£1500 tow vehicle
Author
Discussion

chassis 33

Original Poster:

6,194 posts

311 months

Tuesday 16th August 2005
quotequote all
I'm going to need a tow vehicle for the race car next year, so in the best PH tradition, what do you guys recommend, ideally it's diesel and could be used as a daily driver too?

On the 4x4 front I'm thinking early '90s Trooper/Patrol type thing or a 3 door Disco 200TDi

Or a Transit-esque van, not so good on the daily driver front, image-wise anyway, or commercial Disco.

Or large saloon/estate?

Regards
Iain

punto1986

364 posts

253 months

Tuesday 16th August 2005
quotequote all
try this

http://motors.ebay.co.uk/

hope you find something

justayellowbadge

37,057 posts

271 months

Tuesday 16th August 2005
quotequote all
Saab 9000?

dern

14,055 posts

308 months

Tuesday 16th August 2005
quotequote all
What are you going to tow? Our v6 mondeo towed an mgbgt on a double axled trailer at 80 and it was perfectly stable but I wouldn't want to tow anything heavier (apart from anything else it would go over the max towing weight).

Mark

chassis 33

Original Poster:

6,194 posts

311 months

Tuesday 16th August 2005
quotequote all
punto1986 said:
try this

http://motors.ebay.co.uk/

hope you find something


...erm thanks...let me guess, I'll be trying www.autotrader.co.uk as well right?

Regards
Iain

planetdave

9,922 posts

282 months

Tuesday 16th August 2005
quotequote all
dern said:
What are you going to tow? Our v6 mondeo towed an mgbgt on a double axled trailer at 80 and it was perfectly stable but I wouldn't want to tow anything heavier (apart from anything else it would go over the max towing weight).

Mark


Lost for words on this one.

Podie

46,649 posts

304 months

Tuesday 16th August 2005
quotequote all
chassis 33 said:

punto1986 said:
try this

<a href="http://motors.ebay.co.uk/">http://motors.ebay.co.uk/</a>

hope you find something



...erm thanks...let me guess, I'll be trying www.autotrader.co.uk as well right?

Regards
Iain




Could try a Ford Scorpio... although they can be a bit long in the tooth. Volvo V70's seem to come up fairly cheaply... or even a Pug 605...?

chassis 33

Original Poster:

6,194 posts

311 months

Tuesday 16th August 2005
quotequote all
dern said:
What are you going to tow? Our v6 mondeo towed an mgbgt on a double axled trailer at 80 and it was perfectly stable but I wouldn't want to tow anything heavier (apart from anything else it would go over the max towing weight).

Mark


Sorry, should of added that , it will be a Chimaera, that i reckon will be weighing in at 1200kg ish (road trim, 1060kg offically plus cage and other safety gear), plus spares, tools, kit either on trailer or in the tow vehicle and with one possibly two passengers.

Regards
Iain

dern

14,055 posts

308 months

Tuesday 16th August 2005
quotequote all
planetdave said:

dern said:
What are you going to tow? Our v6 mondeo towed an mgbgt on a double axled trailer at 80 and it was perfectly stable but I wouldn't want to tow anything heavier (apart from anything else it would go over the max towing weight).

Mark



Lost for words on this one.
I forgot I was towing something

dern

14,055 posts

308 months

Tuesday 16th August 2005
quotequote all
chassis 33 said:
Sorry, should of added that , it will be a Chimaera, that i reckon will be weighing in at 1200kg ish (road trim, 1060kg offically plus cage and other safety gear), plus spares, tools, kit either on trailer or in the tow vehicle and with one possibly two passengers.
You need to find out the weight of the trailer and factor that in to the towed weight. If you can put the tools, spare tyres etc in the back of the car (estate?) then you have more room to play and it'll probably all be more stable.

Mark

punto1986

364 posts

253 months

Tuesday 16th August 2005
quotequote all
Podie said:

chassis 33 said:


punto1986 said:
try this

<a href="http://motors.ebay.co.uk/"><a href="http://motors.ebay.co.uk/">http://motors.ebay.co.uk/</a></a>

hope you find something




...erm thanks...let me guess, I'll be trying <a href="www.autotrader.co.uk">www.autotrader.co.uk</a> as well right?

Regards
Iain





Could try a Ford Scorpio... although they can be a bit long in the tooth. Volvo V70's seem to come up fairly cheaply... or even a Pug 605...?



you can pick up a ford scorpio for quite cheap

turbo tim

20,467 posts

260 months

Tuesday 16th August 2005
quotequote all
chassis 33 said:

punto1986 said:
try this

<a href="http://motors.ebay.co.uk/">http://motors.ebay.co.uk/</a>

hope you find something



...erm thanks...let me guess, I'll be trying www.autotrader.co.uk as well right?

Regards
Iain


Iain

Steven - I see you joined on Friday and have posted 140 posts since then!! That's gotta be some kind of record!!
Was your weekend spent
???

Hope you still find time for then !!


MJK 24

5,676 posts

265 months

Tuesday 16th August 2005
quotequote all
Audi 100 Avant Quattro

Graham

16,381 posts

313 months

Tuesday 16th August 2005
quotequote all
In a lot of ways a transit is quite usefull, although you want either petrol or turbo D the NA diesel is painfull even without a load.

It also gives you somewhere to hide if the weather is bad and you can sleep in it.

A big factor will be insurance. WHilst big old estates can be cheap to buy they can be a mare to insure.

Transits are also quite fun to drive, but you want pas.

A good place for insurance is competition car insurance as they do service barges..

Discos are good and early ones are quite cheap. classic rangies are the cheapest but tend to be v8 and auto..

the commercial discos tend to be more expensive to buy, and can be more hammered and all will be diesel.

G

planetdave

9,922 posts

282 months

Tuesday 16th August 2005
quotequote all
dern said:

planetdave said:


dern said:
What are you going to tow? Our v6 mondeo towed an mgbgt on a double axled trailer at 80 and it was perfectly stable but I wouldn't want to tow anything heavier (apart from anything else it would go over the max towing weight).

Mark




Lost for words on this one.

I forgot I was towing something


May I respectfully point out that it's not stability that worries me but emergency braking. Even with a braked trailer the potential for jacknifing is huge and a roll + innocent bystanders getting mullered high. Every time it is done you might 'get away with it'. Just like the trucker that was adjusting his radio - except the time when he killed my mate and his fiance.

Rant over.

scared but happy

24,147 posts

258 months

Tuesday 16th August 2005
quotequote all
I know it may sound a silly thing to say BUT going for a too cheap an option for a tow car may be more trouble than its worth - personally I would not like to be broken down with some lame motor with my prize possesion on the back. What about a nice strong jap made workhorse diesel?

pdr479

444 posts

267 months

Tuesday 16th August 2005
quotequote all
Forrester gets my vote.
bit biased i guess
But never the less should do the job but maybe a bit pricey what about an early legacy?
Paul

agent006

12,058 posts

293 months

Wednesday 17th August 2005
quotequote all
MJK 24 said:
Audi 100 Avant Quattro


Seconded. Surprisingly capable, with bigish towing capacity. 4wd will get you everywhere a disco with a trailer could, but without the wonky handling.

v15ben

16,216 posts

270 months

Wednesday 17th August 2005
quotequote all
Iain, my uncle does offroad biking and runs a central heating business during the week and tows using a Tranny van.
He has never had anything major go wrong with it, it just depends if you want the relative luxury of a car or whether a van will do!

We used to have a BMW 525e (E28 shape) and if you can find one they are superb tow cars. Very powerful 2.7 and Auto box to boot.

Oi_Oi_savaloy

2,315 posts

289 months

Wednesday 17th August 2005
quotequote all
Or perhaps rather than spending 1500 on a towing vehicle with all the complications of insuring it, taxing it, MOTing it, storing it, paying for parts for it, why don't you consider hiring a transit van for the weekends you need it for; budget, put that money aside and then I bet you'll have almost a grand to spend on the car and the races itself?

Just a thought. Perhaps you could approach a hire firm and a cut a sponsorship deal whereby they give you the van free or at a very competitive rate in return for stickers and publicity on the side of your car?