Tow vehicles

[CliveV]

Earlier in the month it was asked if the Freelander TD4 was a good vehicle for towing. Most responces were balanced and generaly favourable but a silly one proved the 80/20 rule (as always) applies. Just to add a further observation the Land Rover Freelander has just won the Fleet Management magazines Fleet Excellence Award in the small 4x4 catagory.

Bearing in mind that these guys represent the business community who only care for value and utility and are not swayed at all by brand loyalty, this award says a lot.

The Freelander gained twice the number of votes that its nearest rival, the Nissan x-Trail achieved.

 

[Steve_5041622]

Clive,

I raised the initial question about TD4's and am pleased with the majority of the responses as I have a TD4 which I wasn't sure would be suitable. However, have now picked up my Bailey Ranger 500/5 and it pulls no trouble at all. In fact, I don't think I could ask for a better tow car. Thanks for your feedback.

Steve

 

[JamesHigh_Flyer]

We are looking to get into Caravanning later in the year and are choosing a puller now. We were looking at a 2.0 Ford Mondeo... but are tempted with the large selection of 2nd Hand 1.8 petrol Freelanders on the market at the moment. Any comments would be gratefully recieved.

 

[Trevor_5062092]

We are looking to get into Caravanning later in the year and are choosing a puller now. We were looking at a 2.0 Ford Mondeo... but are tempted with the large selection of 2nd Hand 1.8 petrol Freelanders on the market at the moment. Any comments would be gratefully recieved.

I tow with a 2.0 Mondeo Di, great car tows 1200 kg no problem.

Becareful with 1.8 Freelander, I understand major problem with head gasket on about 1 in 4 vehicles hence loads about a lot cheaper then diesel versions. hope this helps

 

[joeby]

when u say a ford mondeo they have about 7 models which one do u mean they even make a 4 wheel drive model , i use to own the V6 2.5 Ghia which u could drive in 5th gear from 20 mph up to 140 mph

 

[joeby]

try going onto www.autotrader.co.uk ,and go onto vehicle road tests and you can find out what like about any car you want

 

[Lord Braykewynde]

Ummmmm Joby? is it your mission on here to resurrect old postings .. lmaaoooooo

 

[Carol2]

Ummmmm Joby? is it your mission on here to resurrect old postings .. lmaaoooooo

Naughty, you keep repeating youself as well

 

[Lord Braykewynde]

Naughty, you keep repeating youself as well

Sowwy Carol, I'm stuck in stupid mode :O(

 

[Carol2]

Sowwy Carol, I'm stuck in stupid mode :O(

Why not be a stupid mood, it keeps you young!!. And get to bed It's late, or then again why bother, we don't need to get up early

 

[jon_5062082]

to match up a good towcar / caravan combination try going to www.WhatTowCar.com

im also looking at a Mondeo , a 2.0 TDCi (130) hopefully. better tug than the petrol models.

 

[joeby]

Hi Jon just bought a Mondeo 2 Litre TDCI 130 BPH,tows my senator indiana up most hills in 5th gear averages about 29 mpg towing ,and solo in 6th gear with over drive on going from swansea to reading at 4,30 AM i got 64 MPG ,which was big difference from my old Mondeo 2.5 V6 and my Nissan Terrano 2,7 TDI they both only averaged 28 MPG and a lot worse towing ,

the worst thing with the Mondeo is depreciation,but if you go to the right web site u can save yourself a lot of money brand new

 

[jon_5062082]

mm, unfortunately buying new isnt an option.looking at 02/52 plates probably with 80k + showing.

anyone know what spec Mondeo estate you have to get before you get self levelling on the back end ?

 

[giovanni_5060838]

clive v. i don't have an opinion on the freelander,but noted

you say it has won an award...i gather for this to be valid,

it won an award for towing caravans! if not how is this anymore

valid than someone saying they didn't like it for towing.

personally anycar can tow, just need to stick to the guide lines.

which is better? i honestly don't know,everyone has there own

standards and guidelines....

just didn't want the issue clouded as to how good or bad a vehicle is,by using awards that my or may not have relevence to

the original question....

 

[CliveV]

Hi Gio

Problem here is that an old thread has been somewhat bizarrely resurrected - From 14th MARCH 2005!!!! That is 9 (yes NINE) months ago.

I made that posting in direct response to comments that Land Rovers were inherently less reliable than other vehicles. Certainly their quality control in the past has left much to be desired but in the past LR's development budget was probably less than Nissans hospitality budget.

Very different now that Ford has Land Rover within its PAG.

So your comments are irrelevant as the comments I made AT THAT TIME were relevant to the then current postings.

I never ever inferred that the award was caravan based. The award was by Fleet Operators (probably the most difficult to impress as they work ENTIRELY on facts not emotion) and placed the Freelander way ahead of its closest rival the Nissan X trail - itself a tremendous vehicle - so praise indeed.

There are plenty of other posts that cover the merits of various tow cars - many far more recent than this!

I can not see why such a post was resurrected. All seems a bit silly to me.

 

[Guest]

Clive,

I think the technical description of this is..........snafu!

Cheers

David

 

[Lord Braykewynde]

Clive its because joby is new to this site and is reading ALL the postings from the year dot lmaaaooooo. I think he's nearly finished resurrecting them, at least I hope so.

 

[trevor123]

We are looking to get into Caravanning later in the year and are choosing a puller now. We were looking at a 2.0 Ford Mondeo... but are tempted with the large selection of 2nd Hand 1.8 petrol Freelanders on the market at the moment. Any comments would be gratefully recieved.

hi James

Don't wish to be rude but forget the 1.8 Petrol Freelander they are not a very good tow car, Go for the Freelanders TD4 much better pulled well 40 to the gallon solo, about 30 towing,

Happy Caravaning Trevor

 

[CliveV]

Good Grief! Do you really think so?

Well whatever floats your boat I supose!

 

[Pelyma1]

A new freelander is out next year, hence all the deals on new ones a present. It should have much more power (approx 180bhp) bigger inside, but not much more bigger on the outside. With the success LR have had of late who would bet against this being a big success

 

[TheSleuth]

hi James

Don't wish to be rude but forget the 1.8 Petrol Freelander they are not a very good tow car, Go for the Freelanders TD4 much better pulled well 40 to the gallon solo, about 30 towing,

Happy Caravaning Trevor

Like a complete Burk I "misfuelled" my BMW 530d Touring whilst staying at Sandringham and then the garage set fire to it when removing the petrol. However the worst part of this sorry tale was a loan of their 1.8 petrol Freelander to get my rig back home to Surrey. It was a truly truly awful experience. No guts, noisy, thirsty as hell etc etc. I wouldn't go near that model at least!