I am in awe of your thorough post. I am not sure if I can match it with such a cohesive response, but I'll try...Yes, I would guess some would call me complicated. I have been known to "over-research" things and ask lots of questions. To me, its just trying to be safe. I don't want to jump in without (what I feel to be) sufficient information. My resources are limited and I can't afford to make costly mistakes. I get that they will still happen, but whatever I can do to mitigate the risk...

As far as what kind of car guy I am - I like tinkering. That usually involves a lot of learning. I don't have a strong knowledge base, but I am willing to give things a try. I have a motorcycle that I have done some work on. For others it would be considered basic, but big deal for me. I don't have the funds to take it to a shop, so I do what I can. I was able to figure out how to check valve clearance and other things with the use of a forum. I have basic tools and a standard 2 car garage. I don't have a separate space and fancy tools. My wife typically parks in the garage, but I could use the space if I needed to work on something. Regarding time...yeah. I have a lot going on. I could dedicate time at night after my kids are in bed and if something went wrong with a vehicle...would put the time in that needed to be done so I could get it running, but I don't have lots of spare time and I don't have a lot of experience, so that makes projects take longer because I am slow and methodical to try and make sure I don't make things worse.

I cross my fingers for the exact reason you pointed out...I can research up the wazzoo...put sometimes you do all you can and still get hosed. So yes, lots of prayers

You bring up a good point that anyone with a properly modded 6.0 isn't going to let it go for a good price. I think I sometimes get an idea stuck in my head like I'll find a solidly bulletproofed 6.0 under $xxxxx and then never get a vehicle because the goal I set isn't realistic.

Arriving 10 min later wouldn't be so bad, but we took our first trip with our trailer last year to camp on the beach in southern California and the trip took us an extra 3 or 4 hours. Details are fuzzy, but the lasting impression is that it was a nightmare. We were getting blown off the road by passing semis, 6 mpg, and I was sore when we arrived because I was white knuckled for about 10 hours. I wanted to leave the trailer there and just drive home. The drive home wasn't as bad. I dumped all water so somehow we got 8 mpg even though we were driving "uphill" the whole way back. Not as much wind, which made a bid difference, but still not a nice relaxing drive (not to mention 5 kids and all the fun that brings)

I don't know that 10 mpg towing would be a breaking point. Its not ideal, but I get that I'm towing a 6000 lb + parachute, so I need to have realistic expectations. My issue is that people have described the v10 to me as vehicle that gets about 10 mpg no matter what. They say thats just how it is. 10 mpg by itself or towing, around town or hwy, just expect to get about 10 mpg. Under that premise, its hard because when we leave town in any direction we are driving many hours to get somewhere, so getting 10 mpg doesn't sound like a good time, but I realize that some people have experience getting better hwy mpg.

You mention I seem to want full insight to know where things could be in 2025...yeah, that would be nice Who wouldn't want that

Yes, I am willing to pay a fair price for the right vehicle. I do have limits. I am okay with reasonable operating costs, I just can't take on a project or something that will need a lot of money dumped into it. I have been trying to research each of the engines and there is a lot of good information...just so much of it that its hard to digest it all.

You are right, the Mrs always has an opinion. When it comes to cars, its less likely to be a educated one and more to do with cosmetics and creature comforts. She has stated she wants some of the nicer features inside, so I've overlooked XLTs. She has a disgust for 2-tone leather, so I've passed on some eddie bauers, but I've swayed her close to approval on one, but it turned out that even though the seller said it hadn't been in an accident, the carfax showed that with the first owner it had not just been impacted on the side, but "overturned." Don't know it it fully rolled, but if an EX was hit that hard, that it flipped at least on its side, that was likely quite an impact, so I passed. Since I'm the one doing all the research and I know more about vehicle stuff than she does, she is deferring to me quite a bit with this, but she still has some preferences she'll throw out once in a while.

Thanks for taking the time to help me through this process. I really do appreciate it.

 

 

Over all the years I've been here and read the MPG stats posted by others, I have never, EVER come close to some of the upper MPG claims that have been posted here, whether trailering or unloaded. The best MPG's I've achieved with my 7.3L Ex, while pulling my 10k lb travel-trailer was 14mpg. I do Yosemite every year and every year I get 10mpg.

Stewart