Rav4 PHEV to tow Swift Sprite?

[otherclive]

Thanks for the hint. I located a thread where you were discussing this on a different forum which made good reading.

I am quite tempted to go for the Rav4 as it will save me a lot of money compared to other options, and Toyota seem to have some pretty good incentives for Rav4 PHEV right now - 1.9% PCP so I can have the option to spread the cost over a few years. I can actually afford to buy the car outright with tax free money from pension, but I can make a better return than 1.9% by keeping the cash myself.

Also due to the significantly lower cost than most of the other cars I'm looking at, if I decide to change it after a year or two I will only lose a relavively smaller amount of depreciation.

Only slight quibble is that there is no 360 camera unlesss you go for the higher spec model, which then has a lower towing limit.

I am also looking into maybe getting a Bailey caravan instead of a Swift as my research indicates that with a Bailey it will be much easier to stay within the 70KG nose weight limit. In fact it might be the other way around and need to struggle to get the nose weight up to 70KG.

Given the number of Swift vans out there the owners must be able to achieve their required noseweight. A recent post by a Forum member bemoaned the fact that his Bailey had a high noseweight when virtually empty. But until the van is loaded with your payload you don’t know what your actual noseweight will be.

My last Swift was 100+ kg with one cylinder, mover, and battery. I had to get it down to 75kg. Also the van had uneven weight distribution across the caravan. Most if it’s heavy fittings were in front of the axle. But playing around with payload items and trying different distribution of load I achieved my 75kg. Things like holdalls went at the back, 2 litres in cassette and flush tank, toolbag at back. Dog food and some heavy compact items in floor locker behind axle. Bedding on the rear beds. Occasionally a 10 kg water container would go towards the rear. You have to experiment to get you where you want to be. ALL my items were weighed and on spreadsheets so I could get a better feel of what to put where.

 

[Oscarmax]

Thanks for the hint. I located a thread where you were discussing this on a different forum which made good reading.

I am quite tempted to go for the Rav4 as it will save me a lot of money compared to other options, and Toyota seem to have some pretty good incentives for Rav4 PHEV right now - 1.9% PCP so I can have the option to spread the cost over a few years. I can actually afford to buy the car outright with tax free money from pension, but I can make a better return than 1.9% by keeping the cash myself.

Also due to the significantly lower cost than most of the other cars I'm looking at, if I decide to change it after a year or two I will only lose a relavively smaller amount of depreciation.

Only slight quibble is that there is no 360 camera unlesss you go for the higher spec model, which then has a lower towing limit.

I am also looking into maybe getting a Bailey caravan instead of a Swift as my research indicates that with a Bailey it will be much easier to stay within the 70KG nose weight limit. In fact it might be the other way around and need to struggle to get the nose weight up to 70KG.

We also had to make some changes with our Swift, front locker virtually empty calorlite and a few bits and bobs, 2 aqua rolls and waste master with packaging in the rear bathroom shower and awning on the floor of the rear bathroom, ridge is behind the axle so full and wife kindly fill the rear wardrobe to the brim, easily 65/70kg, all the rest goes in the car.

 

[Yddraig]

We tow a knaus caravan 1500kg, with a RAV4 AWD and never had any problems towing that weight. ( we aim for 65 to 70kg nose weight )
The outfit is totally stable.
Legal minimum limit for nose-weight is 4% ( so 1500 kg van requires minimum 60kg nose-weight.
( did reach 80mph going uphill by mistake once, and car was still accelerating rapidly. And brought the car back to 60mph quite rapidly, )