What £20k 40mpg young persons car that can tow..?!
Discussion
A friend of mine is looking for a car with a rather odd set of criteria so I thought I'd put it to the PH masses for suggestions.
The criteria is:
- Up to £20k
- Around 40mpg (but as he currently gets 25mpg I think he'd settle for a little less)
- Can tow around 500kgs (think box trailer with 3 motocross bikes in) with potentially 4 adults on board.
- As he's relatively young it needs to be fairly cool, that excludes all the obvious choices like a Volvo.
The current cars discussed have been
- Range Rover - would love one but scared of fuel, and a newer one is potentially outside his budget.
- Navara / Warrior Animal - worried about MPG
- 335d - worried about towing
- 5 series touring / A6 Advant - pushing the budget for a good one
Current short list (from him)
- A5 3.0TDI / 2.0T FSI
- Merc CLS 320cdi
I'm of the opinion the A5 might struggle to tow and can the CLS even tow at all? Out of the discussed cars I think the 5 series touring / A6 would be the smartest purchases.
Thoughts please...
The criteria is:
- Up to £20k
- Around 40mpg (but as he currently gets 25mpg I think he'd settle for a little less)
- Can tow around 500kgs (think box trailer with 3 motocross bikes in) with potentially 4 adults on board.
- As he's relatively young it needs to be fairly cool, that excludes all the obvious choices like a Volvo.
The current cars discussed have been
- Range Rover - would love one but scared of fuel, and a newer one is potentially outside his budget.
- Navara / Warrior Animal - worried about MPG
- 335d - worried about towing
- 5 series touring / A6 Advant - pushing the budget for a good one
Current short list (from him)
- A5 3.0TDI / 2.0T FSI
- Merc CLS 320cdi
I'm of the opinion the A5 might struggle to tow and can the CLS even tow at all? Out of the discussed cars I think the 5 series touring / A6 would be the smartest purchases.
Thoughts please...
Porsche Cayenne, attached is one for £14k. Looks like one is attainable for £15k, so as it's £5k under budget, f
k the fuel costs and enjoy.
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2042136.htm
k the fuel costs and enjoy.http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2042136.htm
[quote=jon-]- 335d - worried about towing
quote]
honestly its been done to death but 600-800ft/lb of torque in these beasties (on the highly humerous re map!!). Or enough to crease the tarmac on a hot day. If your worried about pulling the trailer chassie off the object i can understand.
I bet you could tow a canal boat in to a dry dock....
quote]
honestly its been done to death but 600-800ft/lb of torque in these beasties (on the highly humerous re map!!). Or enough to crease the tarmac on a hot day. If your worried about pulling the trailer chassie off the object i can understand.
I bet you could tow a canal boat in to a dry dock....
when you are spending £20k on a car why worry about MPG so much???
how much mileage is being done. if you are doing 10k a year, then changing from 25 to 40 mpg will only save you £600.
given that most cars change hands after 2-3 years ownership(iirc), just factor in the fuel cost with the car cost, buy something much more fun for less money, save the money for petrol and actually enjoy your car!
or much better, get a car for towing and one for enjoying :P
how much mileage is being done. if you are doing 10k a year, then changing from 25 to 40 mpg will only save you £600.
given that most cars change hands after 2-3 years ownership(iirc), just factor in the fuel cost with the car cost, buy something much more fun for less money, save the money for petrol and actually enjoy your car!
or much better, get a car for towing and one for enjoying :P
cmackay81 said:
when you are spending £20k on a car why worry about MPG so much???
how much mileage is being done. if you are doing 10k a year, then changing from 25 to 40 mpg will only save you £600.
given that most cars change hands after 2-3 years ownership(iirc), just factor in the fuel cost with the car cost, buy something much more fun for less money, save the money for petrol and actually enjoy your car!
or much better, get a car for towing and one for enjoying :P
It's not my criteria. While I agree with you regarding the MPG (I'm trying to convince him to worry less about it!) I think the thought pattern is if you've a car that eats a lot of petrol you'll start to resent using it.how much mileage is being done. if you are doing 10k a year, then changing from 25 to 40 mpg will only save you £600.
given that most cars change hands after 2-3 years ownership(iirc), just factor in the fuel cost with the car cost, buy something much more fun for less money, save the money for petrol and actually enjoy your car!
or much better, get a car for towing and one for enjoying :P
As for once for towing and one for enjoying - that's my plan. Navara and something a bit quick

GingerWizard said:
jon- said:
- 335d - worried about towing
honestly its been done to death but 600-800ft/lb of torque in these beasties (on the highly humerous re map!!). Or enough to crease the tarmac on a hot day. If your worried about pulling the trailer chassie off the object i can understand.I bet you could tow a canal boat in to a dry dock....
carreauchompeur said:
GingerWizard said:
jon- said:
- 335d - worried about towing
honestly its been done to death but 600-800ft/lb of torque in these beasties (on the highly humerous re map!!). Or enough to crease the tarmac on a hot day. If your worried about pulling the trailer chassie off the object i can understand.I bet you could tow a canal boat in to a dry dock....
Kevin VRs said:
matt frost said:
Kevin VRs said:
Any car can tow 500kg. It is not until you get to around 1600kg you need to worry.
All cars could probably tow 500kg, but not all cars are allowed to.
Leaving approximately £15,000 for cocaine and hookers!jon- said:
cmackay81 said:
when you are spending £20k on a car why worry about MPG so much???
how much mileage is being done. if you are doing 10k a year, then changing from 25 to 40 mpg will only save you £600.
given that most cars change hands after 2-3 years ownership(iirc), just factor in the fuel cost with the car cost, buy something much more fun for less money, save the money for petrol and actually enjoy your car!
or much better, get a car for towing and one for enjoying :P
It's not my criteria. While I agree with you regarding the MPG (I'm trying to convince him to worry less about it!) I think the thought pattern is if you've a car that eats a lot of petrol you'll start to resent using it.how much mileage is being done. if you are doing 10k a year, then changing from 25 to 40 mpg will only save you £600.
given that most cars change hands after 2-3 years ownership(iirc), just factor in the fuel cost with the car cost, buy something much more fun for less money, save the money for petrol and actually enjoy your car!
or much better, get a car for towing and one for enjoying :P
As for once for towing and one for enjoying - that's my plan. Navara and something a bit quick

I had the same kind of issue, so bought a very cheap old bmw 328i touring for £900 to tow, go shopping and go only family trips out with etc, and had a skyline as my daily fun. ended up selling the skyline for a bike as most of my mileage is for commuting. But it has saved me a whole load of brass having two vehicles, one for practical and one for fun.
To be honest i know what you mean by resenting a poor mpg car, the skyline got like that sometimes, though that was in the mid teens mpg.
also almost any decent sized car will be able to tow that. I wouldn't go down the navarra route. horrible to drive, very slow and overpriced due to them being "successful builders buy them". personally i'd stick to an audi/beamer estate, or even something like a Honda CRV.
carreauchompeur said:
Kevin VRs said:
matt frost said:
Kevin VRs said:
Any car can tow 500kg. It is not until you get to around 1600kg you need to worry.
All cars could probably tow 500kg, but not all cars are allowed to.
Leaving approximately £15,000 for cocaine and hookers!One of these and £13k in the pocket to cover fuel for a couple of years.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2010...
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2010...
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