I am after help finding a new tow car (new to us at least). We have a small 4 berth, single axel ABI Ace, 750kg unladen and towed it with an 04 2.0 diesel c-max until the clutch blew up last year.
Both our cars now are unsuitable to tow, one a st170 Focus and the other a 1.4 Rover Streetwise. So we're going to sell the Rover and get something more suited to the job.
I have a few wants and don't wants
1. Don't want an estate or saloon
2. Want to be about 40mpg when not towing.
3. Would like reasonable tax and insurance (doesnt have to be cheap)
4. Has to be reasonable when it comes to having work done
5. I would like a small 4X4 but not sure how realistic this is.
So there it is, any help would be most appreciated
Only a suggestion my Skoda Octavia Estate 2.0TDi 4x4 gets just over 60mpg on a long run solo, 33-37mpg towing depending on roads pulling 1,318kg with plenty of carry load / space in the rear. Road tax £145.00 a year, insured through Skoda at a good price, unfair to say price because it is insured for work use.
Mtplm is just caravan speak for max gross laden weight. If your caravan is 750kg unladen then max laden weight will be under a tonne. For £3k you are being unrealistic to want a 4x4, you risk repair bills being more than car is worth. You best hope of getting a reliable car will be keep it simple, ie bog standard Astra or Focus, diesel if you can find a good one. Manual gearbox then you know you have sufficient towing weight.
Yes, Zaf should be ok, or a CMax both of which are just Astra & Focus as suggested. A 3grand Renault is probably best avoided & don't touch a 3grand Freelander with somebody else's barge pole.
I think with 3k to spend you are probably better off not to be too specific, have a good scout about and try to get something with the lowest mileage and as much history as possible and if you like the colour and the shape of it then you wouldn't have done too bad.
What I can say is I changed my car recently I part exchanged my old car I was only given £2200 in part ex for it so you could probably buy similar private for around the same, the car was Toyota Avensis 1,8 tr model it was 2008 and I was 2nd owner had that car 41/2 yrs apart from service and tyres I never had to replace a single item on it and it was a nice car to drive with lots of extras too so it may be worth you trying one out.
Good Luck
------------- its our imperfections that makes us perfect
When buying a new tow car do you consider its carbon foot print as well as its mpg and towing ability.
No thought not, read a interesting article in the latest Which magazine last night, they tested a fair amount of cars of various makes diesel and petrol of various sizes. The worst in the diesel group was the Jeep grandCherokee far far higher than any other brand, and the Yanks had the cheek to complain about VAG.
The worst in the VAG Group were the Audi's all EU5 engines that had been remapped to take out the cover up's another really bad one was the Peugot 308 elec/ diesel combo,
In the petrol category the worst was the non British built
Japanese models as well as Volvo/BMW makes you think other countries bann our exports over the slightest whim
but export to UK the biggest polluters on the planet. Haven't heard anything about USA banning Jeeps till the clean up their act.
With £3k to spend on best possible value car, carbon footprint is last consideration.
The rest of your post is so selective in it's correlation of random incorrectly drawn conclusions as to lead the reader to believe it's purpose is simply xenophobia...
Quote: Originally posted by naturlist123 on 29/1/2016
When buying a new tow car do you consider its carbon foot print as well as its mpg and towing ability.
No thought not, read a interesting article in the latest Which magazine last night, they tested a fair amount of cars of various makes diesel and petrol of various sizes. The worst in the diesel group was the Jeep grandCherokee far far higher than any other brand, and the Yanks had the cheek to complain about VAG.
The worst in the VAG Group were the Audi's all EU5 engines that had been remapped to take out the cover up's another really bad one was the Peugot 308 elec/ diesel combo,
In the petrol category the worst was the non British built
Japanese models as well as Volvo/BMW makes you think other countries bann our exports over the slightest whim
but export to UK the biggest polluters on the planet. Haven't heard anything about USA banning Jeeps till the clean up their act.
carbon footprint, from someone who drives a fuel guzzling 4x4
Go onto auto trader, where you can select various options, up to your max price
basically a diesel will give you the best of both worlds.
what about putting another clutch in the Cmax
VW Tiguan 2Ltdi 4x4 48mpg solo private plate (64 plate) change of van required bigger car, dealer ECU remapped January 2016
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Skoda Octavia Scout 2Ltdi 54mpg solo 57 plate (clutch problems) break up of flywheels.
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Skoda Yeti Greenline 1.6ltdi 62 plate 74.8 mpg recalled by dealer because of VAG emissions given extra good deal on part EX
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Skoda Yeti 2Ltdi EU6 engine brand new, mpg looks promising only 300 miles . Keeping receipts for every litre bought as previous cars
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I will still buy VAG engines but might change my mind about make or model