? what car should I buy?

[Patsy_374311996]

I have bought a 2007 Bailey Senator Arizona and now need to upgrade my car to suit.

Can anyone who tows the same or similar in weight 124 cwt advise me as to what car they drive that is safe and easy to tow.

I do not really want to look at a 4x4, rather I would prefer to have an estate.

I am driving myself mad, looking at different cars, which I am not really sure will do the job easily.

All response would be so appreciated.

Regards

Pat

 

[Cockovan]

Hi Patsy,

I don't think you mean 124cwt as this is over 6 tons.

The Arizona weighs 1248Kg unladen with a maximum loaded weight opf 1500Kg. If you believe in following the guidelines of 85% then you need a car with a kerb weight in excess of 1650Kg. This is BIG saloon/estate car territory and MPV if you don't want a 4x4. Beyond that I am not going to suggest any particular vehicle.

Good luck

 

[DavidW1]

Hi Patsy,

Don't agree with Alan's maths, your tow car should be around 1800kg kerbweight to give an 85% match on your van which is an even bigger motor than he is talking about.

Heavy estates such as Merc E series get up to those weights as do large people carriers but what exactly do you have against 4x4's ?

I tow a Bailey Virginia, which has an identical weight to yours, with a Shogun GDI SWB. It acomplishes the task without breaking into a sweat, is ace to drive and makes towing a joy with it's Auto and cruise control and brakes and suspension designed with towing in mind and not just an afterthought like conventional vehicles.

Big van = heavy powerful car = 4x4 I say and so do many other vanners judging by the no's I see on my trips.

 

[Lutz]

First of all you'll have to decide for yourself whether you want to stay below the 85% guideline. If not, there's quite an ample choice of relatively powerful estate cars to choose from. The Merc E Class has already been suggested. An Audi A6 Avant 2.7TDI or a BMW Touring 525d are just two further examples.

 

[sparkes]

http://www.whattowcar.com/select.php
That will give you a list of what is available

 

[Garfield]

The tyres and suspension of 4x4's is not designed with towing in mind, in many cases it is actually their achillies heel, In some models of 4x4 it is too soft and pliable to be stable at speed.

We tow a 1266kg/1600kg unladen/laden van with a Ford s-max MPV, this and similar mpvs fron VW, Seat and Renault easily have the stability to tow your caravan but not the traction of a 4x4 in the mud.

I once installed a bathroom for one of the directors of the explorer group who was featured in the cc magazine some time later for doing a high speed endurance test towing a caravan round a test circuit at speeds of 80 - 90mph did he use a 4x4??? no, he used a 5 series BMW saloon

 

[sparkes]

Patsy

4x4 is your choice. Ignore the rantings on here of the few who have very little technical knowledge

 

[Val & Frank]

Hi

We tow with a Toyota LC our van is 1854kg MTPLM. On the motorway I tow at 60 mph and I have never ever felt as though I am not in 100% control. I can overtake or be overtaken by big van or lorries without any movement at all.I have never yet checked mpg solo or towing.

Val & Frank

 

[ncmorgan]

whether you go for a 4x4 or big heavy saloon car ,it has to be right for you.

both do a very good job ,i have just decided to go for a bmw 530d for my twin axle,as long as you stay within the law and safe weights of both car and caravan it doesnt matter and in the end it is your choice

 

[Val & Frank]

Agree 100 % with Neil. It's what you want and need, if you only tow for short trips both do the job well. Do you need room for 5 adults plus luggage ?? Do you have dogs ?? Do you load the car up with lots of toys for the children ??

I hope you get what do all jobs well.

Val & Frank

 

[Darce]

We have just come back from a fabulous week in Dorset - towing our TA Wyoming with our Discovery. As always both tow truck and caravan performed faultlessly.

Yes I am sure that you could tow a TA caravan with a car/estate but on the site we were on all the TA caravans that were near us were pulled by 4x4's. Have a look next time you are on a site. There has to be a reason for this.

As for the going above the 85% guideline - if you do this be sure to inform your insurance companies for both the car and the caravan. Many insurers require the 85% "rule" to be obeyed. If you exceed this sensible guideline and do not tell them, they would have every right to turn down your claim.

Most 4x4's such as Shoguns, Troopers, Land Rovers etc are designed with towing in mind. If you tow with a car then it is invariably a compromise - and I would suggest from my experience - and from what I saw recently on the site we were on that people with TA's use a 4x4.

But it is your choice at the end of the day.

 

[DavidW1]

Patsy

4x4 is your choice. Ignore the rantings on here of the few who have very little technical knowledge

Here, here and probably no experience with towing using a 4x4 either otherwise they would be converts like ourselves. I would never go back to a towing with conventional car.

 

[Roger_374245644]

Hi Patsy,

My wife & I, who both tow, have as our caravan a Hymer Nova 580, which has MTPLM 1700 kgs and total lenghth of 25 ft, with a nose weight of 78kgs, in other words fairly large & heavy. We're fortunate to have as a towcar an automatic, deisel engined, 2004 Mercedes 320 CDi E class Estate. For towing purposes with this car, I'm able to hydrolically raise the rear end and harden the suspension at the same time. With this facility the ride, whilst towing, is smooth and bounce free as any 4x4. Because of the torque and power of the engine, the Merc just pulls away with the Hymer very easily, from any motorhome and most 4x4s. So if anyone wants the comfort and tireless motoring of a saloon estate, I strongly recomend the above car.

Roger

 

[antrimboy]

Darce,

I don't think that you are correct in your statement re having to inform your insurers if you go above 85%, as it is only a "recommendation" within the caravanning fraternity.There are a number of vehicles which can legally tow more than their 100% kerbweight,and are still within the law.Now, if anyone has cause to have an insuance claim when towing more than their max. tow weight, or gross train weight for that matter, then the insurers would wash their hands off it, but I certainly don't think that they have a gripe on anyone pulling more than 85%, unless of course that's over the manufacturers recommended max.

 

[Darce]

Fine - if you want to put your faith in the honourable behaviour of an insurer then who am I to argue!

All I know is that my Broker - Adrian Flux - asked what caravan I towed when I renewed my car insurance as indeed the Caravan Club when I arranged insurance for my Bailey Senator Wyoming asked me what vehicle I used to tow the thing. They were quite open about it and were clearly checking our outfits suitability.

Insurance companies will try to wriggle out of a claim or at least try to force you to accept partial blame (50/50 fault apportionment is far better for their time management and cash flow) - so why hand them a stick to beat you with?

At the end of the day it boils down to personal choice - but if I was involved in an accident where I thought the caravan outfit of the other party was suspect I would include those details in my accident report and expect my insurer to take the other parties "unsafe" outfit into account.

 

[antrimboy]

I can understand them being interested as to their suitability to each other, but that doesn't mean to say that they are enforcing the 85% recommendation.

 

[Darce]

Eddie what i said was:-

"Many insurers require the 85% "rule" to be obeyed. If you exceed this sensible guideline and do not tell them, they would have every right to turn down your claim."

This come under the non-disclosure rules - if you fail to even tell them you tow a caravan they can dispute a claim. If you have told them you do and that it is over the 85% "rule" then that has surely got to be safer than NOT telling them and relying on their sense of fair play!

 

[Lutz]

Besides, what does one do if you don't always use the same car to tow the caravan? Sometimes I use a company car, and then it's the luck of the draw what's available with a towbar.

 

[Darce]

Presumably you have a group policy that covers this eventuality.

When was an employee with a company car we were forbidden to tow anything.

The reason? - The companies group insurance policy did not cover towing!

 

[Garfield]

I hold my hands up to David W's comment that My 4x4 towing experience is limited to a 93' Discovery but it was by far the most unstable pig of a car that I have ever towed with, My 1600kg boat trailer was towed by this and numerous other vehicles including a totally overloaded 970kg Golf gti, MPV's vans, 530 BMW, even the Golf was more stable than the disco which started to snake badly at 60mph, caused entirely by its offroad suspension and tyres.

I have slapped myself on the wrists having promised myself not to enter the 4x4 debate again.

 

[Darce]

Morning Garfield

If you tar all 4x4's with the experience of one 1993 Discovery "brush" then I think that is a little unfair. I have towed with many vehicles - mostly 4x4's and never experienced the instability you mention. So your assumption that the instability problem you had was due to "offroad suspension and tyres" cannot be true as according to my experience.

I have driven the odd 4x4 that was so sloppy I would not want to tow with it though - but here the problem is invariably simply worn suspension bushes - which in a Land Rover and many other 4x4's are easily replaceable - unlike cars such as the Mondeo which when the bushes wear out as they do - you have to replace the whole sub-frame assembly - and that is expensive.

A full set of replacement bushes for a Land Rover is about