tow car limit

[pablodiablo74]

Hi i'm hoping someone can help me with towing limits for my car. I recently changed my car to a citroen c4 grand picasso 2.0 hdi egs vtr+ with a towing limit of 1500kgs as stated in the hand book and on the v5 document which i thought was reasonable.

But on visiting my local caravan dealer he says that i can only tow a max of 1300kgs and would not sell me a van that exceeded this. as I would be illegal. so that now limits the amount of caravans i can buy due to weight. i bought this car for family practical reasons plus the towing limit. I dont want to exceed the max towing limit of car+caravan

So can anyone tell me what my car can actually tow safely and am I limited to sub 1300kgs caravans.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello Pablo,

I can't comment specifically on how well you car tows, as I haven't driven one. But according to the data base I use, it suggests the main weight factors are:

ULW 1620kg
Towed weight limit 1500kg

From the above information the cars maximum towed weight limit is 1500, not 1300 as suggested by the caravan dealer. Did the dealer explain why they think its illegal?

I suspect the dealer is misinterpreting the caravan industry guidance of only towing a caravan not exceeding 85% of the tow vehicles unladen weight i.e. 0.85 x 1620 = 1377kg. This not law it is only guidance.

There could be another possibility, Look up the GTW and the GVW from the cars data plate Subtract the GVW from the GTW. If the result may be less than the cars specified maximum towed weight. This means if you want to tow the maximum weight of trailer, you cannot fully load the the car to its limit or vice versa.

 

[pablodiablo74]

Thanks Prof John L for replying

The dealer looked at a database on his computer that he said they pay for and it was a industry standard used by dealers and police. All the dealer said was that my car could only tow 1300kgs max and any more would put car under a lot of strain and then maybe not safe. but he did use the words illegal.

i'll have a look at the data plate on the car and see what it says.

So am i limited to sub 1300kgs caravans if the plate comes back with a figure nearer the 1300kgs

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello again Pablo,

The law recognises the biggest trailer any vehicle can tow is defined buy the vehicle manufacturers specified Maximum Braked Towed Weight limit. In the case of your vehicle that seems to be 1500Kg - BUT all data bases contain some errors, so the figure I have could be wrong, as can the figures the dealer has. The only figures that matter are those provided by the Manufacture in its type approval documentation(not generally available to the public) and the data plates on the vehicle.

Unfortunately not all vehicle manufactures set out their towed weight specs in quite the same way.

The guaranteed method (applicable to all manufactures) is the subtract the Gross vehicle Weight from the vehicle Gross Train Weight on the vehicles data plate. But some manufactures quote a heavier Maximum Braked Trailer Weight limit but to use that heavier figure means you cannot fully load the car as always the Gross Train weight figure is the limit that must not be exceeded. Unfortunately I don't know if this is the case for your car - you will have to get the figures.

Provided you do not exceed the Gross Train Weight then you can use the maximum braked trailer Weight.

Just to remind you that the industry recommends that caravans MTPLM should not exceed 85% of the cars Unladen weight. This is not law but a sensible starting point as it recognises that caravans are a difficult trailer for the car to control.

 

[Lutz]

There are often quite big variances in maximum allowable towload even within one model range of a particular car manufacturer, depending on engine type and size, automatic or manual transmission, body style (e.g. saloon or estate, where applicable), even model year, so it is quite possible that the dealer made the wrong selection in calling up the data, or the data itself was incomplete.

 

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