High mileage tow cars

[Chingster294]

Dear all,

I am looking for some advice. I have a 2005 (54 plate) TDi /130 VW Sharan, which has now covered some 76,000 miles. It has been serviced reguarly including replacement of the timing belt and water pump. The advice I am after is, is there anything wrong in towing a caravan with a vehicle with high mileage and what can be the downfalls??

In times where we all have to watch the finances, I cannot afford to change the VW, even though I would like something more on the 4X4 avenue.

Also what are your thoughts on "cruise control" whilst towing a caravan.

Thanks!!!!

 

[plswallow]

Hi.
I tow an Lunar clubman 475-2CK (quite heavy) with a Citroen C5 diesel estate 03 plate with wait for it
272086 miles on the clock (Yes that is right 272086) with no problems at all.

 

[drsorento]

Hi nothing wrong with towing a van with high mileage car, I years ago used to tow with an old D reg 760gle petrol volvo, wound that up to 235000 miles on the clock before the head gasket went pop but it towed like a dream.
I used to have a VW sharan on a V plate it was like yours a tdi, it was the carat model, when I sold it it was still going strong with 137000 miles under its belt and again it was a good tow car so yours is really just run in lol.My sharan was the one noboby likes, the automatic version. They are supposed to suffer gearbox problems but in all the years and with all the miles I put on it I never had a problem.
As for cruise control I use it all the time towing or not, that is if the traffic conditions allow, but solo or towing on a long motorway haul I would not be without it.

 

[DeliDave_]

Have the Galaxy 130 2004 basically identical and ther is nor reason to worry,I go on the galaxy owners site and many go 150k + .The clutch/dual mass flywheel is known problem with a recall on earlier models,I would invest in a motor mover rather than reverse a lot but otherwise OK imho

 

[Steve L]

I have regularly had tow cars with way over 150k on the clock.
Last August I retired my 1998 Laguna 2 ltr petrol estate as I felt sorry for her having done 209'000 miles. I then bought a Rover 75 tourer diesel with 120'000 miles of very comprehensive history.
As long as the car is regularly serviced and well maintained, it is arguably a better piece of kit than a low mileage car that has sat on the drive all week.
Typical example :- My brother-in-law has a Jag S type only 57'000 miles on an 05. But when he took it on holiday to france it broke down. The air con compressor seized. Cost of repair £1800. Plus two days off work the week after he got home, to go back to France to collect the car. The breakdown was caused purely through lack of use as prior to his holiday, the car was only used saturday & sunday and did less than 60 miles per week. The lack of use had allowed corrosion to build up thus restricting the operation of the drive shaft
So a well used car is not necessarily a burden. At least you get to renew parts on a regular basis as you wear them out rather than leave the car to rot on the drive. In fact a car with a healthy turn over of service parts is likely to be not only more reliable, but also safer to drive.
I once bought a Renault 25 Monaco that had for the previous five years only done 1500 miles per annum. The engine and gearbox were so tight, I had to re-run the car in.

 

[seth1]

Hello, no person in the right mind could class 76000miles as even near high.But there is no point people trying to kid them selves that a high milage vehicle will be as mechanically sound as a low milage vehicle despite the service history.Internal engine parts wear,whether the part is still within a serviceable tolerance who knows.Items like headgaskets deteriate with time,hoses go hard,things have a life span.Personally i wouldnt tow with anything over 100.000miles,to me its done a days work at that milage.

 

[Mikey_74]

Like already stated, the mikeage that your car has is low, I know people who have the same engine as yours with over 260k miles on the clock, as for towing, my last car when I sold it has 225k miles on the clock and it still pulled our twin axle 26ft caravan like a steam train, don't worry, just keep on the services and you'll be fine

 

[colin-yorkshire1]

Dear all,
I am looking for some advice. I have a 2005 (54 plate) TDi /130 VW Sharan, which has now covered some 76,000 miles. It has been serviced reguarly including replacement of the timing belt and water pump. The advice I am after is, is there anything wrong in towing a caravan with a vehicle with high mileage and what can be the downfalls??

hi, what are you talking about man @76000 miles its not run in yet?????

mine never uses any oil from service to service (once a vear before we go away)
has emissions lower than when it was new
does 60mpg all day long (40mpg with the van on the back)
has never mechanically broken down
is still on its original clutch
and seems to have more power now than when I got it,
oh and its mileage 145k (70k of that in my ownership)

 

[andy72]

Im puzzled by seths comment re his 100K max for towing. surely its all relative to the life the car has had? eg many city type cars are half dead at 50K miles whereas many ex company cars are stilll fresh at near 100K.

My Audi A3 was 3 year old when i bought it after losing a compay car due to redundancy. It had a computerised service history noting items such as 'refitted rear door access screw cover"... ie a tiny bit of plastic. Its done just approxing 99K milies now, mostly motorway type and trying to be as unbiased as i can, still feels nearly as good as the brand new BMW i got as a company car last year. It does have signs of wear eg stone chips etc but i cant see any reason to scrap it in 1000 miles time lol

 

[JonnyG]

I am sure Seth will reply himself, Andy72, but I would add to his comments that towing puts a hell of lot more stress on all parts of the car, than normal solo driving So 100K clutches 100k DMF 100k turbo's, could really do without the extra strain towing will definitely put on them, and indeed the cost to replace just these parts is either side of 2 grand.
I tow with a 114k seat Alhambra 130bhp tdi, but is am always well aware of potential problems and costs i could incur because of the mileage and wear that my vehicle will have, so i would never give advice along the lines of 100k is nothing these days, it is, its 100k.

 

[seth1]

Hello,Andy 72 im not implying scrap it when it turns 100k,but Jonny puts it alot better than i do.This is just my opinon.The last car we just parted with had 115k,we bought this car nearly new with around 15k showing.A 140hp stilo jtd at the time very rare.Went like a train,but every year towing to the same places i noticed it losing its edge more and more,always well serviced twice a year,timing belt every 40k,infact over serviced,never used a drop of oil or water in 6 years.But how long can they carry on for?How long does a wheel bearing last for?Things get tired,wear takes place,as Jonny says the strain on the tow vehicle must double.Why do haulage operators get rid of trucks at 5 years old?Because their uneconomical to run in repairs.Every one to their own. seth

 

[andy72]

i know what you guys are saying and agree if the car is an older car that has built up 100K over years of family duties but a 3 year old car that has covered 100K miles on a motorway is probably in better condition than one which has done half the milage running around town. Its a known fact that a steady continuos use of an engine is better than stop starting, and this applies to all the componantsts eg clutch, gearbox etc. Most motorway journeys consist of getting into top gear and sitting there for a few hours, (roadworks aside lol)
Towing does put more strain on the car, but liklehood of failure is more down to condition and mileage isnt always the indicator of condition. My brother handed his company golf gt tdi back recently with 150K racked up in less than 2 years, all motorway along the M62. It still smelt new inside and the only thing that went wrong with it was a flat tyre, yet his own private vectra sri cdti, same age and used by his wife for the school run etc had a whole host of problems with sticking egr valves, DMF failures, cracked inlet manifold, all at less than 70K at which point they traded it in.

re trucks getting replaced, its becasue they cover a few hundred K miles a year a least, so potentially a 5 year old could have over 1 million miles on it!

 

[seth1]

Hello Andy thats right they get rid because of the high milage,which is what i was trying to get at.Your earlier statement regarding high milage but motorway milage,is not something im that sure of either.Probably the worst thing to do to an engine is run it at a constant engine speed it leads to problematic things.As ive said i built up trust in my old car,knew it very well.But 100k was enough for me,its only a matter of time.What i read before brought a smile,how can you "re-run"an engine in?(not your post)Have you seen a cylinder wall under a microscope?It consists of peaks and valleys,during the so called "bedding" in process these are affected by millons of micro welds which shear the peaks off.This continues all its life,hey presto you have bore wear,whether servicable or not,thats why a 100k engine is not as sustainable as a 10k engine.With todays synthetic oil,yes engine wear is not as bad,but instead we have cylinder glazing,so still the sameish effects.What you going to run the grand national with,a 3 year old horse or a 13 year old horse?

 

[andy72]

lol, l like the horse one and hard to argue against but i think i would say thats down to age and depriciation rather than how many miles its runa round the track

I used to do sprint and hillclimbs in a mk3 Astra Gsi. It had 142K miles on it and still on orginial engine. That used to get abused beyond belief. ie sitting on the start line, green light, wham 6000 rpm and off, all the way round the rev counter, change gear and do it all again, then fast as you dare around teh corners, skipping the kerbs so often on two or 3 wheels, brake as hard as you can before the ABS kicks in etc etc. It didnt smoke, it didnt rattle and it didnt let me down ever apart from a sensor packing up which was replaced. I even used to drive to and from the circuits around the country in it!. That got far more abuse than towing a caravan could ever give it and was more reliable than the brand newpurpose built racers with rebuilt engines every few races.

I think this one of those where we'll have to agree to disagree as i have had brand new company cars picked up from show rooms that have been more problematic than a 10 year old 100K+ car i had sat on the drive.. In fact looking at the service history of my Audi, it had 1st and 2nd gear replaced in the gearbox at less than 50K! and then nothing but service items for the next 49K miles.

 

[seth1]

Hey Andy i totally respect your views,re-reading my post that was a bit of a shallow comparison i made,not appropriate really.But yes arguements for and agaist,one of my problems is im paranoid of being on the hard shoulder,not by myself but with my children,and also no patience in repairing my own stuff,i get bored continuely looking inside diesel engines for a living.
One area i would point out is the problem with towing is it puts a great deal of constant load on the engine,even with out realising it,its allways fighting even on the flat,where as you have high engine speed with little load factor and for a short time period.But their is no rules,what ever works is sound.

 

[ctj]

Why do haulage operators get rid of trucks at 5 years old?Because their uneconomical to run in repairs.Every one to their own. seth

What is this info based on? my experience based on 20 yrs in the haulage industry past 2 as a fleet manager says that the reason most hauliers change every 3 years is because most hgvs are on lease from the manufacturer and after 3-4 years the vehicle is paid for, So then when they sell on mostly low mileage fully serviced at premium prices.
we recently had 3 brand new hire units on our fleet (all scania so not cheap makes ) 2 of them developed faults that required new parts with only 400 ish Kms yes that is 400 kms approx 300 miles yes high mileage vehicles have wear and tear but doesnt mean they are useless for anything other than the shopping run
another example our fleet consists of 58 plate vehicles mostly 450,000 kms and reguarly need maintenace whilst 1 our our subcontractors have a 52 plate vehicle with over 1 million miles on and he very rarely needs work on his vehicle
sorry for ranting on

 

[seth1]

Hello Ctj, im not to sure how a camparison between a 2002 vehicle can be made with a 58 plate in regards to reliability,most vehicles from that age were alot less complex and so less to go wrong.I would doublt very much whether it has Adblue also.Depending on when the safety inspections were calculated i would expect them both to have the same regular maintenance.Some makes these days do seem to put it bluntly be made like "cars".
My thoughts can also be seen when a manufacturer works out the price for a contract maintenance deal on older v ehicles that are already in service,millage and age are a concern,we then have a rising scale.Why is this?Because things wear out with age.
But be sure at 1 million km your friends engine is no way going to look like a 450.000km engine internally,thats not to say its no longer servicable.
Whats this info based on?
25 years in the commercial engineering,the last 10 for a German truck manufacturer as a field service engineer,now a company owner/director which is a repair agent for large Diesel engines,and also an agent for two engine makers globally.
People all have their own views on this subject,which is fine but ignorance is bliss.I find it crazy for people to say a wearing component is going to be as uniform as weather it be new or old.

 

[Martin24]

When it's dead it's dead and while it's still going it's still going!! I intend changing my car this year despite it only having covered 60K because I need to go from a 5 to 7 seat 4x4 and that's about it. The car does about 20 miles a week plus towing duties so probably not ideal usage but is annually serviced. Things still wear out and/or deteriorate and need replacing whether it's used or not and probably does more harm in general not using it then whacking a 26' twin axle on the back!!! If I didn't need to get a 7 seater or a 7 seat conversion kit was available I would carry on with her until such time as she died. what to get next is the question though. It'll probably be the last change of towcar for the next 20years so got to get it right.
As far as cruise control is concerned I have never liked towing with it on but do use it solo whenever conditions dictate (so with my mileage not that often)