[VAL] Economical tow vehicle

["Randy Unter" <runter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Vanessa: I spent some time in Europe a few years ago when gasoline was
"only" $4/US gallon; today it's over $5/gal. My wife is an equestrian so we
were drawn to horse shows. Attending a horse show in rural France, I too was
eager to understand what tow vehicles the French used. Here's what I found:
1.the largest  consumer tow vehicles were small to midsized  Japanese
pickups (Nissin crew cab/4WD). Some arrived with Citron's with very small
trailers with one horse. An occasional V8 powered Mercedes with single horse
trailer was seen.
2. With multiple horses, I saw every configuration one could
imagine-converted school buses, delivery vans with side doors cut in them,
all diesel powered.

I wouldn't mess with any of these in the US. Maintainence is very high on
these.
There were no large American cars, but an occasional Jeep Grand
Cherokee-diesel powered. Suburbans are pretty rare.

Probably your best option that allows easy entry is a 2WD SUV or Pickup.
They are low to the ground and with running boards have easy entry. A Chevy
Suburban w/ 2WD comes to mind with low mileage and good maintenance records.
The Suburbans are durable and fairly cheap to fix, but make sure the engine
checks out in good shape. I had three of them. Great vehicles and very
comfortable.
Also 2WD Explorer w/ V8, or any 2WD pickup. The V8's towing will delivery
the same or better fuel mileage as a 6 cylinder plus deliver better
performance.

Randy