Towcar recommendations

[Grahamh]

Hi,
have a Mondeo Estate which is great for towing but want to change for something easier on the back to get into - it's too low. I had a Zafira which was great but couldn't tow with the weight restriction. The mondeo's really good for economy (48 solo and 34 with the van -if I have the roofbox on). Don't want a 4wd - too costly to run and maintain. Need something fairly high and with similar power to the mondeo. Would be great with a noseweight limit a bit higher - say 80 or 90 Kg. I like everything about the Ford S max except the price - I can't afford a new car and can't wait for a 3 year old S max.
Any suggestions?

 

[NigelHutson]

If you like the S-Max, why will you have to wait three years? They've been about for a few years now.

 

[Grahamh]

Aah.... Now why did I think it was new model???
Yes just looked at 2nd hand prices. Think I'll go and have a test drive.
Thanks v much.

 

[NigelHutson]

It did very well at the Tow Car Awards event a year or two ago, winning its class.
I hope you find one to suit.

 

[Grahamh]

Yes it seems to get realy good reviews as a towcar but.....
spent most of the day looking at reviews and it would seem that the electrics are a nightmare. Ford customer support get a real roasting over the lack of dealer expertise. The DMF seems to be a prob also around the 50k miles mark(which is terrible) but the real horror stories are around the security system and faults in that affecting things like wipers etc etc. Also lots of tales of woe about the turbo, power steering, battery drain through undetermined earth faults and so on.
They seem to hold their value well after the first three years but the unreliability is putting me off.
Also had a look at the Seat Alhmbra and the VW but they aren't very pretty are they?
Thought I'd cracked it but not sure now....

 

[seth1]

If their reliable sod what they look like,but the vw/seat dont look bad anycase.Never hear of bad reports on either anyway especially the 1.9 tdi ,rock solid.

 

[woodsieboy]

We had a 57 plate S Max,not as a towcar,but one of our business cars,it was the worst car we have ever had,and we have had a few lemons,as others have said most of the problems were to do with electrics. If you left the car for a few days without using it it would be dead,not enough power to operate the interior lights. At other times the alarm would go off randomly even when driving,leading to wipers working on sunny days.Ford dealer was hopeless, car would be with them for a week come back worse with engine and battery cover left in boot.It got so bad I was on Christian name terms with the Ford MD's PA by the time our complaints had been ignored by the dealer enough times,in the end we had a letter from Ford apologising for the terrible service we had received,but by then we had sold the car to a trader and were glad to see the back of it.Other problems to be aware of ,some models use higher load rating tyres which can work out expensive, and there is no spare wheel, just one of those cans of foam jobbies.We made sure we will never consider Fords for our business vehicles ever again.IMO you will buy one at your peril.

 

[Raywood]

I would have to agree with Seth, if it does the job and is reliable go for it, looks are a matter of opinion anyway. We are on our second Mazda, superb tow cars and very reliable, but the suspension is a bit hard, but you cannot have everything. I doubt the purfect car exists you simply takke the compromise that suits you best.

 

[Grahamh]

Have been looking and looking ....
think I may have to consider 4wd...
Went and tried a Toyota RAV4. Nice and high, insurance group same as my Mondeo. Tax band is higher but not hugely so. The 2.2 diesel gives a little more power than the mondeo - I assume also more bottom end torque. But should I be looking at the T180 model which gives 175hp? Seems a lot but it is a heavy car - almost 2 ton.
Also looked at the Honda CRV diesel but the rear window looks small and I didn't like the trim, also seemed longer than the RAV.
Tried to talk to the dealer but he was only interested in selling me finance :-( I thought there was recession?

 

[JonnyG]

not actually a fan of the S max but as you were looking for a secondhand car of say 3 years old, then electrical gremlins shouldnt put you off, most if not all would be sorted by warranty claims in the first two years. as for dmf problems!!!! or turbo problems! these engines are shared by the peugeot citroen group shipped out by the 100,000 each year and if you go by the complaints you read on line, you would struggle to find a vehicle that didnt have a few owners [rightly] moaning about it, and customer care issues, after all you are more likely to moan because of dissatifaction, than to praise. you have a mondeo estate right? if its a pre 07 model just look at the amount of moaning you can find about that car on the internet, turbo dmf injectors, there all apparently a huge problem on said model! i have the 2.2 model, clearly it must be the only non lemon out there if you go by the utter tribe written about them. if your mondeo is an 07 onwards newer model, then your engine is the same a the S max, and therefore if you believe the s max has issues concerning DMF then so should your mondeo...
Would suggest you make a list of several cars you like, try them out for comfort then see which one you actually like the most to drive.
real lemons are few and far between and with modern cars anyone of them could become a nightmere given the amount of electronics that are used today. good luck...

 

[Martin24]

Oh well if you're going to go for a 4x4, then I can only really recommend that you go beyond, there's one life so live it and the best fourxfourxfar!! gotta be a defender!!

 

[xtrailman]

Chap on another forum has just traded in a 2011 Santa Fe that he said was a lemon.
Unfortunately the 9 month smax hes replaced it with is already proofing troublesome, at present the satnav is not working.

 

[Grahamh]

Just looked at the RAV4(2008). Been trying to find out about runflat tyres. The one I looked at did not have them fitted - in fact it had 3 different makes of tyre and two of them barely legal. I can't seem to find anywhere that has them. Do people just fit ordinary tyres(because they're cheaper) and hope?
puzzled