Towcars

[Philip_374243879]

Ok guys, need some advice from you experienced ones! Need a towcar, price range £5500 - £6500, for our first caravan purchase in sept.

I've got 3 hurdles to overcome, 1. We've got a dog, Border Collie, so he needs accomodating, 2. It has to be big enough to tow a caravan of 1350kg approx and 3. I travel 100 miles a day to work and back so it needs to be good on the fuel.

I've been looking at the VW Passat diesel initially however any ideas, experiences would be greatly recieved.

Many thanks

 

[AnnM1]

I would seriously consider an estate version of any vehicle.

 

[Garfield]

For the combination of load carrying capacity and economy you cannot beat an estate, MPV's such as the Galaxy are more stable as they are designed to carry heavier loads but use more fuel, We have towed with both.

 

[Steve L]

The passat sounds a good choice to me.

Seat Alphamera's are good on fuel in diesel format, but what you have to bear in mind with any MPV is that dogs/luggage mean the loss of the rear two seats so all you get is an over grown estate 5 seater anyway. Also unless you travel with the dogs caged then there is no easy way to seperate Fido from the animals (kids) in the back seat. Whereas a conventional estate car can quickly be converted with a dog guard.

I actually have a 1998 Laguna 2Ltr estate which carts two Labradors round. I fitted a Renault cargo net specific to the car, as this is a much stronger and securly fixed item than a dog guard. With the long journey's we do, the dogs can then move round and not get cramped, but we are still relatively safe from 75Kgs of moving load should we need to anchor up.

You could consider a Skoda Octavia estate which shares the Passat running gear but you'll get a lot newer car for your cash.

The good old days of the Skoda jokes have well and truly been squashed now and the octavia has been adopted by the taxi brigade as it will stand the hammering those guys dish out. Some firms are offering them as reps cars for the same reason which realy gives you an indicator of reliability and durability.

The 4x4 estate I belive has a tow capacity of 1500Kgs which is capable of satisfying your tow requirements.

Steve.

 

[Garfield]

Unless things have changed recently the Skoda Octavia is based on the Golf running gear, not the Passat.

It appears that some people miss the point of 7 seat MPV's, they were never intended to carry 7 plus luggage. With all seats down they can carry huge amounts of "cargo", With middle row of seats up, they carry the usual family of 4/5 and large amounts of luggage/dog. With all seats up they carry family of 4/5 plus Grandparents / freinds for a day out rather than take two cars hence the term "Multi purpose vehicle".

 

[clivea]

Hi,

the Mondeo 130 TDCI estate could be a good option, as could the Vectra 1.9 diesel. Both are rael load luggers and have good track record for running costs.