Tow car recommendation please

[The jiffle king]

We need to tow a horse box ( I know they are the scourge of PH ) and are looking for a suitable car which Is only really used for this and some general domestic use. (8k per year miles)

Looking to spend less than 10k and ideally less than 6k.
Must be able to tow 1800kg so needs to have a kerb weight of 2000kg
Not bothered about how old the car is ( was looking at a 2005 Nissan x trail but it was petrol and could only tow 1350kg)
Reliability is important as it will be my wife driving and she is not too mechanical

We live near Maidenhead so if anyone has ideas close to us to look at , happy to explore

We will likely get a horse lorry at some point but need this as an interim

Any suggestions on make/ model welcome as we have only really looked at x trails and there are not that many close to us.

Thanks in advance for any help you can give

[jimPH]

M5.

[The jiffle king]

I’m not sure that an M5 is really going to be a great tow car for occasional use?
Has a min kerb weight of 1720kg and might be a little sporty for this use?

[Toed64]

We've been using mid 1990s Toyota 4Runners for the last 12 years. They have been excellent, but agricultural and have only 2.2 ton tow capacity. That's fine if you are only moving one horse, but my wife's trailer weighs 1.28 tons and she has a 17/3 warmblood.

So we have a Mirtsubishi Shogun 3.2 DiD. Good, but not as tough as the Toyotas and they rust badly under the plastic trims. Mine's a cheapy, but I've seen £5000 Shoguns with rot just as bad. Beware.

With your budget, I'd buy a 3 litre Toyota Landcruiser. I'd probably buy the lowest mileage, tidiest caravan tow car I could find.

Alternatively, I'd go for a 2.7litre Jeep Grand Cherokee (Merc engine) with a similar caravaner history.

Buy on condition, not year or mileage. Avoid ex-farm vehicles...unless they've been towing horse trailers - they will be cheap because they'll stink of horse and you'll never get the smell out!

Alternatively, reduce your budget and consider a 3 litre petrol Subaru Outback. We had them for 10+ years and they never let us down...ever. 2 ton tow capacity, 4x4 and superbly comfortable, sure footed and nice to drive. Buy 55 reg or before and avoid the expensive car tax rate.

[The jiffle king]

Toed64 said:

We've been using mid 1990s Toyota 4Runners for the last 12 years. They have been excellent, but agricultural and have only 2.2 ton tow capacity. That's fine if you are only moving one horse, but my wife's trailer weighs 1.28 tons and she has a 17/3 warmblood.

So we have a Mirtsubishi Shogun 3.2 DiD. Good, but not as tough as the Toyotas and they rust badly under the plastic trims. Mine's a cheapy, but I've seen £5000 Shoguns with rot just as bad. Beware.

With your budget, I'd buy a 3 litre Toyota Landcruiser. I'd probably buy the lowest mileage, tidiest caravan tow car I could find.

Alternatively, I'd go for a 2.7litre Jeep Grand Cherokee (Merc engine) with a similar caravaner history.

Buy on condition, not year or mileage. Avoid ex-farm vehicles...unless they've been towing horse trailers - they will be cheap because they'll stink of horse and you'll never get the smell out!

Alternatively, reduce your budget and consider a 3 litre petrol Subaru Outback. We had them for 10+ years and they never let us down...ever. 2 ton tow capacity, 4x4 and superbly comfortable, sure footed and nice to drive. Buy 55 reg or before and avoid the expensive car tax rate.

Thankyou this is very helpful and I will investigate these and come back if I have more questions. Many thanks for the detailed answer

[troika]

Land Cruiser LC120. Nothing else will touch it. You should get your money back when you sell it as well. Fantastic things, I should never have sold mine.

[stut4]

XC90.
remapped with 500NM they go well too.

[cbmotorsport]

Mitsubishi Outlander will tow 2000kg. Cheap and plentiful.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2009-Mitsubishi-Outland...

[ZX10R NIN]

With your budget I'd go for the Jeep Grand Cherokee these run the Mercedes ML drive train so have the nigh on bulletproof 3.0d & will tow a horse box with ease also they respond well to a re map.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

5.7 Petrol

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

[The jiffle king]

I'll go and look at both at the weekend and make a call. I think I prefer the land cruiser having just checked with a friend who knows about these things, but I am checking on the Jeep Grand Cherokee as it looks like a good option as well
Many Thanks