Need help finding towing vehicle

Presently I have a 2000 Suzuki Vitara 2 liter 4 cyl. that I love. Unfortunately I just bought a popup camper that weighs about 2500 pounds. The car is way to underpowered to tow it. We had to rent a truck from U-Haul to get the camper home.

I need help finding a vehicle that will tow the camper but I do NOT want to buy a over priced monster sized vehicle to do it.

I want:

Decent gas mileage when not towing (anything over 25 mpg highway)

Has room to carry things not in camper such as medium size dog crate, coolers, chairs, etc.

Can carry at least 4 to 5 passengers (when not carrying the dog crate and coolers... In other words the rear seats lift up.

Around $15 to 20K. The prices of new vehicles is totally stupid.

I kicked around getting a small crew cab truck but most get lousy gas mileage and the ones that do get decent gas mileage have tiny motors that won't pull the trailer.

I have tried talking to various dealers and got nowhere. The salesmen/women either do not have a clue or want to steer me into one of the huge full size trucks that get lousy gas mileage not to mention cost an arm and leg...

I hope someone here would have a suggestion..

A used Astro or Safari van would be great- Just that they get 19 mpg without towing

About the only vehicles I can recommend would be either a Subaru Outback or Forester. They're good, solid cars and you could pick up a nice late-model one for what you're wanting to spend. Their towing capacity is usually around 2700 lbs and I think that either of them would tow your pop-up.

You might check out one of the several Subaru forums on the 'net. I used to own a Subie (until a kid who didn't know squat about towing a trailer hit me and totaled it...). I really liked it and would certainly buy another one.

Good luck!

Dave B.

I came across this when I was searching... I will have to see if I can find some used ones..

https://www.cars.com/articles/top-10-best-compact-suvs-for-towing-1420680544464/

My neighbor who attends vehicle auctions and fixes them up and sells them for a living, just brought home a 2005 Hyundai Santa Fe. He says it is in real good shape. In looking up the stats it should be able to haul my trailer with few problems.

I checked the stats on it and they are as follows:

2005 Hyundai Santa Fe 3.5L
SUV
MPG: Up to 19 city, 25 highway
Towing capacity: 2,700 to 3,300 lbs
Fuel tank capacity: 19 gal
Wheel size: 16" diameter, 6.5" width

Any complaint or good things about this car?

My neighbor who attends vehicle auctions and fixes them up and sells them for a living, just brought home a 2005 Hyundai Santa Fe. He says it is in real good shape. In looking up the stats it should be able to haul my trailer with few problems.

I checked the stats on it and they are as follows:

2005 Hyundai Santa Fe 3.5L
SUV
MPG: Up to 19 city, 25 highway
Towing capacity: 2,700 to 3,300 lbs
Fuel tank capacity: 19 gal
Wheel size: 16" diameter, 6.5" width

Any complaint or good things about this car?

From the past experience I have had with the Hyundai vehicles I would say the Santa Fe Should be a good choice! my son had a car that he drove 4 years and only ever needed to put gas into, There are cars that get better mileage but you will pay more money for!