Ideas for a towing vehicle for us post 97ers

[slater]

Ok so currently my daily is a 405 estate turbo diesel. Excellent cars but both the ones I own at this point in time are on their way out and by mid October I'm going to find myself car less if I'm not careful

405s have a gross weight of around 1650kg and a towing weight of 1200. I own a trailer with gross weight of 1400 so that's about 3050kg all up. Quite a bit off my max of 3500 even if I could load the trailer right up (which obviously I can't)

Could anyone suggest a similar vehicle that could tow like this while still staying under the combined gross weight limit?

So basically must be

- Under about 2100kg gross
- Max towing as high as possible but atleast 1200
- Not big money 1000£ max
- Economical (so basically turbo diesel)


Thanks

[slater]

Mmm for some reason this has ended up in the video forum.. Please move when you spot it Mr moderator

[samta22]

How about a big E class estate, they can be found for reasonable money and the engines if looked after can go well too. Should tow up to 2t I'd have thought.

[edessex]

I've not looked at the figures, but would think an old Volvo estate might fit the bill. As long as its not too heavy itself...

[welshpug]

e34/9 both about 2 ton gross and 1800/2000 kg towing.

so stick to a max of 1500 behind you and you'll be fine.

id imagine the e class to be fairly similar

[Colonelk]

Carltons / Omegas?

IIRC Carlton estates are 2ton Gross or just shy. Max trailer weight circa 1600kgs. (for the sixes, I think its 1850 / 1400 for the 4 bangers)

They did do a 2.3td which was pretty good but they are hens teeth now.

Omega TDs are a bit heavy at 2300 gross and 1700 towing weight.

[Iain]

I think my 940 estate is stamped at 1970kg gross. You'd get away with your trailer on it too.

I think they do a turbo diesel one? My 2.3 petrol is great at towing. And a lot of choice for £1000.

[steveg]

My 940 tows quite well. I like the fact the chassis rails already have all the mounts ready for a towbar and the genuine Volvo ones are very strong. No load spreading plates through the spare wheel well etc.
There are also 960 and V90's most have the straight six engine. I think only the 2.5 had a manual gearbox.

A 940 will need a gearbox cooler if it's an auto, not sure about the six cylinder engined cars though.

Apart from that what about BMW's and the Ford Scorpio.

[slater]

Some interesting sugestions. BMWs seem to be a tad too heavy. Will look into a volvo too.

[PhoenixCapri]

I've been using a Saab 9-3 (99-02) 3 door SE Turbo.

This has a gross weight of of 1850kg and a gross train weight of 3450kg, basically it maximises your towing capacity and could have been designed for us younger towers! I chose a 1600kg gross trailer to maximise my load capacity, but it's suit you perfectly.

Plus being a turbo it's actually capable of towing a loaded up transporter in deed I can more than keep up with traffic when towing, and it's actually nice to drive. Also been reliable and averages about 35mpg (get up to 40mog on a motorway run, and generally about 28mpg towing the car transporter loaded). So it's about the best petrol tow car you'll find mpg wise (except something a lot newer!)

I'm actually going to be selling it pretty soon (and fairly cheap as it's starting to need some love) as sadly hillclimbs generally have you parking up in a field, meaning when it rains I have to tow the trailer off site and load up on the road - which never works well on little country lanes! So I'm taking my trailer test in a couple of and moving to a 4x4, needs must sadly as the Saab has been great.

Another option if you want 4x4 is a Suzuki Grand Vitara - if you get the right spec (3 door, 2litre petrol I think) this has a 1900kg gross and 3500kg gross train - but not sure if the engine will cope with towing a heavier trailer - they do have a low range box though so probably will, just be very slow... But for a 1400kg trailer you might get a bit more spec choice, maybe one of the diesels.

[welshpug]

bmw is lighter than most suggested, 300 kilos less than the omega with the same engine if the figures quoted above are correct!

[slater]

Hmm the saab sounds good but I'd really like to have an estate (and also somthing retro for that matter) Maybe that's why the cars I'm looking at seem to be a bit heavier than expected.

If I'm honest nothing is floating my boat right now. Ive never liked BMW expecially 90s ones and I'm not a big fan of volvo bricks either. The advice is appreciated tho.

[rosport]

How about a Rover 75 touring or Alfa 156 sportwagon

[HoTWire]

I'm replying to bump this and then move it to the General

[VIP]

Natural progression to a 406 2.2HDi wagon?

[surprisingskoda]

Nov 9, 2016 19:23:59 GMT rosport said:

How about a Rover 75 touring or Alfa 156 sportwagon

Alfa is very light and a small towing allowance, making for a very poor towcar except for very light loads.

BMW E39 is also a pretty weak towcar too, owing to the 4 link rear suspension.

I'd be looking out for a car sized 4wd or somesuch. Freelander or Cherokee. MK1 Pajero?

The real answer is an Audi 100 or early A6. Economical and capable. A friend of mine splits his towing between an A6 and a Challenger.

[edessex]

One vehicle I'm tempted with is a Jaguar X-type estate, they go quite cheap, albeit not retro.

Parkers says the 2.0 diesel does 48mpg, weighs in at 1575kg, and has a 1500kg trailer limit. So that puts you just over your current train weight at 3075kg (existing is 3050kg), and increases your trailer load by 200kg.

[carat 3.6]

Merc w210 e class, has a 3.0td and tows well.

[welshpug]

Freelanders area bit heavy. 2 ton towing weight though, but on your licence you'll be stuck at 1500 as the GVW is around 2 ton, but you can put less inside as they're heavy.

whereas my much lighter E34 can carry a lot more inside as well as still tow the 1500 kg my licence allows (2000KG GVW)


Shoguns on a post 97 non towing licence is a definite no go, they're over 2 ton empty! 3 ton gvw so you can only tow 500 kg!

grand Cherokee is 2500 gvw so you can put 1000 kg behind it.


W210 is ok, but 2300 gvw eats into your towing weight, will do 2100 on a full licence though.

[tofufi]

I know they've been mentioned (and rejected) already, but Volvo 740/940 diesels are very capable, if a bit agricultural.

I've a '90 740 turbodiesel, GVW 1950kg, and (I believe) 1500kg trailer capacity. I've only ever towed with it once, to recover a friend in his stricken Volvo 340 - and you wouldn't even know the 340 was behind it

The straight-6 diesel makes an interesting noise, too.