. Another thing to consider, while most any vehicle can pull a pretty good size load, it may not be able to safely stop one, and handling and suspension issues can send you in a spin or rollover. For what it's worth, I have a 2005 trailblazer with a tow package, and it gets 16 mpg towing my boat which is comparable to yours. It lacks some power, but does fairly well. Without a trailer, it gets 18-20 mpg. Not too bad, but I use my F150 most of the time for hauling anything. The wife gets the new stuff.

Dodge Grand Caravan has been 3600lb towing limit or very close to it for some years when equipped with the tow package. My new 08 says just that in the manual (3600 with tow package) and my fathers 01 and 07 also were at or near 3600lb. I honestly wouldn't recommend towing that much from personal experience. I wouldn't go over 2000. That is about the limit for white knuckle driving IMHO and the mileage is just as bad as in my silverado when towing 2k or more. My boat rig loaded is about 1500lbs and pulls just fine. 18 or 19mpg when pulling it. 25-26mpg without the boat. I have the 3.8L in my van.

[8-Ball]

Gus- We are leaning towards a used Expedition-there is no way I am paying 40K for a vehicle. I figure it can't be much worse mileage wise than my Explorer and w/ 3 kids growing we can use the extra room. I have pretty much canned the van-towing a bigger boat idea, based on research and input from the good people on FM. I am basically going to "drive the Explorer into the ground" and when it croaks and has a proper burial I will then look in earnest for a used Expedition w/relatively low miles-I will stick w/ the 5.4 V-8 as well. Anyone have any thoughts good or bad on '04 or newer Expeditions? I'd like to know...

[Scott K]

You will get better milage with the Expedition then you will with the Explorer! You should expect 15-19 empty then pulling your sized boat about 13-15.

[8-Ball]

4- That is about what I expected. I don't get it. The 5.4 V-8 larger vehicle gets better mpg than a smaller vehicle w/ a 5.0 V-8? Weird. I get about 13 now w/out towing and about 10 w/the boat. Brutal and $$$.