Stop Gap Tow Car Ideas

[GreatGranny]

Hopefully getting our X1 back from the garage this week after 2 turbo failures and ongoing negotiations with the garage regarding who pays etc
We have lost all confidence in the X1 and will sell it through Motorway/WBAC as soon as it’s returned.
This is definitely going to happen so no suggestions to keep it 🙂
Due to various reasons we will only have the money we get for selling it to buy another car but it only needs to last 18 months ish.
£6k to spend
Must be able to tow 1500kgs
Practical (have a dog and also needs to fit MTB in the back)
Low tax as possible
Decent MPG
AWD would be good but not essential
Reliable ( I know difficult one but no 20 year old cars which cost £60k new type of thing)
We love Volvos so XC60/XC70/V70 is on the list
No BMWs with the 2.0d engine.
Like the look of the A4/A6 Allroad
RAV4 maybe?
Other suggestions and advice please
Thanks

[rosejem]

Possible a CX5 , towing would be hard work though with a 2.0 petrol . It would do it but you would need to work the gear box and this is a joy if you fancy going back to a manual .

A well maintained 2.0 165 skyactiv petrol Mazda engine ticks all the boxes for reliability

Avoid the diesel Mazdas.

[LotsOfLaughs]

Skoda Octavia, Yeti and Superb both came with AWD options, and hold their value exceptionally well. You can get a PD-engined Octavia Scout for as little as £1500, or spend more than that if you want a really nice one, full service history, newer, non-PD engine, etc.
Petrol engines are probably best avoided, unless you want the VR6 Superb.

[ZX10R NIN]

GreatGranny said:

Hopefully getting our X1 back from the garage this week after 2 turbo failures and ongoing negotiations with the garage regarding who pays etc
We have lost all confidence in the X1 and will sell it through Motorway/WBAC as soon as it’s returned.
This is definitely going to happen so no suggestions to keep it ??
Due to various reasons we will only have the money we get for selling it to buy another car but it only needs to last 18 months ish.
£6k to spend
Must be able to tow 1500kgs
Practical (have a dog and also needs to fit MTB in the back)
Low tax as possible
Decent MPG
AWD would be good but not essential
Reliable ( I know difficult one but no 20 year old cars which cost £60k new type of thing)
We love Volvos so XC60/XC70/V70 is on the list
No BMWs with the 2.0d engine.
Like the look of the A4/A6 Allroad
RAV4 maybe?
Other suggestions and advice please
Thanks

QX70:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202504051...

FX 30d:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202412147...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202504111...

Smaller QX50 (Q5 in size) GT:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202503220...

All the above will see you right for many years & they have the bonus of being ULEZ compliant too.

[stevemcs]

The correct answer is a mk4.5 Mondeo 2.2.

If you think the bmw isn’t reliable try running the a6 or any other vag product for buttons

[LotsOfLaughs]

stevemcs said:

If you think the bmw isn’t reliable try running the a6 or any other vag product for buttons

They tend to be more reliable and cheaper to run (at least the VWs/Skodas, the Audis not so much)
Especially when you compare the relevant engines for OP, i.e, the 2.0L diesel engines. N47 or CR140/170? I'll take the VAG.
Sure if you're comparing the powerful petrol engines, Audis big V8 with the timing chains up its bum are very expensive to maintain, but we arent.

[h0b0]

Audis of the last 5 years (so may not apply here) have been crap. Everyone of my friends that had audis could not wait to dump them. Ours was constantly being "repaired" they never could fix it though. We went to buy a Volvo in the stickered up courtesy car from Audi as ours was so unreliable we did not want to wait for them to fix it for good.

[stevemcs]

LotsOfLaughs said:

They tend to be more reliable and cheaper to run (at least the VWs/Skodas, the Audis not so much)
Especially when you compare the relevant engines for OP, i.e, the 2.0L diesel engines. N47 or CR140/170? I'll take the VAG.
Sure if you're comparing the powerful petrol engines, Audis big V8 with the timing chains up its bum are very expensive to maintain, but we arent.

That’s not what I see going through our workshop

[GreatGranny]

ZX10R NIN said:

QX70:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202504051...

FX 30d:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202412147...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202504111...

Smaller QX50 (Q5 in size) GT:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202503220...

All the above will see you right for many years & they have the bonus of being ULEZ compliant too.

Cheers ZX
Can’t believe the FX is £735 tax and IG 50!!!
Others go on the list

[ZX10R NIN]

GreatGranny said:

Cheers ZX
Can’t believe the FX is £735 tax and IG 50!!!
Others go on the list

I know that's a deal breaker for some, in reality it's an extra £25 per month.

[GreatGranny]

ZX10R NIN said:

I know that's a deal breaker for some, in reality it's an extra £25 per month.

True, doesn’t seem much but think you need a cut off somewhere 🙂
The lower tax choices look tempting though

[robinh73]

How about a Subaru Forester? I have a 2014 2.0 diesel manual and it is brilliant. Stacks of room, mid 40s mpg, tows well and £240 road tax or so. I am selling it sadly as I needed something that would have a greater towing capacity but if it weren't for that it would stay for sure. Oh and it is superbly comfy. Highly recommend one.

[GreatGranny]

ZX10R NIN said:

I know that's a deal breaker for some, in reality it's an extra £25 per month.

True, doesn’t seem much but think you need a cut off somewhere 🙂
The lower tax choices look tempting though

[GreatGranny]

ZX10R NIN said:

I know that's a deal breaker for some, in reality it's an extra £25 per month.

True, doesn’t seem much but think you need a cut off somewhere 🙂
The lower tax choices look tempting though

[ZX10R NIN]

GreatGranny said:

True, doesn’t seem much but think you need a cut off somewhere ??
The lower tax choices look tempting though

I agree you do need a cut off point but should you find a good FX don't let the tax be the deal breaker.

I forgot to list the EX but there aren't many around:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202502189...

[GreatGranny]

ZX10R NIN said:

I know that's a deal breaker for some, in reality it's an extra £25 per month.

True, doesn’t seem much but think you need a cut off somewhere 🙂
The lower tax choices look tempting though