If anybody owns an American Car/SUV/Truck I would be grateful for any advice re: potential pitfalls. Obviously there will be a smaller 'market' for the vehicle when I come to sell it and for this reason we will probably keep the vehicle for as long as we can.

Parts availability is one concern as well as mechanical knowledge of any of the break-down services here, should we ever need to call on them. Also, if we were to break down in Europe, would a Ford garage be able to get the information they need to repair our vehicle or are we likely to be stuck abroad with 'computer says no' attitude from service staff?

We need a new (to us) tow vehicle as our 21yr-old V8 Defender is starting to show her age. We pull a twin-axle caravan MTPLM 1750Kgs around the UK but would like to travel further afield, Scandinavia and Spain being two areas of interest. Due to the Landies age we cannot arrange break-down cover overseas so have thus far been limited to holidays in the UK. Nothing wrong with that, but it would occasionally be nice to have some sunshine once in a while!

One income, two children and a wife who will not fly mean that caravanning is our only realistic chance of holidaying; so no comments please about 'selling the tin tent!'

The only European vehicles that will haul our caravan and that I can fit into (due to headroom) are the Land Rover Defender, Discovery 3 and Kia Sedona. The Defender has been ruled out because we have had one for nearly 10 years now and the family are demanding creature comforts like a radio and a heater that works! The Discovery 3 is only just coming into our price range but most vehicles have mileages well in excess of 100,000 miles. The Kia Sedona appears to be a competent tug, but I'm a little concerned about reliability and solidity. Having sat in one at a dealers, it seemed a little plasticky and precious.

The Excursion offers excellent load space, is well-equipped and more importantly sufficient headroom. (unlike the Escalade, Expedition, Yukon and Hummers that I tried)

MPG is not too much of an issue as I average 13.4mpg at present. Rough calculations indicate that I could expect around 18mpg solo but due to its presence and towing capability I don't think that our caravan will take too many mpg's off of that figure.

Any advice would be useful. Constructive comments please....... 'Don't buy it' is an opinion but please support your views with reasoning.

Regards