Which four wheel drive?

[Wendy3]

Were looking at replacing our current car which is a VW passat estate 130bhp for a four wheel drive. I've been looking at the choices and have read many reviews on particular cars and am now overwhelmed by it all.
It dosent have to be a permanent four wheel drive one with the option of 4 wheel drive will do.
The reason we want to change to 4 wheel drive is because we spend a lot of time on cl sites and tour throughout winter and our current car doesnt cope with pulling the caravan off wet grass!!
We had thought of the Mitsubishi Outlander but a couple of comments about the clutch has put us off.
I would love a Tiguan but there expensive and you dont get much kit for your money.
Any help with our dilema would be great

 

[waffler]

Depends on what you want and how much you spend. Look at www.reliabilityindex.com to get an idea of reliability. 100 is average, less than 100 good. Check weights, two ball limits and fuel consumption. Have you thought about an automatic? The downside is higher fuel bills, but the benefits are huge. We have a 1580 kg van and use a 2005 Sorento. It is brilliant towing but not fuel efficient. Never failed to get on or off any field but I have had three sets of tyres in 60 k miles. Had the original Santa Fe before. Very good, comfortable but a little wobbly. Friends have Isuzi and Mitzubishi that seem fine. Some have the Discovery.

 

[Wendy3]

Thanks waffler for your reply.

Were probably looking to spend around £13,000 and have something thats quite good on fuel. Dont want an automatic we would rather stick to manual. Theres quite a lot of options on the market which is why I've turned to the forum for help in choosing as you cant beat word of mouth!

 

[forestgump]

have a look at the santa fe or a tucson 5 years back up so a second hand will still have cover all the toys inside .

 

[VIP640]

Don't rule out the Toyota Landcruiser.....

 

[xtrailman]

Passat four motion?
Audi quattro?
xtrail?
CRV?
Get out there and test drive some.
Do you intend to buy a heavier caravan in the future?
Then maybe santa fe
A6 quattro?
X5?
4 wheel drive volvo (don't know model) estate.

 

[Wendy3]

Thanks for the help.

Had thought about passay 4motion but there a bit like rocking horse droppings to get hold of

 

[Martin24]

no problems with my 55 Rexton. does a nice job of towing my twin axle Coachman off muddy CLs. very cheap to buy too. Mine tiptronic but manual available too. paid 7500 nearly 2 years ago from main dealer. had covered 30000 miles and now averaging 9000 a year probably about 75% of that with the van on.