Talk me out of (or into) trading my 2015 Sierra for a 2020 Durango

[LakesideLaw]

Missed the shopping... I just went through the same scenario. Had a 2011 Denali with 105k on it... GM game has gone down in my opinion. I didn’t want another GM. Had a Jeep Commander with the Hemi before and loved it. Drove the Audi and Durango R/T. R/T is like the muscle car of SUVs... found your exact model for a ridiculous price on a trade from a guy who just found out he was having triplets.... he traded a 4 month old R/T with 6k miles on for a Suburban. White with blackout package (stormtrooper) and tow-n-go package and tech... had the racing stripes option but I hated that look and dealer sent it to body shop and they removed them as part of the deal.... looks so much better clean lines and no stripes. it’s awesome and doesn’t take premium fuel like the Audi. German cars will eat you alive at 100k miles... had a Mercedes and every trip to the dealership was $2k once it was out of warranty. Tow-n-go adds the brembo brakes:air stabilization shocks and a bunch of other add ons. Got it for $36k otd... gave me $9k as a trade in. Could not pass it up... and couldn’t be happier with the R/T it’s just a bad ass vehicle to drive yet gets 23mpg highway. I don’t believe the Audi with that much weight can beat it in sport mode off any line. R/T is legit smokes most anything off the line.... now it’s not as luxurious as the Audi but I wanted a tow vehicle with 3 rows that was fun to drive...

Audi is nice no doubt... get an extended warranty!!! Only time I ever advise that is on German cars. Nice when in warranty so get as long of one as you can.

 

[2kwik4u]

Congrats on the car! The interest rate concerns me a bit, assuming you have strong credit. My local CU is doing 2% right now: Credit Unions in Florida | Suncoast Credit Union

I have acceptable credit, not great, but OK.

Best I could get at the credit union that has financed the last 4 cars for me was 4.5%. Wife and I were both ecstatic at 3.99%. Haven't had that low of a rate in many years, most have been around 5-5.5% or so.

Went up and retrieved the Q7 last night. Trip went mostly uneventful aside from being 62 and sunny in Louisville when we left, and being 33, snowing, and 30mph winds when we got to Indy. Everyone in the car was wearing shorts and T-shirts. Didn't even think to check the weather. Made for some interesting "running between car and building" fun.

Q7 is nice. Really nice. Holy shit the cupholders are tiny, there are 1,003,952 buttons and settings to learn, and it feels tiny coming from my Sierra. I'm gonna drive it a few days and work out a small review kind of post. Initial feelings are good about it though.

 

[2kwik4u]

New ride at home.








Ignore the crappy driveway. That's on the spring fix it list.

 

[SCP1]

Looks great, add a picture with the boat behind it.

 

[2kwik4u]

Looks great, add a picture with the boat behind it.

I thought about getting the boat put this weekend just for that. Boat hasn't moved since October, and I'm certain the tires are flat spotted. Hope to have it out in the next few weeks. I'll definitely get a pic when I do.

The all black and white boat, trailer, and SUV should look pretty awesome.

 

[JetJer75]

This isn't quite apples to apples...My wife has a 2011 Durango with the 3.6L, I drive a 2015 Ram with the 5.7 hemi with the 8 speed transmission. The Durango drives like dream, couple it with the Hemi/8 speed and it will be a fun ride. I guess it depends what you do with it, if you tow a lot, though the Durango will have plenty of snot, you may prefer the stance, wheelbase, and Mirrors of the truck. My advice is to hook up the boat to the Durango and try towing/backing before you buy, you may think it's fine....but if it sucks, you'll regret it. I have a friend with a Grand Cherokee, he loves it for driving, but it lacks towing his Malibu, so he's giving it to his wife and looking for a F-150. Good Luck.

 

[Chatt_Jetsetter]

I thought about getting the boat put this weekend just for that. Boat hasn't moved since October, and I'm certain the tires are flat spotted. Hope to have it out in the next few weeks. I'll definitely get a pic when I do.

The all black and white boat, trailer, and SUV should look pretty awesome.

We have a 2012 VW Touareg, the Q7 is its slightly larger brother. Ours has the diesel, I think you've probably got the 3.0L 6 cylinder gas engine? I think 2015 was the last year for the TDI engine in the Q7. Not sure what the tow capacity is, but I bet it has the same specific hitch requirements our Touareg does. VW says 6" from hitch pin to center of the ball. They are the only ones that sell that configuration, but I've purchased two different draw bars now and just had a hole added in the proper place.

The Q7 is beautiful, congrats!

 

[2kwik4u]

Thought I would pop in for a quick update here. Had the Q7 for almost 3 weeks now. It's a mixed bag of good and bad. Mostly good though. We're pretty happy with it.

The good:

• We've already used the 3rd row a few times, and it's great. Worth it for that alone instead of taking two cars.
• Air suspension and 4 wheel steering are great. Really helps the vehicle turn and park and drive like a MUCH smaller vehicle than it is
• It hides it's weight really well. Giant brakes, plenty of power, and great suspension.
• This thing looks AMAZING when it's clean. I'm really really pleased with the aesthetics
• Lake keep assist, adaptive cruise, and all the other tech is great. The virtual cockpit is a pleasure to use, and I LOVE how I can hide the screen in the dash
• There is TONS of power available. The 8spd trans keeps it in the power band well, and is VERY quick to downshift and get the car moving.
• The headlights are great. I forgot how much I missed the exceptional lighting that Audi provides
• Auto-Up all windows......another feature I forgot how much I missed.

The bad:

• We're having a bit of "button overload". There are so many things to adjust, and without a touchscreen they aren't always immediately intuitive. We haven't QUITE gotten a handle on where all the things are to adjust the thing we want to change. Not really a bad thing, just more than we were anticipating to get used to.
• The console is tiny. The Germans clearly don't think you should have anything to store when driving, and if you do it should go somewhere out of reach.
• It's headed into the service department tomorrow with a list of things to get addressed. Drivers seat has a clunk when driving. Rear seat belt doesn't latch, window rattles on drivers side. All things that I think are a symptom of a larger problem.
• Larger problem.......I'm calling this the "Zero Forks Given" vehicle. Chris Harris originally coined this term for an S4 Avant he purchased from some in-laws that was beat to dammit and smelled like dogs. Our Q7 has some serious evidence of the previous owner giving ZERO shits about the vehicle. I've been pulling corn stalks and husks from the radiator and intercooler and suspension every time I drive it. The rear hatch is absolutely beat to dammit. Pretty sure the previous owner was a realtor as there is so much mud underneath, and the rear hatch looks like signs and crap were thrown in there from a distance and then just flopped around while driving like Mario Andretti.
• Part of this I blame on the previous owner, part I blame on the dealership I bought it from. The dealership CLEARLY didn't touch it for a detail. I take some blame as I didn't do an extensive inspection prior to purchase, however it's BAD. I spent 2hrs on Sunday cleaning it up, and got rid of 90% of the mess from the previous owner. Found almost 1/2in of sand under the rear storage floor. Took all of 10min to vacuum and clean out. Just laziness on the previous owner and dealerships part. A "good" detail would have addressed ALL of these issues. It's all just, literally, a lack of cleanliness of the vehicle.
• Likewise to lack of detailing, we found some SERIOUSLY vulgar text messages and phone names left from the previous owner. Things that would make a sailor blush kind of stuff. Apparently dude named his phone "Mother F*%#r" as well, as that was still in the "previously paired bluetooth" list. Again, I feel like this is something the dealership should have taken the 10 minutes to strip out of the vehicle before selling it.

Overall I'm pretty happy with the purchase so far. Less than a month in at this point, but have spent some time in it. Have to see how service goes tomorrow, as well as how it tows the boat before we make a final verdict. So far so good though!

 

[BlkGS]

Gotta say, the Bluetooth part made me laugh. Did mother f***er leave and of the nudes that the ladies were sending him too?

Was it a leased vehicle? I've had quite a few friends who bought off lease vehicles with similar experiences. People treated them like rental cars, because they knew they weren't gonna keep it, so they did everything short of stuff they'd get charged for. Extreme normal wear and tear I'd say.

 

[2kwik4u]

Gotta say, the Bluetooth part made me laugh. Did mother f***er leave and of the nudes that the ladies were sending him too?

Was it a leased vehicle? I've had quite a few friends who bought off lease vehicles with similar experiences. People treated them like rental cars, because they knew they weren't gonna keep it, so they did everything short of stuff they'd get charged for. Extreme normal wear and tear I'd say.

He didn't leave any nudes, but he was clearly sexting with someone.

It was a leased vehicle. Extreme normal wear is a really good way to put it. I don't think they outright abused it, but they clearly gave zero craps about treating it nicely. Previous owners address in NJ (they left it set at "home" in the navigation system) is a GIANT house in a gated community, non-zero chance they had more money than sense as well in this case.

 

[spatty99]

Random FYI for you, I don't think the Q7 has typical tire pressure sensors. Instead they use something like wheel revolutions or something to approximate pressure. It will then show a tire pressure error when there is too much discrepancy in readings.

 

[2kwik4u]

Hooked up the 0FsQ7 to the boat for the first time today. Had to flip the draw bar to get it level(still a little tongue low), and put an anti-rattle bracket on. Gonna tow over to the local truck stop here in a bit to test it out.

Full tow report to follow tonight.

 

[2kwik4u]

Just weighed the whole setup.

Just the Audi ( 1/2 tank of fuel, wife and in the front seats. No kids or gear)


Audi and Boat (boat has 3/4 tank fuel and limited gear)


Doing a little math that puts the AR190 at 3160lbs and a tongue weight of 340lbs (10.7%). I suspect we add 250-350 lbs on a normal weekend in gear and coolers and full fuel tanks. Still plenty of overhead for cargo in both the boat and the SUV.

Snapped these pics at the truck stop.




Going to need to figure out the noise from the hitch. It's HORRIBLE with the ball and draw bar moving around. Any help @swatski or @Julian ????

Heres what the current hitch setup looks like.


Overall it was a pretty good tow. Plenty of power, plenty of chassis and plenty of brakes. I tried both "Dynamic" and "Comfort" drive modes. I prefer Dynamic in general but wife thinks it's a little harsh. Comfort was smoother, but felt more squishy than I like. Four wheel steering makes backing an absolute breeze, can push the trailer then very very quickly swing the truck around and stay inline without overshooting. Active cruise and lane keep assist seemed to work well with the trailer also.

Also have new radial tires on the trailer. I think that helped smooth the ride, but I have no before/after thoughts there. Had bias plys then switched tires and tow vehicles in the off season.

 

[swatski]

Just weighed the whole setup.

Just the Audi ( 1/2 tank of fuel, wife and in the front seats. No kids or gear) View attachment 150177


Audi and Boat (boat has 3/4 tank fuel and limited gear)
View attachment 150178

Doing a little math that puts the AR190 at 3160lbs and a tongue weight of 340lbs (10.7%). I suspect we add 250-350 lbs on a normal weekend in gear and coolers and full fuel tanks. Still plenty of overhead for cargo in both the boat and the SUV.

Snapped these pics at the truck stop.
View attachment 150179

View attachment 150180

Going to need to figure out the noise from the hitch. It's HORRIBLE with the ball and draw bar moving around. Any help @swatski or @Julian ????

Heres what the current hitch setup looks like.
View attachment 150181

Overall it was a pretty good tow. Plenty of power, plenty of chassis and plenty of brakes. I tried both "Dynamic" and "Comfort" drive modes. I prefer Dynamic in general but wife thinks it's a little harsh. Comfort was smoother, but felt more squishy than I like. Four wheel steering makes backing an absolute breeze, can push the trailer then very very quickly swing the truck around and stay inline without overshooting. Active cruise and lane keep assist seemed to work well with the trailer also.

Also have new radial tires on the trailer. I think that helped smooth the ride, but I have no before/after thoughts there. Had bias plys then switched tires and tow vehicles in the off season.

Good deal! Looks great.
I miss my Q7 TDI, a little bit, I would still have it if it wasn't for the diesel fiasco.

I must have posted somewhere on the hitch noise - it was very noticeable! I guess because of the chassis and no truck frame.

I can't remember what I did exactly... it was a trial and error, IIRC a combination of either gorilla or silicone tape and a very tight fitting hitch - I might had been using a mallet actually to get it in and out - it was tight and that worked. I think I also had a bolt to tighten it even more... I'll try to find a pic to jog my memory.

--

 

[SCP1]

Good deal! Looks great.
I miss my Q7 TDI, a little bit, I would still have it if it wasn't for the diesel fiasco.

I must have posted somewhere on the hitch noise - it was very noticeable! I guess because of the chassis and no truck frame.

I can't remember what I did exactly... it was a trial and error, IIRC a combination of either gorilla or silicone tape and a very tight fitting hitch - I might had been using a mallet actually to get it in and out - it was tight and that worked. I think I also had a bolt to tighten it even more... I'll try to find a pic to jog my memory.

--

Look for a bolt assembly to run through, I have one on a Yakima bike carrier and it works great. They must make something similar for regular hitches as I would not trust the bolt for towing a boat (it would probably be fine, but I would error on the side of caution).

 

[2kwik4u]

Look for a bolt assembly to run through, I have one on a Yakima bike carrier and it works great. They must make something similar for regular hitches as I would not trust the bolt for towing a boat (it would probably be fine, but I would error on the side of caution).

I've got one of those plate steel and I bolt clamp things on there already. That seemed to help with the really large "clunks" from the drawbar moving around. This sound is closer to like a grinding or crackling sound. On smooth pavement expressway it's not bad, but turning and bumps in a parking lot sounds ridiculously bad. I've got grease on the ball, maybe not enough? Maybe tighten the locking portion of the ball acceptor on the tongue?

I'm off to Google up a solution. I'm not beyond buying some level of rubber isolation solution here.

 

[2kwik4u]

Also......had a few thoughts last night........just checked Yamahas website. AR190 is listed at 2,441lbs. With my measured weight, that puts the trailer at about 771lbs, which tracks.

Total weight under 3,500lbs does make me feel a bit better about the axle/tire selection. I had estimated the towed weight a little higher at around 4k lbs, glad to see I was wrong there.

 

[2kwik4u]

What about this thing? Anyone have any experience?

Curt Rocker Ball at etrailer

 

[swatski]

What about this thing? Anyone have any experience?

Curt Rocker Ball at etrailer

I don't think that's going to help much, you need to jam a hitch into the receiver, real tight, and use one of those bolt thingies.
The clump with a plate does not work well, but you already know that.

 

[2kwik4u]

Well, I have the clamp with the bolt thing, and now I've added the bolt in pin thing. Neither of those solved the issue.

Not really getting a huge "clunk" anymore, but there is more of a "grinding" or "scraping" sound when turning at really low speeds. Checked the ball, and there is very clear evidence of both of those things. SO........I greased the ball. Nice heavy coating in synthetic bearing grease.



If this doesn't work, I'm gonna try the Curt Rocker Ball. I really thing I need to get some separation from noise and vehicle connection. I suspect the tighter I make the drawbar to hitch connection, the worse the sound transmission is. I really need to get the entire trailer assembly isolated from tow vehicle. If the Rocker Ball doesn't get me there, then I'm going to look into a custom fabricated draw bar with rubber isolation. We design/build isolation assemblies at work all the time, just need to dig into the literature to figure out how to apply that here.

We're headed to the lake in about an hour. Will be about a 60min tow or so, then I'm sure the madness at the ramp will be high. I'll report back on how it does. Initial tow around the block was promising and "seemed" much more quiet. We shall see if the wife can notice. That's the real indicator of improvement!