Welcome to GN forum LL & KT.

As much as I like Jeep . I would consider - where are all th Jeep dealers .

yes I know there are no other brand dealers on th nullabor & other remote places ,

we like to go . In Darwin  in 98 , I had to wait 6 days for some bits to come up from Melb ,

for old Inter , didn't mind as we were staying for 10days . But because of an error by th

'tyre fitter' , it could have been worse. YEAH , seeing ya got th cart 1st(I don't see anything wrong with that)

Make SURE you get a Big enough Horse to Pull it . Not one that will wear out after a lap or two.

Hi Avalon, welcome to the forum.

I went through the same process you are going through now about a year ago, we also ordered our van before we bought a tow vehicle, and by doing so we commited ourselves to a 3.5t towing capacity. All teh advice I have said indicates it is the right way to do it.

I was initially convinced that the jeep was the right vehicle for the job, and out of the contenders it is certainly the best value.

I am still working, and often land up parking in tight spots, so length mattered to me, I drew a line at the 5m mark, and said that is as long as I want to go, thus we excluded all teh twin cab utes, even although we believe some of them are fine tow vehicles (particulatly the Ranger BT50 pair).

We then looked and said what is left that is capable, and that we would want to get into every day. We narrowed the field to four vehicles: Jeep Grand Cherokee, VW Toureg, Land Rover Discovery, and Toyota 200 Series.

The first to go was the Toyota, it feels huge compared with the rest, it has poor fuel consumption, and a real problem with payload if you have a reasonably heavy van. And it is the most expensive of the four.

Next the Jeep went, purely on a cost of ownership, and reliability concerns. However I now believe Fiat are addressing both (Fiat now Own Jeep).

This brought it down to the Toureg or the Discovery, both are nice vehicles, but the Disco feels as if it would be more capable with a heavy trailer. And also when you look back on its history it was developed as a tow vehicle from the start.

We settled on the Discovery, and our van is due to arrive in the next two weeks, so in a few months we will know how good a decision we made.

In this process we heard a lot of people say you should buy this vehicle because you can get parts anywhere, or people in the bush know how to work on them. After a bit of research I discounted this, as no one caries parts for any of the four vehicles I was looking at, they all have to be shipped in from one of the major capitals. And the days of being able to fix a vehicle with fencing wire and a pair of pliers are gone as well, they are all enormously complex, and you fix them by replacing major parts.

If it breaks down, you are at the mercy of the road side assist, and warranty if you have one. Interesting to look at where the roadside assist will actually come to you, how far off the bitumen, if you intend to go off the bitumen.

BTW, I know there are other vehicles out there, this was just the thought process this little black duck went through.

Good luck with your decision.

After considerable research on other sites we have purchased a 2014 Grand Cherokee Laredo Diesel.  

There are other alternatives and we looked at the Territory (what is happening to Ford), the Colorado 7 and MuX, more suitable to off road, Pajero now showing age, all dual cab utes too long to fit in our garage and all Toyotas, Touaregs and Discoverys too dear etc etc.

What may cost more for servicing (according to a lot of non Jeep owners) is more than made up by economy equal to our Santa Fe, the best offered changeover price and the bang for buck.  

The Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo Diesel is the quietest, smoothest and most comfortable vehicle we have ever owned and I would suggest they are well worth your looking at them.  Cricks at Mt Gravatt have provided a great car at a great price.

Regards

Gary