[The Sod Father]

In addition to the technical points listed above, I would recommend that the buyer also look a the following deciding factors when selecting a tow vehicle-

1) How many people are camping with you? - if you have two kids and your camper is a bunk house, you may need to factor in people capacity. If each kid brings a friend, you now need to transport 6 people while towing the camper. A super crew pick up with a front bench seat will suffice for a short trip, but will get pretty uncomfortable after an hour or so. This was the deciding factor in my getting the Expedition EL. Everyone gets a comfy seat and there is plenty of room in the "way back" for our 100lb dog. Can't do that in a super crew.

2) Will this be your daily driver? - Again, using my case, the Expedition is also my daily driver. And I commute 2 hours a day. A diesel would be a nice option, but in my area diesel fuel is anywhere from 30 to 60 cents more than regular gas. Ergo, my annual fuel costs would increase and I will need to budget accordingly.

3) Alternate use - in addition to towing, what other purpose would your tow vehicle serve? Are you into home improvements or gardening? Then a pick up may be a better option over a full sized SUV. Do you bike, ski, kayak, etc? Will you need an 8' bed for your other toys or will you need to set up a rack system to fit that beautiful new 14' kayak that you just bought? Factor in the cost of the rack system.