I want everything

[CanoeSniffer]

I’m in need of a monster to tow race cars around on occasion, around 2.3 tonnes trailer weight give or take.

Unfortunately that is only on occasion, and 99% of the vehicle’s life will be motorway plodding on my 100 mile commute, during which time I would dearly love to see good economy, if I could see upwards of 40mpg I’d be reasonably satisfied- though I’m already unsure if anything actually exists within the above criteria.

To muddy the waters more, reliability and low-maintenance is also key. I have plenty of other old rubbish I’m busy looking after and I really need this to be something that will just *work* with minimal fuss.

I’m easy on body style, I’m easy on gearbox, I’m easy on fuel type though I appreciate I’m probably in soot chucker territory (would prefer petrol but being realistic I’m not expecting any to be suitable). I am a bit of a princess and a nice comfy cosseting interior would go a long way. Cruise control is a must-have and a good sound system and heated seats are highly desirable. Also any sort of star factor (rarity, left-field, unusual) wins brownie points cos I’m a weirdo and I like weird cars.

And the bit that makes this completely ridiculous- £5k budget, maybe a smidge more for the very right thing.

I completely acknowledge that I will probably have to compromise on some of the above so I’m happy to take suggestions, I could put up with something nasty inside if it ticks every other box for example. Current shortlist is Mercedes W211 estate, Rangey L322 or possibly a Land Cruiser, all of which are a big compromise in some respect or other so I’d love to see what the hive mind can come up with. The fuel economy concern could possibly be dropped if something absolutely awesome with a nice petrol engine pops up, in which case I’d try to arrange some sort of car share with a mate who doesn’t commute- though I’d rather not need to.

Cheers

[Edible Roadkill]

Old vw Touareg possibly & just hope it doesn’t go wrong

[ChocolateFrog]

Superb estate in 4x4 and diesel guise.

That's what quite a few of the guys use as tow slags for their racecars, at the low end of the motorsport spectrum atleast.

[CanoeSniffer]

ChocolateFrog said:

Superb estate in 4x4 and diesel guise.

That's what quite a few of the guys use as tow slags for their racecars, at the low end of the motorsport spectrum atleast.

That’s an excellent shout and one I hadn’t considered as I didn’t realise they were tow rated to over 2 tonnes. Thank you! Only concern is that I’ve towed the rig with an Alhambra before and it was, er, sketchy. Even with an engine, differential and 6 sets of wheels and tyres being carried in the cabin to weigh the Alhambra down I can’t imagine the Superb being much better?

Edit: to be fair when I towed with the Seat it was with the most enormous trailer known to Christendom, so duties will be lighter in future

Edited by CanoeSniffer on Friday 30th June 09:17

[KTMsm]

You sure as hell don't want a Range Rover if you want reliability nor to be paying the fuel bill on a 100 mile commute

A Land Cruiser will be ropey at £5k - reliable but very agricultural

I'd be trying to find what cars (as opposed to big 4x4) can tow your requirement - or more likely I'd buy 2 cars

Personally I use a Vito Traveliner for a similar task - used as a family car and a tow truck but I still have a hot hatch for running about in (Suzuki Swift Sport)

In your case I'd look at a Jeep 3.0 and a Swift - achievable for sub £5k

[PurpleFox]

Volvo XC70 would tick most of the boxes if you could get the towing weight down a little.....I think they are rated at 2100kg's.

I can easily achieve MPG in the mid 40's on a long commute, V70 2008 D5 AWD auto, mine is not the XC model so towing capacity is lower I think but it's still AWD. Strong engine, super comfy, huge load space and it has been utterly dependable.

Edited to add, you should have plenty of choice within your budget, you would struggle to find something as comfortable and the factory fitted premium sound systems blow everything else out of the water. Mine has a Dynaudio, compared to my wifes 2 yr old merc with Burmeister, it's in a different class.

Edited by PurpleFox on Friday 30th June 09:47

[CanoeSniffer]

KTMsm said:

You sure as hell don't want a Range Rover if you want reliability nor to be paying the fuel bill on a 100 mile commute

A Land Cruiser will be ropey at £5k - reliable but very agricultural

I'd be trying to find what cars (as opposed to big 4x4) can tow your requirement - or more likely I'd buy 2 cars

Personally I use a Vito Traveliner for a similar task - used as a family car and a tow truck but I still have a hot hatch for running about in (Suzuki Swift Sport)

In your case I'd look at a Jeep 3.0 and a Swift - achievable for sub £5k

You’ve seen my dilemma rather than two cars I’d be looking at a car sharing arrangement if the tow car was too juicy, but if I’m going that route to nullify economy then that opens the possibilities for the tow car to be a proper bit of kit!

[CanoeSniffer]

PurpleFox said:

Volvo XC70 would tick most of the boxes if you could get the towing weight down a little.....I think they are rated at 2100kg's.

I can easily achieve MPG in the mid 40's on a long commute, V70 2008 D5 AWD auto, mine is not the XC model so towing capacity is lower I think but it's still AWD. Strong engine, super comfy, huge load space and it has been utterly dependable.

Edited to add, you should have plenty of choice within your budget, you would struggle to find something as comfortable and the factory fitted premium sound systems blow everything else out of the water. Mine has a Dynaudio, compared to my wifes 2 yr old merc with Burmeister, it's in a different class.

Edited by PurpleFox on Friday 30th June 09:47

Cool suggestion, thank you!

[KTMsm]

I'd mention that if you are competent you can legally exceed the max towing weight as long as you keep within the gross train weight

If you have an accident the onus falls on you to prove it was safe - which if you have an accident might be tough to prove

I regularly tow heavier weights than the towing vehicle and exceed the max towing weight without issue

Before anyone says you can't - I asked DVSA to confirm it's legal and they have

Obviously it's best to spread the load but if you're towing a car, that's a bit awkward

[CanoeSniffer]

KTMsm said:

I'd mention that if you are competent you can legally exceed the max towing weight as long as you keep within the gross train weight

If you have an accident the onus falls on you to prove it was safe - which if you have an accident might be tough to prove

I regularly tow heavier weights than the towing vehicle and exceed the max towing weight without issue

Before anyone says you can't - I asked DVSA to confirm it's legal and they have

Obviously it's best to spread the load but if you're towing a car, that's a bit awkward

I’m fully on board

As it will be so occasional I spent a long time considering going lightweight(er) to find a better compromise, but after having my first proper go in a rig that was a bit (very) marginal, it’s not something I want to repeat occasional or not!

[Bobupndown]

£5 grand. L322. Reliable. Economical.
Not words that you normally see in the same sentence.

[Krikkit]

Early W211 with the straight-6 diesel and steel springs would probably be the best choice, and very good for the commute, although towing capacity would be marginal.

[braddo]

What are the towing weights for a 5-series?

Does it need to be an estate? For example you're likely to find a W211 saloon in E320 spec more easily than an estate. Something like a petrol 530i? Maybe a manual would give better economy than an auto and be a bit more interesting to drive.

I guess the estates have self-levelling rear suspension which would help with heavy towing.

Jag XJ? Looks like they are rated for 1900kg.

Chrysler 300C?

[CanoeSniffer]

braddo said:

What are the towing weights for a 5-series?

Does it need to be an estate? For example you're likely to find a W211 saloon in E320 spec more easily than an estate. Something like a petrol 530i? Maybe a manual would give better economy than an auto and be a bit more interesting to drive.

I guess the estates have self-levelling rear suspension which would help with heavy towing.

Jag XJ? Looks like they are rated for 1900kg.

Chrysler 300C?

I did look at E61s but I’ve heard not great things about their towing ability. I’d love to be able to consider a saloon but being realistic I’m moving far too much kit far too frequently for it to work. Bloody shame as an XJ would be awesome and very appropriate!



My dream daily is a 4 litre AJ16 powered XJ40 (estate), I’d happily forego the fuel economy to make that happen the fact that I have all the bits in the shed to make 300hp from one of those may be a factor!

I don’t think I could live with a 300C. An excellent shout on all criteria but they just give me ick!

[CanoeSniffer]

Krikkit said:

Early W211 with the straight-6 diesel and steel springs would probably be the best choice, and very good for the commute, although towing capacity would be marginal.

I’ve landed in the same territory with this conundrum before

I’d love to hear first hand from anyone who’s done a lot of towing with one. It would almost certainly be marginal but if it’s get-away-with-able then it’s a winner pretty much all round.

[braddo]

Merc S-class and remove the rear seats.

[Patrick1964]

An early (ish) ML would seem a good shout. Might be a bit thirsy though

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202306198...

A 2011 one is a bit better on fuel - tows 3500kg too. https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202208018...

Edited by Patrick1964 on Friday 30th June 13:03

[Martin30]

CanoeSniffer said:

I’ve landed in the same territory with this conundrum before

I’d love to hear first hand from anyone who’s done a lot of towing with one. It would almost certainly be marginal but if it’s get-away-with-able then it’s a winner pretty much all round.

I tow a lot with an ‘08 S211 (estate version of the W211) E220 manual. Mine is allowed to tow 1,900kg, moves up to 2,100kg with the autobox.

I am always towing right on that limit, and have done quite a few miles round airfields towing more like 2,700kg.

Car handles it superbly as long as the trailer is loaded sensibly with a good nose weight. You can tell the cooling system is working hard on long hills with the air on blowing nice and cold, but everything else is engineered way in excess of what you need.

Martin.

[samoht]

I think it's worth considering a BMW 5-series GT. It's basically a 7 series hatchback with rear air suspension, which should make it good at towing. And in general the non-SUV options will be closer to your desired 40 motorway mpg, due to lower drag.

Eg 530d https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202305097...

[C70R]

Edible Roadkill said:

Old vw Touareg possibly & just hope it doesn’t go wrong

This is the answer. The 3.2 petrol (Golf R32 engine) mk1 Touareg is borderline indestructible. While hardly sprightly, it's a comfortable place to be and can tow 3.5t. Your budget gets you a very good example.