What makes a good tow car?

[LizziePope]

He is asked the question often enough, so now our Tow Car Editor tries to answer it – what makes a good tow car?

 

[Raywood]

The blog looks fair. The towing li it to me is only relevant to the extent that it is high enough to tow my caravan and the kerb weight is reasonably higher than the caravan. A decent nose weight helps but as long as it is not too low you can manage that.
Stability when towing is the main issue but you cannot be sure of this until you try out the combination as I feel many cars react differntly with different caravans on the back.

After that what I can afford limits the choice and reliability drives me to certain makes.

At the end of the day I have towed with a fair number of cars of different makes and models and so far I have not found one that did not cope well. The real problem with one or two has been reliability but as al makers turn out the odd lemon you are still relying on an elemant of luck.

 

[emmerson]

Having towed for twenty two years with classic Range Rovers, in my opinion, "towcar" is simply another way of spelling "Range Rover"!

 

[JonnyG]

I tend to think, the person behind the wheel is the difference between a good or bad, outfit /,towcar .

 

[Gafferbill]

............one that does not breakdown and leave you stranded with a bl**dy great white box on wheels attached to it's rear :cheer:

 

[seth1]

But again that is down to routine maintenance and back to the person that owns the vehicle.

 

[Gafferbill]

But again that is down to routine maintenance and back to the person that owns the vehicle.

........not always the case.

The only breakdown I have suffered whilst towing was an unpredictable component failure.
The clutch plate central spigot sheared from it's friction plates causing no drive to a manual gearbox.
On dismantling there was minimal wear present on any friction surface after over 100,000 miles ......so no signs to the driver/owner of any maintenance being required.

 

[seth1]

That is quite true.But a great deal of breakdowns are due to neglect.

 

[glenno]

Any product made by VAG which must surely sponsor you judging by all the promotion they receive!

 

[Dustydog]

My diesel Sorento from new was serviced every 10k. She did 136k miles before px. Half was towing. No sign of any clutch slip.
Will a VAG winner be as good at 136000 miles :huh: :lol:

 

[seth1]

I to used to think they were over rated.But then got a brand new caddy van when the 2litre first came out.I ran it to 100k on a job we had.Not a single problem.My main issue with german cars,just like the lorrys is their so bland,no character what so ever but they work very well.I think they call it germantic.