What Tow Vehicle ????

[Sam99]

Hello All,

I would like some advice, please.
If you were to buy a vehicle, a 4X4 / pick-up style vehicle, to be used for towing a covered car trailer, what would you recommend?
Reliability / high MPG / spares / cheap servicing costs etc being important.
Not too keen on an Estate car, but all suggestions would be welcomed.

Thanks,

Sam


Sorry - Budget ? £8 - 10 K ??

Edited by Sam99 on Sunday 25th July 08:57

[v8will]

Budget? For towing something heavy it really has to be a 4x4, a covered car trailer may be beyond what many a car will legally tow

For me personally an Auto TD5 discovery would be up there. 3500KG towing weight, characterful engine which can be made more impressive with some ECU tuning, good comfort, excellent image (if that's a concern) It might cost a little more to keep on the road but it really is a superb vehicle. Oh and it's alot more comfortable than a defender.

[GKP]

Budget? Any of the Land Rover products (Freelander excepted) will pull the maximum allowable weight (3500kgs on standard over-run trailer brakes) without issue.

[Fane]

A new shape L200 - I get 31 mpg commuting and around 26 mpg towing with mine.

[HellDiver]

A local company makes roof trusses. They deliver them on custom built trailers. They're still towing them with pickup Defender 90s. Most are TD5, but they're still using a few old TDI300. That alone to me says they're the vehicle for your job.

[RobM77]

It completely depends on the towing weight. Most people I know that tow racing cars have Mercs, Audis, BMWs etc. If you're not keen on an estate car, I'd go for a BMW 330d.

[spdpug98]

Whilst waiting for my new car to be delivered (to fit a towbar on) I have been using a friends tow van, it is a Nissan Elgrand ( http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1999-NISSAN-ELGRAND-8-SEATER... ) to be honest it has been a great bit of kit.

Plenty of room inside for kit and tools, tows very very well up to and over towing speed limits (so I have been told), I even folded the seats up out of the way at Lydden last week and slept in the back

[cptsideways]

Landcruiser, even the older 4.2td 80's are still in big demand, not much that will beat them on just about all counts of comfyness, towing duty, mpg's, power, reliability etc. I have one that tows my 2.5ton loaded trailer it'll do 26mpg towing at 65/75mph in france officer

My mate has one for race events, fully loaded 4 up & all the gear, with a double stack 2 car trailer (2 mx5's) 6.8ton gross train weight & its brilliant at it, & still does 18mpg towing at 60ish mph.

[Willy Nilly]

You might be better off putting it on/in a small non LGV truck. They are not terribly expensive. A good friend of mine did a lot of towing with his L200 but switched to a non LGV and was much happier.

[OnTheOverrun]

Impossible to answer without knowing the trailer weights.

[Jon Ison]

Also what will be the main use of the tow vehicle, family car ?

[RobM77]

OnTheOverrun said:

Impossible to answer without knowing the trailer weights.

If the OP wants high mpg, then he'll need to be careful not to overspec the tow car - i.e. buy too heavy or inefficent a tow car.

[Sam99]

Hello All,

Thanks for all the replies.
It will be a twin axle covered trailer for moving a Healey 3000.
It will be my only mode of transport, but I’m single, no kids, so I don’t need a family car.
I had been on the lines of a L200, Discovery, and Land cruiser.

Thanks for all the comments.

Sam

[mat13]

I do a lot of towing (family business is a caravan park and we trade in horse trailers) and have found that you really cant beat the old 3.1td isuzu troopers.

They are not particuarly refined but have buckets of torque and are very stable when towing. Parts are readily available however they can be expensive, i got round this by buying a spare car to use for parts. The best bit is 1500 quid will get you a very good one.

[busta]

You'll be towing well under 2 tons (about 700kg for trailer, same again for car?) so look at Freelanders and X-Trails rather than bigger, thirstier Discos and Landcruisers. I know you don't want an estate, but most bigger saloons or estates will comfortably tow that kind of weight and return better MPG than any 4x4.

Look HERE for a good selection of towing capacities for modern cars and 4x4s. There's definitely no need to go overboard with a heavy weight full size 4x4. Even a few more PH cars would fit the bill- any 6cyl BMW 3 series coupe for one.

Edited by busta on Sunday 25th July 15:20

[RobM77]

According to Wikipedia, the Healey weighs 1100kg. Add the trailer to that and it's just about ok with a 3 series, and fine with a 5. Such a car will do much better mpg than a 4x4, and it goes without saying it'll be miles better to drive.

[Sam99]

Thanks to Busta and RobM77 for the link and advise .

I'll now be thinking of a 5 Series.
Nothing definite , but will look into that suggestion.

Sam

[martin mrt]

I bought a VW Transporter to tow my car trailer, it pulls the trailer like it's not even there.

Mine is a 2.5 130 and never does below 30mpg

[GKP]

Do you ever carry spares such as wheels, fuel, tools, trolley jacks etc? You'll be well overweight before you know it.

Do you have the correct category on your licence for towing something heavier than a duvet? (Or are you an old fart like me?! )

[CaptainSlow]

whilst not wanting to thread-jack, which estate has a braked towing weight of over 2,000 kg? Looking at older 5 series and they are 1,700 to 1,800.