Which tow vehicle and why?

Alex and Lesley

Alex and Lesley

Joined
Jun 19, 2018
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Perth Scotland
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We are thinking of a tow car but are looking to go down the trailer and vehicle route rather than A-Frame as we will hopefully tour Europe next year. We would appreciate others input as to which vehicle they would prefer and why. We are leaning towards the new Suzuki Jimmy as we used to always hire something like this if we were hiring a car whilst on holiday. Your input will be greatly appreciated.
 
Toyota IQ, ideal for two peaple, no road tax, 60+ to the gallon, turns on a sixpence, with back sears folded down to throw all your stuff in. Happy with ours. (y)
 
Our VW UP is our main car, very nice to drive, £20 road tax and soft suspension, unlike most small cars.

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Peugeot 107, 5 door, no tax and 55+ mpg. Roomy inside, weight about 850kg.
 
Another vote for VW Up. Makes very good use of the limited dimensions and nice to drive.
 
Headley tilt bed trailer works for me. No pesky ramps.

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Toss up between Kia Picanto and Hyundai i10. Settled for the latter with 1.2L engine. Great little motor and just under a tonne. (y)
 
TheAleMan said:
Toss up between Kia Picanto and Hyundai i10. Settled for the latter with 1.2L engine. Great little motor and just under a tonne. (y)
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We went for the 1.2 i10 as well. It does everything we need and it’s our only car.
 
New jimny good choice for putting on a trailer , you cant A frame it , it weighs just over a tonne can get in auto but smallish engine for auto ac option . Good for finding the less accesible places . . Added benefit if your MoHo gets bogged the suzi can tow it out :)

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I have a Jimny and if only it had one more horsepower, it'd have two. Unless you are talking about a very light trailer and no more than two people, NO. The Jimny is also not a comfortable vehicle. (I have done 87 000 km and several long trips). It is capable but as good as it is off road, so bad is it on road.
How many people are you? That will also have to come into the equation. If only two, I would recommend looking for a Citroen Berlingo diesel. It is more comfortable, powerful and economical. And, on top of that, you could fit a lot more of stuff inside it.
 
We have a Suzuki Alto but for choice I'd go for the jimny. More fun and great off road. Terrible on road of course slow and uncomfortable and really only a two seater
 
Brilliant replies thanks to everyone, there is only two of us and are very aware of a Jimny not being a middle to long distance tourer we just like the idea of virtually all areas being accessible with one as we have rented lots of times before. Tbh the choice we think is either this or a little soft top, but other peoples ideas are valuable in making the choice easier by remaining open minded.
 
Curve ball,.....Panda 4x4? With a full length sunroof.?

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We are doing the exact same thing, even bought the car. We opted for a Smart forfour which comes in at 1050kg and a Woodford LWT-72 twin axle trailer with a gross weight of 1600kg's and a load of 1200kg's. I have 1650kgs to play with as the van is plated at 3850kg's and MIRO is 5500kg's. Just need to arrange for a tow bar to be fitted, don.t know who to use just now but will probably go with Watlings or Towtal who are considerably closer to me.
The reason for the Smart car was the size as we could get Daisy the Cockers crate in the back with room for shopping and taking 2 passengers if the need arose. The Smart won over the Aygo, Up and Hyundai for price, got a pre registered 19 plate with 12 miles on the clock for a near £3000 saving on new. 3 years free Mercedes servicing and they come and collect the car from your house and can drop off a courtesy car if required. Its surprisingly nippy and sips fuel plus only costs £35 to fill it.

Smart ForFour
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Woodford Trailers web site: http://www.woodfordtrailers.com/lightweight

Trailer catalogue and price list: http://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/2e3ed5_d9ebb247382444f78c8f14ad4caa4ca7.pdf

We are going for a twin axle over the single simply for ease of towing and less likely to result in a major incident if we got a blowout.
 
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Just seen you are in Perth. We got the Smart from Eastern Mercedes in Edinburgh and Perth Mercedes has pre registered Smart cars on there website.
 
Also remember if you buy new the road tax laws have changed and you pay based on the price of the new car.
 
Outside of It being Your "Toad" is this new car going to be your ONLY other vehicle?. The latest cars (mostly) have to be trailered anyway the modern (auto/semi auto) gear trains do not lend themselves to "A" framing (there are exceptions). Keeping your Trailer mass as low as possible will assist with your fuel consumption remember, and if towing to (say) Spain, can be a substantial sum increase. (Est: Just 2mpg = Cira £40+ return). The bigger the trailer the less easy it is to store on campsites, and some sites Charge Extra for parking. Hence the reason (Partly) that I elected to "A" frame until it became untenable, having been "pulled" by Spanish plod for the 3rd time. I gave up going to Spain altogether. We went to the USA, where "A" framing is not an issue, but that is another story.

Should I elect to do it again, I would favour an older but low tax "Smart" size vehicle (on a Trailer) with a total mass as low as practicable. the trailer size should be small enough to get onto a "Standard" Spanish Site, and if there long term, as many, are it could be "floored out" and used a Barbecue area with a gazebo over it!. As indeed one guy a La Manga used to do!.
 
I'd go for something a little funky myself, how about a Daihatsu Copen, or something along those lines.

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Mikey RV said:
Toyota IQ, ideal for two peaple, no road tax, 60+ to the gallon, turns on a sixpence, with back sears folded down to throw all your stuff in. Happy with ours. (y)
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The IQ has front seat space like a big car and can take 4 people at a pinch, or 3 people easily. A great car to drive. I sometimes use my wifes rather than my Jag.
 
we did this the other way round, we already had a very low mileage daihatsu sirion which we use at home. would be a waste to change it just to suit the motorhome. turns out it is perfect as a towcar, on the trailer and on the a frame

5 doors, 5 seatbelts, 900cc, takes us 3dogs and shopping anywhere comfortably
 
Lorryman100 said:
Yes the initial road tax on a new vehicle.


Vehicle excise duty and car tax bands | The AA

Understand how much road tax (VED) you should pay this year. Find out which car tax band your car falls into based on its age and CO2 emissions.
www.theaa.com www.theaa.com
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Misunderstood, you are referring to the changes from April 2017
I thought you were advising about NEW,new of which I hadnt heard

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