Do rental vans have tow bars?
Discussion
I'm looking at renting a van and trailer to pick up a non-road legal car, but obviously it's a bit of a problem if there's no tow bar. I can't find anything on rental company sites about it, or Google.
I'm thinking of Hertz in particular as I am actually old enough to rent from them, but I can probably rope in a friend/relative to do the driving with a van from another company, so I'd be interested in those too...
Ta
I'm thinking of Hertz in particular as I am actually old enough to rent from them, but I can probably rope in a friend/relative to do the driving with a van from another company, so I'd be interested in those too...
Ta
marshalla said:
Why not just rent a proper transporter/recovery-style truck ?
Can't find anywhere that'll loan one out to a 19-year-old!I shall give Hertz a bell, bet they're reluctant though as it can only ever increase the risk. I'm only really looking into it as paying someone to do the same thing is painfully expensive (yes I realise why).
I think it adds to the risk substantially, even if you're not towing. Cars and vans are designed to survive low speed impacts, by having squishy bits that absorb the energy then spring back into shape. If you reverse into something with a tow-bar on the vehicle, the impact is straight onto the chassis had is far more likely to cause serious damage. Of course reversing with a tow-bar into something is likely to do more damage to whatever you hit too.
Also, you do realise that if you're 19, your licence wont cover you to tow a car with a van unless you've taken a trailer test. The combined MAM will be too high.
Also, you do realise that if you're 19, your licence wont cover you to tow a car with a van unless you've taken a trailer test. The combined MAM will be too high.
I did think this might be a problem but I thought I'd ask about the tow bars before looking into the rules & regs because christ alive they're f
king dull.
Now, surely that would depend on the van/trailer/load? The car itself is about 800kg, not sure how much a trailer weighs (half a ton-ish?), and small Transit is about 1700kg kerb. But I have a sinking feeling it's based on gross weight of van plus max. mass of trailer? Or some combination of kerb/gross that actually makes no fking sense unless you're a DVLA employee.
By my reckoning: 1800kg of van + 900kg of car = 2700kg, leaving me another 800kg in reserve for the trailer, driver, kit (which is hopefully enough but maybe not...)
I bet the DVLA's reckoning is more like: 2600kg gross weight of van + 2000kg max mass (say) of trailer = 4.6t and a danger to children, OAPs and bureaucrats everywhere.
And that's before we get into the plated weights on the tow vehicle but I'd imagine most vans can deal with a small hatchback and trailer.
How far out am I?
(Now I can see why transporters seem to charge so much: they have to understand this st and deal with it everyday...)
king dull.Now, surely that would depend on the van/trailer/load? The car itself is about 800kg, not sure how much a trailer weighs (half a ton-ish?), and small Transit is about 1700kg kerb. But I have a sinking feeling it's based on gross weight of van plus max. mass of trailer? Or some combination of kerb/gross that actually makes no f
king sense unless you're a DVLA employee. By my reckoning: 1800kg of van + 900kg of car = 2700kg, leaving me another 800kg in reserve for the trailer, driver, kit (which is hopefully enough but maybe not...)
I bet the DVLA's reckoning is more like: 2600kg gross weight of van + 2000kg max mass (say) of trailer = 4.6t and a danger to children, OAPs and bureaucrats everywhere.
And that's before we get into the plated weights on the tow vehicle but I'd imagine most vans can deal with a small hatchback and trailer.
How far out am I?
(Now I can see why transporters seem to charge so much: they have to understand this s
t and deal with it everyday...)doogz said:
You're quite far out. A decent trailer will be plated at about 1500Kg, meaning the van must be able to tow that, whilst having a gross weight of less than 2000Kg.
So the trailer's MAM is 1.5t + 2.6t Gross of an average = 4.1t GTW and one very naughty boy?I understand. Well, I don't, that's silly, but thanks.
Hertz don't offer anything useful to people of my age. Next biggest thing is a Connect but a brief bit of research says the most I can tow is about 850kg. Theoretically I could A-frame it but as I understand that's even naughtier.
Hertz will rent to anyone 19+ who's held their licence more than a year. Student discount even applies but the young driver surcharge cancels that out...
I'm in Leeds, the car I want is near Edinburgh and I want to take it to London
I do have a thing on Shiply and have got quotes lower than expected but it's still going to cost me about twice what the car's worth just to get it shifted.
I'm in Leeds, the car I want is near Edinburgh and I want to take it to London
I do have a thing on Shiply and have got quotes lower than expected but it's still going to cost me about twice what the car's worth just to get it shifted.
aitch2 said:
Check the T&Cs, aged 23-70 only 
Find a driver eh... anyone fancy a roadtrip?
On a standard modern licence, the MAM of the trailer needs to be less than the unladen weight of the van too, which makes it even harder - even the smallest of modern car trailers will generally have a MAM of around two tonnes. That means you or I cannot tow it behind anything. To tow a 1500kg MAM trailer, you'd need to find a tow car which weighed over 1500kg unladen, but under 2000kg fully laden.
The smallest trailer designed to take a full-size car that I've seen was 1300kg MAM, 1000kg maximum payload. But obviously that will only hold a car weighing under a tonne wet, which doesn't cover many cars.
The smallest trailer designed to take a full-size car that I've seen was 1300kg MAM, 1000kg maximum payload. But obviously that will only hold a car weighing under a tonne wet, which doesn't cover many cars.
Edited by kambites on Wednesday 28th September 17:30
doogz said:
Ooft, i'm not a million miles from Edinburgh, but i'm not driving you to London! 
What's wrong with it, that it can't be driven?
Ooooh, go on What's wrong with it, that it can't be driven?
No tax or MOT. Don't know the full info but it needs a bit of work on the brakes (1 new caliper, handbrake cable and a bit of flexihose is all it should need apparently, but that's the sort of small job I can turn into a massive f
k up!)I know (think!) that theoretically I could book an MOT test for it at my destination then drive it there without deviations. Within the law as far as I know but I don't trust myself to make it roadworthy in the small amount of time I have free and the seller would find acceptable for me to be arsing around on his land.
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