Kia Sportage towing capacity
Discussion
Just about done a deal to buy a 12 plate auto Sportage. Checking the specs from Kia and the manual version can tow 2000Kg but the auto only" 1600Kg.
Now comes the problem. My caravan, an Ace Jubilee has a MTPL of 1685Kg. There's only two of us and we tend to travel light and I've got years of experience towing, so not worried about that, but what's the legality of towing this van with this car? If I had an accident would the insurer wriggle out of paying up or is there any likelihood Mr Plod looked closely at it? Any idea what the potential downside is?
Now comes the problem. My caravan, an Ace Jubilee has a MTPL of 1685Kg. There's only two of us and we tend to travel light and I've got years of experience towing, so not worried about that, but what's the legality of towing this van with this car? If I had an accident would the insurer wriggle out of paying up or is there any likelihood Mr Plod looked closely at it? Any idea what the potential downside is?
This should be of use:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
From what I understand, you should be OK if you don't load to more than the vehicle max (1600kg in this case).
However, I'd be wondering if the Kia was big enough personally.... I tow an Ace Jubilee with MTPLM of 1700kg and my car has a maximum tow capacity of 1900kg.
Also, my Ace has a MIRO of 1530kg, meaning I only have 170kg of loading available.
By the time you have 2 gas bottles (even the Calor Lite are nearly 11kg each full), an awning, some chairs, a fridge of beer and food, your aquarolls, etc. etc. you'd be surprised how little you have left for your own personal stuff liek clothes and toiletries.
I tend to load the awning and any other heavy items in the car because of this.
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
From what I understand, you should be OK if you don't load to more than the vehicle max (1600kg in this case).
However, I'd be wondering if the Kia was big enough personally.... I tow an Ace Jubilee with MTPLM of 1700kg and my car has a maximum tow capacity of 1900kg.
Also, my Ace has a MIRO of 1530kg, meaning I only have 170kg of loading available.
By the time you have 2 gas bottles (even the Calor Lite are nearly 11kg each full), an awning, some chairs, a fridge of beer and food, your aquarolls, etc. etc. you'd be surprised how little you have left for your own personal stuff liek clothes and toiletries.
I tend to load the awning and any other heavy items in the car because of this.
I went through this when I bought my last caravan, and I tow with a manual Sportage.
Your tow car MUST be able to tow at the plated MTPLM and if that figure is greater than your tow cars max tow weight regardless of what the caravan actually weights then you are illegal and can be prosecuted as such. Sorry
So what your proposing is no good.
Your tow car MUST be able to tow at the plated MTPLM and if that figure is greater than your tow cars max tow weight regardless of what the caravan actually weights then you are illegal and can be prosecuted as such. Sorry
So what your proposing is no good.
Barry Ashcroft said:
I went through this when I bought my last caravan, and I tow with a manual Sportage.
Your tow car MUST be able to tow at the plated MTPLM and if that figure is greater than your tow cars max tow weight regardless of what the caravan actually weights then you are illegal and can be prosecuted as such. Sorry
So what your proposing is no good.
Sorry Barry, but I think you're wrong.Your tow car MUST be able to tow at the plated MTPLM and if that figure is greater than your tow cars max tow weight regardless of what the caravan actually weights then you are illegal and can be prosecuted as such. Sorry
So what your proposing is no good.
See the link above and the following paragraph:
FOR B+E LICENCES
Where a towing capacity is listed then this would be a legal example:-
CAR has GVW of 2000 and a towing capacity of 1800
TRAILER has a MAM of 3500 and an unladen weight of 1000
The trailer can be loaded with a maximum weight of 800
Where there is not a towing capacity listed then the GTW is used
GTW minus the GVW does not give the towing capacity unless the vehicle is fully laden
EXAMPLE: -
VAN has GVW of 3500 and GTW of 6000
TRAILER has MAM of 3500
The van and trailer can weigh 3000 each and be legal.
Edited by Rosscow on Wednesday 24th June 06:26
Barry Ashcroft said:
I went through this when I bought my last caravan, and I tow with a manual Sportage.
Your tow car MUST be able to tow at the plated MTPLM and if that figure is greater than your tow cars max tow weight regardless of what the caravan actually weights then you are illegal and can be prosecuted as such. Sorry
So what your proposing is no good.
Did you get your info from the internet myth site ?Your tow car MUST be able to tow at the plated MTPLM and if that figure is greater than your tow cars max tow weight regardless of what the caravan actually weights then you are illegal and can be prosecuted as such. Sorry
So what your proposing is no good.
Wherever you got it from the source needs a serious lesson in the towing laws !!
There is no law or rule which states that the manufacturers vehicle towing capacity must be able to accommodate a trailer MAM/MTPLM
If it did then a lot of LGV articulated trailers would need re-plating perhaps many times daily because the same laws apply across the board
Some useful points here, esp from Rosscow. You're right about the weight of the battery (110AH) and 2xCalor lite cylinders will add appreciably to the all up weight, I'd not thought of those assumed they were part of the van not part of the load, but you're right.
Spoke to the Camping and Caravan Club tech bod yesterday and he says that when car manufacturers set their weight limits it's based on car being fully loaded and with five occupants in the case of the Sportage and the test is the car has to hold and drive away on a 1:8 hill repeatedly without overloading the gearbox, hence the difference in capacity between manual and auto. The CCC's view is whilst my rig doesn't fall in their "recommended" category as long as I keep the van lightly loaded (under 1600) no-one will question me and there's no specific offence. He did put a rider on that. IF I had an accident AND the van was over Kia's recommended max, THEN I could have a problem with insurance. His suggestion was I make sure the van's under the limit by putting the awning and other heavy stuff in the car. Seems sensible.
So seems I'm OK as long as I'm sensible. Only thing is I'm now leaning towards a Ford Kuga instead on the Sportage, just got to wait for senior management to tell me which one I've chosen.
Spoke to the Camping and Caravan Club tech bod yesterday and he says that when car manufacturers set their weight limits it's based on car being fully loaded and with five occupants in the case of the Sportage and the test is the car has to hold and drive away on a 1:8 hill repeatedly without overloading the gearbox, hence the difference in capacity between manual and auto. The CCC's view is whilst my rig doesn't fall in their "recommended" category as long as I keep the van lightly loaded (under 1600) no-one will question me and there's no specific offence. He did put a rider on that. IF I had an accident AND the van was over Kia's recommended max, THEN I could have a problem with insurance. His suggestion was I make sure the van's under the limit by putting the awning and other heavy stuff in the car. Seems sensible.
So seems I'm OK as long as I'm sensible. Only thing is I'm now leaning towards a Ford Kuga instead on the Sportage, just got to wait for senior management to tell me which one I've chosen.
No worries, this is what forums are for!
But if I'm honest, if I were you I'd be looking for a car with a higher towing limit.
Chances are you're going to have about 90kg of payload, and half of that is going to go on your gas bottles and battery. 45kg is not a lot to try and load a caravan with!
But if I'm honest, if I were you I'd be looking for a car with a higher towing limit.
Chances are you're going to have about 90kg of payload, and half of that is going to go on your gas bottles and battery. 45kg is not a lot to try and load a caravan with!
That information was told to me by 3 different caravan dealers and to be honest it made perfect sense to me, they justified it by saying if you had a crash and all your belongings were strewn across the motorway it would be hard to prove the weight of your van so they would go off the plated MPTLM. I'm happy if I'm wrong just hope the OP gets correct advice, better safe than sorry an all that.
It's this statement that would worry me the most
He did put a rider on that. IF I had an accident AND the van was over Kia's recommended max, THEN I could have a problem with insurance. His suggestion was I make sure the van's under the limit by putting the awning and other heavy stuff in the car.
How do you prove you weant over weight and I can see the insurance co just taking the stance that you car shouldn't be towing that van as its plated weight is over the car limit and refusing to pay out
Could be a very expensive error with car and van destroyed potentially
He did put a rider on that. IF I had an accident AND the van was over Kia's recommended max, THEN I could have a problem with insurance. His suggestion was I make sure the van's under the limit by putting the awning and other heavy stuff in the car.
How do you prove you weant over weight and I can see the insurance co just taking the stance that you car shouldn't be towing that van as its plated weight is over the car limit and refusing to pay out
Could be a very expensive error with car and van destroyed potentially
How do they prove that you were overweight?
The law is the law - if the OP was pulled over and weighed and the caravan was found to be under 1600kg then he's within the legal limit.
For what it's worth I do agree that the OP shouldn't buy the car - it just doesn't give enough payload for the caravan IMO.
The law is the law - if the OP was pulled over and weighed and the caravan was found to be under 1600kg then he's within the legal limit.
For what it's worth I do agree that the OP shouldn't buy the car - it just doesn't give enough payload for the caravan IMO.
Barry Ashcroft said:
That information was told to me by 3 different caravan dealers and to be honest it made perfect sense to me, they justified it by saying if you had a crash and all your belongings were strewn across the motorway it would be hard to prove the weight of your van so they would go off the plated MPTLM. I'm happy if I'm wrong just hope the OP gets correct advice, better safe than sorry an all that.
If that was the case then a LGV artic trailer that lost its load would be prosecuted if the total of the unit and trailer plated weights were higher than the plated GTW ? = no way does that happenSome of these dealers really need to beef up on the weight and licence laws
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