Good tow car for £4000

[VB]

Trying to help my Dad out, but he's very fussy. I've exhausted all my top trumps so I call on PHers to help me find some new suggestions.


He wants:

• Cream/Light coloured leather interior
• A reasonably economical engine (he is horrified by the thought of owning anything bigger than 3000cc)
• Automatic/Tiptronic
• No 'Medallion Man' cars

That's about it. I've suggested he looks at more than just that in the way of:

• Ease of spares on the Continent
• Looks at engines bigger than 3000cc if they prove more economical when towing
• Something else with a dark interior because it makes it easier

My Top Trumps are:

Subaru Forester
Grand Cherokee- CRD, not the V8
E39 530i or trying to hard sell the 540i
A6 Avant 2.7T

My knowledge of towing vehicles is extremly limited, just going on dynamics (Torque & Weight).

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated

[agent006]

Rather depends on what he's towing and how much it weighs.

[IanMorewood]

Whats he towing and where?

[VB]

Caravan & France. Caravan probably will probably weigh around 1100-1200kgs.

[McSam]

Everyone in the world seems to use a Mondeo TDCi for that, and you're not going to have trouble finding a good one of those for four grand!

[richyb]

V6 Omega, Saloon or Estate. Perhaps

Edited by richyb on Monday 4th July 19:01

[IanMorewood]

A large Volvo Estate (D5) or similar then should be fine

[VB]

I thought of the Mondeo TDCi, but I've had so much trouble with my modern TDi that i'm trying to get him to go petrol. He won't do a great deal of miles, so it would probably work out cheaper in the long run rather than just at the pumps.

I saw a 2.5 Titanium job on here in another thread that looked pretty nice, just think he'd get on better with AWD or RWD if the ground is wet at a campsite.

[VB]

richyb said:

V6 Omega, Saloon or Estate.

Not a bad shout

AWD 2.5 X-Type reliable? Many dealers on the Continent?

[richyb]

VB said:

Not a bad shout

Never driven one but decent weigh for towing, RWD, decent power and MPG, good sets of toys/accessories.

[rallycross]

richyb said:

V6 Omega, Saloon or Estate. Perhaps

Edited by richyb on Monday 4th July 19:01

I've been using omega V6's (petrol) for towing the racing car for the past couple of years the fuel consumption is painfull I wouldnt want to go to france with one, but the performance and towing ability is excellent.

For £4k I would say Mondeo 2.0 tdci 150 is good sensible choice, or Audi A6 V6 tdi 2.5? BMW 530D or 330D touring?

[excel monkey]

Pug 607, or E39 5 series as othes have already suggested

[Classic Grad 98]

Bought a 2003 Mondeo TDCI for £2k for this very purpose (900kg trailer & race car). Had 100k on the clock when I bought it. It is, indeed, a very good tow car but they do have their faults. I've been lucky with mine touch wood and it's done 25k in 15 months, with probably 3k miles towing. I think my next tow car may be a 6-pot petrol though because of the usual diesel issues and because petrol will be more pleasurable to drive.

[VB]

That's what I was worried about. It's not so bad if you're doing loads of miles as the saving on fuel will swallow up any extra maintanence costs.

No recomendations for the X-Type?

[cptsideways]

Apparently Chrysler 300C's are rather good towcars, not driven one myself but I've asked those that do & they've said brilliant for the money.

Best option would be the 530d imho, self levelling suspension, decent tow weight, comfy & they still do 35mpg towing cars on trailers.

[kpb]

528? Far more of them around than 530's and not as fragile as the 530d when it comes to turbo and injectors etc. They seem a little more resistant to the cooling problems of the smaller petrol engines too.

[Lefty]

S60 D5 (no idea what GVW is)
Discovery TD5 (3.5t GVW) although you may struggle to get a decent spec one for £4k

[chunkol]

Automatic V70 2.4 with cream interior. Loads of them about.

[VB]

chunkol said:

Automatic V70 2.4 with cream interior. Loads of them about.

Thought about that one too, i'll take a look at thr 300C and the 528. I'm not going to let him buy a diesel, so they're out!

[Lefty]

No diesels?

Well then, you want a turbocharged petrol engine for lots of low and mid range grunt.

9-5 Aero.
S60/V70 T5.
Legacy Turbo (not sure if you can get these with auto?)
Merc C200k

Autos are great for towing, the torque convertor negates all the clutch slipping while you're manoeuvering.