Newbie needs help selecting a tow car!!!

[Sp4rke]

Hi,
I'm new here and have never towed a caravan so please be gentle with me

My wife & I are wanting to start caravaning, we are trying to choose a suitable vehicle via our company vehicle scheme & have narrowed the choice down to four we like but are unsure which way to jump. We will not be responsible for maintenance, servicing or tyres so those things are not a consideration and neither will longevity as we will only have the vehicle for 3 years.

My wife would like the best spec possible, I think I'd prefer, as a beginner, to tow with an automatic and we have no idea whether 4x4 makes a real-world towing difference over 2WD so we can't decide between .....

Nissan X-Trail N-Connecta 2.0Lt Auto 4WD
Nissan X-Trail Tekna 1.6Lt Manual 2WD
Kia Sportage 2.0Lt CRDi KX-4 Manual 4WD
Mazda CX-5 Sport Nav 2.2Lt Auto 2WD

Looking at the towing specs we can find a suitable caravan to tow with any of these vehicles.

So what is most important? The Mazda & Tekna have the best specs but are only 2WD and the Tekna is a manual box. The Kia has slightly less spec but gains 4WD and the Nissan N-Connecta is the lowest spec but is both automatic and 4WD.

If anyone has any thoughts or towing experience with these vehicles it would be great to hear from you - being completely new to this we have no idea how much of a difference things like an auto transmission or 4WD will make and if they are worth sacrificing spec to get?

Many thanks for any responses

 

[ProfJohnL]

You tell us it will be a company car, so I presume you are working and do travel. Consequently its most likely the majority of you mileage will done not towing, So I would suggest you mainly look for a capable car that you will be happy spending your commute in.

The majority of caravanners never need the capability of a 4x4 and in general of the vehicles you have suggested the 4x4 options will more expensive to buy and run.

Particularly large 4x4s are not necessarily the most comfortable to ride in, the extra mechanical parts make them heavier and less frugal on fuel.

Automatics do seem to make towing more relaxed.

I do need to bring to your attention the possibility if you go for a larger 4x4 then you will almost certainly need to have entitlement BE or B+E on your driving licence as the combined MAM of your 4x4 and caravan may exceed the 3500kg limit for Cat B only licences.

If don't have entitlement BE or B+E, then you may need to consider taking the +E extension test to raise your combined MAM limit.

 

[otherclive]

I think that you can hardly call the Nissan Connecta a bargain basement as far as its specification is concerned. If you scheme allows towing then I would recommend the 2..0 or 2.2 litre diesels as they will be a more relaxed drive. I prefer auto for towing as it makes the driving more relaxed and when manoeuvring around on pitches its a bit easier on the powertrain. But I have had manual cars and didn't have any problems, so I guess it is a personal thing. 4wd can be useful when coming of and onto wet grass/muddy pitches, and when carrying out sharp turns on hills. But for years I managed very well with a mix of fwd or rwd cars. In fact the only times that I have been stuck on pitches was with a succession of 4wd cars, and one of these was a true 4WD with all terrain tyres on it. If it rains heavily on an already wet site, or the farmer decides to mow the site and it then rains your exit will always be interesting!

One thing you should consider is the cars payload and load volume. Caravan payloads seem to be quite light these days and you don't say what vans you are looking at. So quite a lot of kit may have to go into the car, which can eat up load volume especially if you have children, or dogs or relatives likely to travel with you.

Does your driving licence include B and E. as the category of your licence will affect the overall weight of the outfit that you can drive.

Both Nissans and Mazda make good cars and you see them towing a range of caravans so I think that it will be your personal choice at the end based on a number of factors.

Good luck and hopefully many happy holidays.

 

[Anseo]

Hi Sp4rke, welcome .

It took me less than a minute to make a decision, Nissan X-Trail N-Connecta 2.0Lt Auto 4WD.

 

[Icaru5]

You tell us it will be a company car, so I presume you are working and do travel. Consequently its most likely the majority of you mileage will done not towing, So I would suggest you mainly look for a capable car that you will be happy spending your commute in.

The majority of caravanners never need the capability of a 4x4 and in general of the vehicles you have suggested the 4x4 options will more expensive to buy and run.

Particularly large 4x4s are not necessarily the most comfortable to ride in, the extra mechanical parts make them heavier and less frugal on fuel.

Automatics do seem to make towing more relaxed.

I do need to bring to your attention the possibility if you go for a larger 4x4 then you will almost certainly need to have entitlement BE or B+E on your driving licence as the combined MAM of your 4x4 and caravan may exceed the 3500kg limit for Cat B only licences.

If don't have entitlement BE or B+E, then you may need to consider taking the +E extension test to raise your combined MAM limit.

Couldn’t agree more with the Prof’s first paragraph.

 

[Kevin2306]

I would also look into the tax implications of each vehicle, I have a company car and once you tick the 4x4 option things get quite expensive.

Kev

 

[otherclive]

I would also look into the tax implications of each vehicle, I have a company car and once you tick the 4x4 option things get quite expensive.

Kev

Still good value compared to running your own car.

 

[Raywood]

I tend to agree that if this is a company car and you are going to travel a lot in it without the caravan then getting the car you prefer for this should be a priority, although tax levels might also be a point to consider. Without knowing what you intend to tow I would say all are capable tow cars and with the right caravan all will be excellent for the job. Personally I was brought up to go for larger less stressed engines and do have my doubts about the 1500 Nissan unless you are looking at a very light caravan.

Again most of us manage perfectly we without a 4x4 but it depends on where you are going to tow with it. If you intend to rally on grass sites then it would help, but otherwise it is unlikely to be necessary, but it does give you a slight advantage. If you have a motor mover fitted then this might be enough to get you off wet grass onto a site road in most cases and has certainly helped me.

The choice is very personal and possibly this is why you will see most models on sites but whatever you choose from the selection I doubt you will regret it.

 

[otherclive]

I tend to agree that if this is a company car and you are going to travel a lot in it without the caravan then getting the car you prefer for this should be a priority, although tax levels might also be a point to consider. Without knowing what you intend to tow I would say all are capable tow cars and with the right caravan all will be excellent for the job. Personally I was brought up to go for larger less stressed engines and do have my doubts about the 1500 Nissan unless you are looking at a very light caravan.

Again most of us manage perfectly we without a 4x4 but it depends on where you are going to tow with it. If you intend to rally on grass sites then it would help, but otherwise it is unlikely to be necessary, but it does give you a slight advantage. If you have a motor mover fitted then this might be enough to get you off wet grass onto a site road in most cases and has certainly helped me.

The choice is very personal and possibly this is why you will see most models on sites but whatever you choose from the selection I doubt you will regret it.

A motor mover is very helpful getting off a muddy site. I’ve used it a number of times and as I said in my earlier post they were all when towing with 4x4s. It helps the mover if you reduce the nose wheel load to almost zero. My wife seems a good counterweight and hops into the van and moves slowly to the rear of the axle

 

[LizziePope]

Hi Sp4rke, thanks for posting and a warm welcome to our forum.