Which Cheap diesel tow car?

[andye30m3]

I need to buy myself a tow car towards the end of the year / early next year to tow an E30 race car, whilst also desperately trying to justify not selling any of my current collection.

If I'm going to achieve this I need something relatively cheap circa £2k with very good reliability and ideally me capable of as close to 40mpg as possible on the commute to work, no heavy traffic so 40mpg should be achievable by a number of modern diesels. An estate might me useful for all the rubbish I need to take along and may also double up as over night sleeping place.

so it must be

- circa £2k
- diesel for MPG
- reliable
- prefer an estate

top of the list so far would be

- E46 325 or 330
- E39 525 or 530
- Audi A4 or A6 - would the 1.9 tow ok?

so any other suggestions?

[s2sol]

Bear with me here. How about a Peugeot 407 SW. Mine's a 2.0 diesel auto, gives me 40mpg average. Doesn't seem to have a great towing capacity - about 1300kg, I think. You'll get a fairly recent one for £2k, almost certainly an ex taxi, though.

ETA this one: http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2011...

I wouldn't rush to have another, mind you.

Edited by s2sol on Friday 2nd September 12:58

[rallycross]

Omega.
cheap
rwd
tow really well.
tough old things.
drive quite well.

[Kevin VRs]

First question is what is the weight you will be towing. Most ordinary cars are capable of towing between 1000 - 1500 kg. I would think you are looking to the top end of that weight range for a car on a trailer. Also plated weight of the trailer is of interest.

For £2K I would consider a Mk1 Skoda Octavia 1.9TDi. I think they can tow upto about 1400kg. Would be newer/lower miles than an equivalent Audi or BMW.

[Porkie]

As someone said... weight is gonna be your problem if you wanna do it legally.

[andye30m3]

I want to do it legally, i'll be towing quite some distance and don't want the grief of being stopped. I expect I'd want an absolute minimum of 1400kg tow weight but might be worth going a bit higher if it will make towing less of a chore

[frodo_monkey]

I use a Mk1 Octavia 1.9 TDi to tow my Kitten (and previously a Rover 216GTi), that's as big as I'd tow with it but it's been fine for me

[R12HCO]

With the weight of your trailor, car and all the bits and bobs you may take, i dont think a car would be properly suited. I would buy a discovery tdi. Only thing is, it wont do the 40 mpg you desire.

[anonymous-user]

Even if you car is <1 tonne, by the time you add a trailer and probably a wheel/tyre rack, any car with a 1400kg limit is going to be VERY marginal

The largest towing mass in a conventional car (i.e. not a 4x4 etc) is 1800kg for the BMW 330d/530d (The petrol engined cars like 330i get derated on gradients to 1600kg)

They will also do 40mpg





But not for £2K.........


Also, when you go racing, you need space (and a car you don't care about too much) to throw in things like trolley jacks, jerrycans, tool boxes, wheels/tyres etc.

The best bet would be a cheap Disco1. It's not going to do 40mpg however


Depending on how much you race, then the cheapest option will probably be just to hire a medium sized van when you need it

[confused_buyer]

Any £2k 330d or 530d will be old, have mega miles, and will probably need money spent on it. Not a good choice if running costs are the priority - they're not even very economical.

Something run of the mill, Ford, Vauxhall, Skoda, Japanese etc. would be a better bet.

A Mondeo TDCi Estate is rated at 1800Kg braked.

Edited by confused_buyer on Saturday 3rd September 10:39

[mgmrw]

spend a grand. Find a load-lugging 4x4, fourtak? and then use the spare grand on juice

[rswift]

Citroen C5 Estate, available for peanuts, have loads of space & perfect for towing, due to hydraulic suspension. Will always have a few niggling faults, as it is an old french car ... but would fit the bill.

We just swapped our LPG Rangerover (circa 25MPG equivelant on LPG) for a 2001 C5 with 95K and FSH. Cost £1100, fully loaded with all toys and does between 30 & 40 mpg towing, 40 to 50 not towing.

[soda]

330d, you could pick up an SE for not much over £3k. Mine has been solid for towing duties and about 44mpg average over the last couple of years.

[mgmrw]

Again, explain to me why you'd spend £3000 on a BMW for towing when could pick up a solid Pajero TD for £600?

If it's purely for towing, as OP said. What does it matte about luxuries and so on?

Plus, if winter gets a bit rough, 4x4 laying around could come in handy. And it's towing capabillities will far outweigh that of a saloon

[soda]

Surely its for a daily drive though, hence the mention of the commute. Yes it may cost a bit more but will be more suited for daily use.

I agree that purely for a towing workhorse a cheap 4x4 would be the better choice, not the most economical way of getting to work though.

[Jw Vw]

mgmrw said:

Again, explain to me why you'd spend £3000 on a BMW for towing when could pick up a solid Pajero TD for £600?

If it's purely for towing, as OP said. What does it matte about luxuries and so on?

Plus, if winter gets a bit rough, 4x4 laying around could come in handy. And it's towing capabillities will far outweigh that of a saloon

This ^

[mgmrw]

Four words folks, three words:

Total............ Cost.... Of........... Ownership



so yeah on a commute it may only do 30mpg. But how much mileage does OP do?

Going to have to be a lot to justify spending £2300 extra on a BMW, and then more on insurance, servicing, etc etc to only achieve 40mpg.

If it were me, I'd be finding a derv Pajero or Fourtrak.

IMHO towing needs weight behind it. So a trailer, with BMW sat on it, and a car with 2people in, needs some good old fashioned bulk to it. And no saloon can proffer that, let alone with floppy back suspension.

I speak as someone who has caravanned all his life, and regularly tows heavy st at work with various vehicles

[Classic Grad 98]

I tow a caterham on an open, twin-axle trailer (~900kg) with a £1,900 mondeo TDCI (1500kg). It does a great job and I can tow at whatever speed I dare without stability issues. A mk2 polo on the same trailer (1200kg) with the same tow car and, while plenty fast enough but much less stable at motorway speeds.
Weight is key and although an ordinary saloon will do it, if you want comfort and stability at speed you should look for something heavy.

[DHE]

Seat Alhambra TDi or its Ford/VW cousins, 115/130bhp should be more than capable of meeting your towing requirements, carrying kit and come in on budget. Towed a couple of Peugeot 406 V6's with mine last year, well up to the task. MPG wise you should see 40-45 in normal driving conditions and 30-33 when towing.

[SWH]

Go on... do it properly, the space with the seats out is stunning in one of these too: