Most suited tow vehicle / car trailer combo

Chaps,

Have been sat debating a change in direction of late and one option is to build upon my current employment and contacts and look at going it alone moving vehicles around the country. First up, this idea is in its infancy and yes I know there's countless lads with Transit beaver tails knocking around for £40 a lift and shift, but I'd be looking to offer something a bit more plus have a step up as I'm 'trade' as it were and could create opportunities.

So, cutting to the chase... yes I would need to get the appropriate license (currently don't hold BE) but that's a given but what I've been debating of late is what would be a good choice of vehicle to tow with. I've done some thinking myself and in my head, a van would be the most logical option for various reasons however the most prolific being it can also be used to move motorcycles, components, spares, wheels and such like thus opens up new opportunities and the ability to multi-task, which financially would make sense.

So, in short I'd be looking at a Vivaro / Transit / Transporter sort of thing... but in terms of what makes for a good tow vehicle, I'm simply not sure but as far as towing goes it would be a twin axle car trailer, with a view to taking anything up to an SUV so appreciate that could be a potential minefield and that's where I hoped somebody may be able to offer some thoughts or personal experiences on the matter.

Initial set up budget, I have a figure of £10k for a suitable van plus trailer... be it new or very good order second hand thus as a rough fag packet calculation, up to £3k for the trailer, straps and such like, £500 for license thus leaving £5 to £6k for a vehicle which puts me in to 2.5TDI Transporter or 2.5L Vivaro territory, ideally LWB. But really, the finer details are something I need to explore further.

Apologies if it all seems a bit fantasy / vague, but we all have to start somewhere!

Thanks

Cheers, one factor I guess would be running costs.

This was prompted by a run home last night in a friends 2014 Vivaro 1.9 which is seemingly averaging 40mpg... which I deemed as being rather good for what it is, however then prompted to me think that over XXXX miles, towing a laden car trailer would more capacity + more power = better economy.

Then there's the question of reliability, towing will unquestionably put excess strain on the tow car which is why a mate tows with a new Ranger which he deemed far more up to the task than his previous 4 year old Transit (unsure on exact spec) and a nicer place to be to do miles.

Downside is he's lost the van aspect and thus lost a lot of load carrying ability, which has limited his ability to cover lots of bases.

I guess the question is, what is the most robust, comfortable, multi-purpose tow vehicle that offers maximum value for money.

I did debate a D40 Navara..?

Don't forget to budget approx £1k for tachograph & for a 56 plate on- which I'm assuming you are looking at, you'll need a digital rather than analogue plus the download kit, if you run a van rather than a dual purpose vehicle- ie most but not all 4x4s, then O licence another grand or so & all the grief that goes with it too.

Ref vans I've run most, Sprinters, Ivecos, Masters, Mascotts, VW LTs, pros & cons to all, you can get newer Renaults & Ivecos budget wise Vs Mercedes & VW.

The rwd stuff is better hills, wet, snow etc when towing a heavier load, the fwd can cope but is inferior.

I think a Vivaro isn't really up to the job tho folks do use them, what's the train weight? Easy to be over weight with? a full 3.5t on tow, which with a big car or a 4x4 on a proper trailer isn't too hard.

I tow with a LWB Iveco Daily.

You are well in budget for a decent 2007 onwards 35C van.

The 180’s like I have are better but the 150 is fine.

Honestly I don’t think you will beat it for towing unless you go for a 5 tonne Sprinter or Crafter but the engines are absolutely nowhere near as good as the Iveco.

The build quality on the Iveco interior etc isn’t the best admittedly but honestly I’ve just towed 4 tonne (yes overweight) while the van was empty all the way back from Belgium on a tri axle 6.5m trailer and the thing just doesn’t let up it’s got so much power.

Most of the Europeans that we see going too and fro through Dover towing trailers all seem to go for the large van /4 wheel.trailer combo .
Many of the vans have a sleeping area conversion done .
I towed old school the last things I moved . Classic Range Rover/ 4 wheel tilt trailer with a Rover SD1 VDP on board .

Doubt a Vivaro will do unless you’re prepared to turn heavy cars away. Max tow weight is 2 tonnes.

Davie, just spotted you are Scotland based. I've dealt with a few different fellas based there, been a few occasions when I've collected something in Europe that's needed going up or indeed the reverse etc & there isn't the money in the pot for me to do it.

Anyway the reason for there having been a few, is they've all had to give it up as it didn't pay, simply as so many folks on shiply etc doing it for peanuts.

It's a tough game.

A pre 56 big 4L Diesel Landcruiser?

I'd have to agree on the vehicle choice, but if you're towing a 3.5t trailer you're subject to EU driver regs (it's hire and reward in the course of your business) which means tacho, digi card and all the associated joys that come with it!

It's worth compiling a list of potential vehicles then pull all the figures together in terms of weights (Kerb weight, Max tow weight, Maximum Authorised Mass etc) as some of the pickups can happily tow 3.5t but you'd be lucky to be able to carry a passenger at the same time as the MAM is so low.

My suggestion would be a Shogun or early-ish Landcruiser (the full fat one, not the little one). Shogun can be had for less than 10k with sub-100k miles, Landcruiser less so.

That said my parents neighbour had several cars collected and delivered by a guy based in (I think) Manchester, he used a lovely enclosed Brian James trailer and a 300k mile Disco 3. I think it was on it's 2nd or 3rd engine though!

Yes.