Car for Horsey Friend
Discussion
Yes, I know! But they are a very good old friend.
Budget is not yet supplied, teacher raiding retirement lump sum. Already sucked cheeks at £40k answer to her own research on:
One up to the rigours of rural life. Ideally a 4x4 but also a hybrid but also with potential to tow up to 2 tons.
She's alreadykilled been let down by a (used) Quashcard and a Golf estate!
I wonder if that towing need, although not its usual task, is going to rule out a hybrid.
Anyway, we're all ear please
ETA that all important word please.
Budget is not yet supplied, teacher raiding retirement lump sum. Already sucked cheeks at £40k answer to her own research on:
One up to the rigours of rural life. Ideally a 4x4 but also a hybrid but also with potential to tow up to 2 tons.
She's already
I wonder if that towing need, although not its usual task, is going to rule out a hybrid.
Anyway, we're all ear please
ETA that all important word please.
Thanks st, 1st out of the blocks
Budget is £35k.
That'd get her a 2020 XC60 hybrid acc. web-based auction site. Need to clarify the towing capacity, very cursory searching suggests it might be "only" 1500kg. I suspect the 2t comes from a common horsebox spec. I wonder if there's a carbon fibre version
Budget is £35k.
That'd get her a 2020 XC60 hybrid acc. web-based auction site. Need to clarify the towing capacity, very cursory searching suggests it might be "only" 1500kg. I suspect the 2t comes from a common horsebox spec. I wonder if there's a carbon fibre version
As a horse owner.....
I have two cars - a euro box or something enjoyable for family outings etc. And a 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee (4.6 petrol/lpg), before that a P38 Range Rover (V8 petrol/lpg) for the horses.
You might think 2t is enough to tow, that is until you have a trailer (?~1.1t + horse ~ 0.5 ton each) are on a slope or farm track or similar and you smell the clutch burning because it struggles with the combination (i've been there). Go for 3.5t tow capacity you will appreciate it.
The horse car is impossible to keep clean and smell free. I also never worry about throwing hay bales, feed, tack or wet clothes and smelly boots into it. My wife refuses to get into it but at least my daughter can recognise (and wants a V8 ).
I would never spend £35K on a horse car - it will depreciate at such a rate. Buy a good X5, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Range Rover, Shogun or similar. Buy the best cheapest disposable vehicle you can find (most i ever spent was £2500 and have bought twice over 12 years). I maintained and serviced myself.
I have two cars - a euro box or something enjoyable for family outings etc. And a 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee (4.6 petrol/lpg), before that a P38 Range Rover (V8 petrol/lpg) for the horses.
You might think 2t is enough to tow, that is until you have a trailer (?~1.1t + horse ~ 0.5 ton each) are on a slope or farm track or similar and you smell the clutch burning because it struggles with the combination (i've been there). Go for 3.5t tow capacity you will appreciate it.
The horse car is impossible to keep clean and smell free. I also never worry about throwing hay bales, feed, tack or wet clothes and smelly boots into it. My wife refuses to get into it but at least my daughter can recognise (and wants a V8
). I would never spend £35K on a horse car - it will depreciate at such a rate. Buy a good X5, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Range Rover, Shogun or similar. Buy the best cheapest disposable vehicle you can find (most i ever spent was £2500 and have bought twice over 12 years). I maintained and serviced myself.
trevt said:
As a horse owner.....
I have two cars - a euro box or something enjoyable for family outings etc. And a 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee (4.6 petrol/lpg), before that a P38 Range Rover (V8 petrol/lpg) for the horses.
You might think 2t is enough to tow, that is until you have a trailer (?~1.1t + horse ~ 0.5 ton each) are on a slope or farm track or similar and you smell the clutch burning because it struggles with the combination (i've been there). Go for 3.5t tow capacity you will appreciate it.
The horse car is impossible to keep clean and smell free. I also never worry about throwing hay bales, feed, tack or wet clothes and smelly boots into it. My wife refuses to get into it but at least my daughter can recognise (and wants a V8 ).
I would never spend £35K on a horse car - it will depreciate at such a rate. Buy a good X5, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Range Rover, Shogun or similar. Buy the best cheapest disposable vehicle you can find (most i ever spent was £2500 and have bought twice over 12 years). I maintained and serviced myself.
A larger transit can also do a good job of towing a 3.5t horsebox. Just saying. An older one of those and a small daily car is what quite a few horsey people do. Those that show on a budget, anyway. I have two cars - a euro box or something enjoyable for family outings etc. And a 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee (4.6 petrol/lpg), before that a P38 Range Rover (V8 petrol/lpg) for the horses.
You might think 2t is enough to tow, that is until you have a trailer (?~1.1t + horse ~ 0.5 ton each) are on a slope or farm track or similar and you smell the clutch burning because it struggles with the combination (i've been there). Go for 3.5t tow capacity you will appreciate it.
The horse car is impossible to keep clean and smell free. I also never worry about throwing hay bales, feed, tack or wet clothes and smelly boots into it. My wife refuses to get into it but at least my daughter can recognise (and wants a V8
). I would never spend £35K on a horse car - it will depreciate at such a rate. Buy a good X5, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Range Rover, Shogun or similar. Buy the best cheapest disposable vehicle you can find (most i ever spent was £2500 and have bought twice over 12 years). I maintained and serviced myself.
Woah! /on topic.
Thanks for the ideas. And so quickly.
You know who made 'em so take your own kudos.
Toerag - she's already had a Toucan suggested, so that's a possibility.
Van - she's had a horrid pink (yes, pink) MAN box. Carrying the horses is a small part of the requirements hence the preference of car + rather than van -.
Horsey shed and decent car - well argued, makes a lot of sense to me.
Subaru & Lexus - interesting.
Thanks for the ideas. And so quickly.
You know who made 'em so take your own kudos.
Toerag - she's already had a Toucan suggested, so that's a possibility.
Van - she's had a horrid pink (yes, pink) MAN box. Carrying the horses is a small part of the requirements hence the preference of car + rather than van -.
Horsey shed and decent car - well argued, makes a lot of sense to me.
Subaru & Lexus - interesting.
Wife has had horses all her life. Towed and driven horseboxes for 40 plus years. Most horse owners cosset their precious 1 ton hunks of meat. Her more than most.
She's not keen on using her trailer for taking horses anywhere other than fairly short distances. Uses a Discovery D5 (D4 before that, D3 before that). 3.5k tow limit. Not known for having the best reliability but we've been very lucky. Tows well. She ensures we have a spare tow vehicle on hand - herself or someone close should there be a breakdown and we need to get the horses in the trailer out of any danger,
For longer journeys uses a 7.5K horsebox, She doesn't trust the 3.5s in terms of their substance if there was an incident. She keeps it tip top to minimise risk of breakdown.
It's under braking that inadequacies of towing vehicles are felt - for me at least. Horse transportation needs plenty of cushion against risk. Wouldn't recommend a vehcile that 'just' meets the towing requirements. Non side window vans have visibility limitations turning out of certain junctions again risking the cargo.
She's not keen on using her trailer for taking horses anywhere other than fairly short distances. Uses a Discovery D5 (D4 before that, D3 before that). 3.5k tow limit. Not known for having the best reliability but we've been very lucky. Tows well. She ensures we have a spare tow vehicle on hand - herself or someone close should there be a breakdown and we need to get the horses in the trailer out of any danger,
For longer journeys uses a 7.5K horsebox, She doesn't trust the 3.5s in terms of their substance if there was an incident. She keeps it tip top to minimise risk of breakdown.
It's under braking that inadequacies of towing vehicles are felt - for me at least. Horse transportation needs plenty of cushion against risk. Wouldn't recommend a vehcile that 'just' meets the towing requirements. Non side window vans have visibility limitations turning out of certain junctions again risking the cargo.
A Mazda CX-60 PHEV is rated to tow 2.5 tonnes. It has as a longiotudinal petrol engine/electric motor motor/transmission/transfer case that's arguably better at towing than Toyota/Lexus/Volvo "through the road" AWD systems that don't have a conventional tailshaft and use an electric motor on the rear axle.
It can achieve amazing economy on shorter journeys on just the battery and will do 40mpg on the 2.5L petrol engine all day long once the 18kWh battery is flat.
There's plenty of low mielage examples available under £40K, they start at about £30K, they are loaded with kit, quiet luxurious and I imagine being a relatively heavy PHEV would aid stability when towing, 327bhp is probably usefull when towing.
It can achieve amazing economy on shorter journeys on just the battery and will do 40mpg on the 2.5L petrol engine all day long once the 18kWh battery is flat.
There's plenty of low mielage examples available under £40K, they start at about £30K, they are loaded with kit, quiet luxurious and I imagine being a relatively heavy PHEV would aid stability when towing, 327bhp is probably usefull when towing.
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