Caravan Towing Service Required ?

[peterw1]

Hello
Does anyone know of a caravan towing service based in the west midlands prefered in the DY/ B6?/W V postal areas ?
Our ten years old Land Rover 'Charity' has decidedto feel its age and although its fine solo now when it is towing and under load it now shows its disgust and over heats Vesuvius style.
Our garage ,a specialist who only service and repair Landrover don't really want us to have the work done as the cost (and they are very reasonable and Iould reccomend them to any one)is not worth it.
We cannot afford to replace the car until later in the year hence the dilemma.
we are throwing money away which ever route we take we just need a prod to find out who we are going to be generous towards.
We call the car Charity because thats how it feels after 8 1/2 years of ownership.
Hate to think how much the costs would have been at dealer workshop rates.
Thanks PeterW

 

[Parksy]

If you Google 'caravan tow sevice' you will find several firms in various parts of the country who will undertake to tow your caravan.
The one that's listed for the Midlands is Charlie Thomas
I should imagine that such a towing sevice will be expensive and there are terms & conditions.
Have you thought about putting your caravan onto a seasonal pitch until the vehicle situation improves?

 

[PhilFraeHowMill]

Peter, Another option is to get a quote from a local Recovery firm, however, with the price of fuel the way it is at the moment, there will be no cheap options. Good luck.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello Peter,
There are some legal considerations also,
If the caravan is towed, it must have a numberplate that corresponds to the towing vehicle. though it is likely the owner of the is likely to have a number plate for their own trailer/caravan that can be used.
Be aware that paying someone to do this may invalidate their insurance as its driving for hire or reward.
Insurance - Insurance should be in place to cover you against any loss or damage to the caravan whilst not being towed by you.
Are you a member of a local caravan or special interest club - ask there - perhapse someone is going in that general direction on business, and may be able to accomodate you.
Contact a local transport company, they may have a flatbed lorry going in your direction, and if they have HiAb cranes on the truck, they could easily lift the caravan onto the flat bed and unload it at your destination.
Recovery companies have been mentioned before - if they are a local garage they may be amenable to tow/load it for you.
Consider hiring a car or van with a hitch - probably cheaper than using a commercial towing service, but do check with the hire company about insurance cover whilst towing.

I suspect that if you use a commercial towing company, the costs may work out almost as much as buying an older car/landrover. IF you get it towed that is money spent and gone, whereas if you were to stretch a little you might be able to get anther "charity" which will not only do you for this holiday but others in the future.

 

[emmerson]

peterw, I'm concerned about this problem with a Land Rover which is only TEN years old not being fit to tow! I'm off to Europe with my 18 year old RR in a couple of days!
What model is it? The only one I can think of which would be that bad is a P38 with liner problems, and yes, that can cost arms and legs to repair.

 

[PhilFraeHowMill]

Prof. John, I don`t mean to be pedantic, but there are a couple of flaws in what you say, general hauliers will have no means to load the van onto a flat bed, recovery trucks have a slide bed system to allow for loading cars vans etc. I cannot see any way you could use a HIAB type crane to load a caravan, without causing crush damage to the van, OK maybe with a salvage van, but not with someones pride and joy.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello Phil, the use of spreader bars in the strops, I have seen it done for both cars and caravans. admittedly not very common. It is also a process used when moving sectional buildings like mobile class rooms, and other crush sensitive items.

 

[Steve L]

I totally agree that HiaB lifting a caravan is neither practical, safe or cost effective.
An average boat lift of simlar size is £150. The risk of damage to a caravan is very high.

There are plenty of one man and his van adds on fleabay. They average about 60p per mile and most say they have a tow bar.

It might be a risk, but how about buying a large car (rover 75 for instance) through a local auction to run round until the landie is fixed. A 75 diesel saloon Y reg with 150K on the clock and new mot made £425 at Kingland car Auctions near leominster. Don't know if it has been done but a 2ltr freelander (BMW) engine & box might go in. The Diahatsu 2.8 diesel used to be a popular fit in range rovers.

 

[peterw1]

Hello, Parksy, Phil,Prof John and Emmerson.
I love this forum its been such a long time since I was last onit . You get such an array and diverse comments. Brilliant.
Thanks every one.
The day I posted this original problem I had already contacted 3 'towing sevices' by email. One of those twice by email and also telephone. As of now I have receceived NO replies off any off them regardless of all their brave words which they put up in print.
To me that says Not Reliable.
Problem is I need to find some one local to even justify the cost in the stupidest way.
Last year going to the same place with Diesel being a lot less in price and covering approx 180 miles probably cost us about £43-00. Diesel around here now is between £1-35 - £1-39 a litre so I am expecting that figure to be closer to £60-00 this year.
If a 'towing' company did this I expect this to double and then multiply by 4 and then add some more on top of that.
I did see one org advertise at £1-35 mile so that would equate to over a grand and nothing to show for it later. It makes the £500-00 for the repair look very tempting.
The Land Rover who ever mentioned it is a Freelander Diesel which tows wonderful but is so unreliable and we have spent a fortune over the last 8 1/2 years but this is the first engine problem we have had . It has done 135000 miles ,105000 of those are ours.
It is the most unreliable car I have owned since my Sunbeam Imp Sport When i was 18 yrs old.
But in that long winter we had with all that snow and ice it never missed a beat ,it was perfect. Which makes me conclude 52weeks bad weather perfefect car !
We call it 'Charity' because of the money we have put into it hence we are in a sort of negative equity status with it.We would be in a deeper hole if not for our excellent garage Ultimate Landrover who will repair this for £500-00 total.(11 + hours work so the book says)
Thank you all
PeterW

 

[Surfer]

As suggested, a seasonal site seems the way forward until yiou can get the Landie repaired. There should be no issue with insurance if a friend is towing it to the site and not for reward. You would need to clear this with car insurance people only as the caravan insurance would be irrelevant as long as the tow vehicle is capable and within the law.

 

[peterw1]

Hello Surfer
I cannot afford a seasonal pitch, I wouldn't be able to use it (time) if I could afford a seasonal and the park where we are going will not be able to accomodate us for that length of time as it is quite small and always well subscribed.
Ideally what I need is my friend to tow my van to my holiday destination at the time I want him to and then to collect it and tow it back home when it suits me as well. And out of the goodness of his heart set up ,take down and waif any fuel costs etc.
Now . Does any one know six numbers for tonights lottery draw please ?
ps Where do you live Surfer and do you have a 4x4 LOL
many thanks PeterW

 

[yorkykev]

peterw,
Hope this post does'nt break any forum rules
if you want to e-mail me all the details with regard to your trip ( happy for moderator to pass my e-mail address on to you ) I would be willing to quote a price which may help you out.
cheers
Kev

 

[Surfer]

Hello Surfer
I cannot afford a seasonal pitch, I wouldn't be able to use it (time) if I could afford a seasonal and the park where we are going will not be able to accomodate us for that length of time as it is quite small and always well subscribed.
Ideally what I need is my friend to tow my van to my holiday destination at the time I want him to and then to collect it and tow it back home when it suits me as well. And out of the goodness of his heart set up ,take down and waif any fuel costs etc.
Now . Does any one know six numbers for tonights lottery draw please ?
ps Where do you live Surfer and do you have a 4x4 LOL
many thanks PeterW

We live near Worcester, but do not have a 4 x 4 as we use a mondeo to two our twin axle which is a Lunar Lexon EW.