Volkswagen SUV Range

The last decade of dual-cab four-wheel-drive utes have emerged as the tow-vehicles of choice, and you see them everywhere filling roles exactly like the one you have planned. Popular models include the Ford Ranger you’ve nominated, Toyota HiLux, Mazda BT-50, VW Amarok, Mitsubishi Triton, Nissan Navara and Isuzu D-Max. But there are also cheaper alternatives including makes like the South-Korean made Ssangyong and various Chinese brands like LDV and Great Wall.

Just make sure you know exactly how much you need to tow before making a decision as some of the cheaper models don’t have the same outright towing capacity and even if they do, some of them don’t have the engine performance to make towing as easy as it should be. For parts availability, the Toyota would be king in really remote areas, but any of the major brands are pretty well covered in Australia.

Meantime, don’t rule out ute-based wagons such as the Ford Everest, Isuzu MU-X, Mitsubishi Pajero Sport and Toyota Fortuna. These offer better ride comfort when unladen thanks to more sophisticated rear suspensions and most have as much or almost as much towing capacity as their ute brethren.

The 2011 R-Line package for the Touareg included plenty of extra kit, so identifying one shouldn’t be a problem. Those extras started with a body kit with a deeper front spoiler, side skirts and a rear roof spoiler. The R-Line package also extended to 20-inch alloy wheels.

Inside, look for stainless-steel kick panels inside each door, a different steering wheel, lots of leather, aluminium gear-selector and pedals and a 12-way electrically adjustable driver’s seat.

This is actually more difficult than it ought to be as VW Australia doesn’t seem to publish a Gross Combination Mass (GCM) figure for the Touareg. Neither is the GCM something you can confidently calculate by adding the Gross Vehicle Mass (GVM) to the maximum towing mass (in the Touareg’s case, 3500kg). That’s because in many cases, a vehicle is not able to tow its maximum towed load while fully loaded itself. These limits are all calculated by the vehicle’s manufacturer and are seriously non-negotiable. It’s a bit of a trap for some owners who hitch up a big caravan or boat, only to discover that they then have very little payload remaining in the vehicle.

In any case, here are the relevant GCM figures for the 2015 Touareg: 150TDI – 6390kg; 180TDI – 6415kg; V8 – 6510kg.