That's a hard choice as it looks like the neither the Touareg nor the CRD get really impressive fuel economy. The 3/4 ton pickups you describe aren't all that comfortable. Newer models have nice interiors, but the ride can get rough and they're difficult to maneuver. If you go that route, I'd recommend the shortest wheelbase possible.

Unfortunately, there aren't any half-ton pickups on the market other than some very old lightweight models. I've seen people do Cummins 4BT conversions into half-ton pickups that get 25-35mpg. However, that's way more effort than many want to put forth. I had dreams of doing that and finally just went and bought a Dodge 2500.

2006 liberty CRD
great gas mileage, 4x4, really comfy, great cargo space, mercedes engine. can't go wrong...

If you are willing to spend *that* kind of money on a car, I would imagine, (or it just sounds like) your wishlist is short on the used cars side.

If you are entertaining thoughts of +$50K cars to purchase, I would venture to assume you're looking for something less than 5 years old.

Personally, I would get the Touareg since I have driven it and I mean *driven* it.
It doesn't have a V12, it has a 5.7L V10 + 2 Turbos. I don't get caught up in #'s of cylinders since that doesn't matter.
The older Dodge Cummins is a slightly larger, 5.9L inline-6 cylinder. Just means it has very big cylinders while the Touareg has a bunch of smaller ones.

The Touareg is a feat of engineering that I would jump at the opportunity to savor on a daily basis. It smears the other cars on your list by a mile. After all, it's not really a VW as much as it is a Diesel Porsche Cayenne. That is the car it was adapted from. The other Touareg's (gassers) pale in comparison to the amazing TDI V10.

My friend has a 2005 (don't get a 2004 whatever you do - lots of defects/recalls etc...) and it's frickin Ba-dass! There is some turbo lag when you hit it, but after a split-second it's like a slingshot. You feel like you're in a muscle car and it still gets about 23MPG (which is what the ML320 and Jeep Cherokee CRD get). That is because of the amazing computer in the Touareg. It isn't really a V12, it's a W12 which means there are two separate crankshafts. It has all sorts of nifty fuel economy tricks that allow it to simultaneously be a beast and also get somewhat reasonable mileage. It is also a super comfy ride. It sounds like a tamed jet engine crossed with a mod'd Cummins. Has a real "semi-truck" sounding engine... and you really hear the turbos.

If you want over 25MPG none of the SUV's on your list are gonna do it. They all get below that.

I would go with another Passat wagon if it were me. I love those cars... they have SOME space in the back for plants, just maybe about a foot less than a Touareg or the others. Is that extra foot (or so) of headroom crucial for transporting these plants?

You may want to double-duty and buy a mid-late 80's Toyota Turbodiesel 4x4 truck w/ a camper shell (I see many in Vancouver, Seattle, SF Bay) for plant-hauling (great MPG) and a Passat for the roadtrips and more civilized duties. God knows, you could get two really NICE specimens of both of those for even less than a used Touareg V10 TDI or a new-ish ML320, GL320 etc...

The Cherokees.. I guess the newer ones are more reliable, but if I were going to enter into a 5-year finance plan with a new diesel SUV, I would wait a year since there are going to be a BUNCH of new models of diesel SUV's getting introduced into the US in the next year.

Maybe try to hold out on spending 50K until there are more attractive choices. Or you could get what you want now and sell it in a year to get whatever newly introduced vehicle appeals to you. Just keep in mind that the 2-3 year old cars will depreciate more (or not be in such limited supply) since there will be so many more diesels to choose from and the used market may be saturated with other people doing the same thing, (selling their 2yr old luxury diesel SUV's to get the brand new "hot" model). Just means more price competition.

We ended up scrapping the "diesel SUV" idea. This might sound strange but we just didn't like the Mercedes SUV's. Or maybe it's that we just don't like SUV's, in general, and there was nothing Mercedes and a $70,000 price tag was going to change about that.

So we got a 2006 Mercedes e300cdi sedan to replace the Passat. Suh-weeet. And we'll sell our 1997 e300d sedan and are planning on getting a diesel truck to replace it.

Thanks again to everyone.

- grey

Only a fool would sell the TDI Passat.