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we recently bought a chevrolet captiva 2.0 ltr diesel.auto

is it ok to be towing whilst the engine is being run in[1,400 so far]??

just had our second outing and have noticed a distinct lack of power on only a minor gradient, accompanied by blue smoke from exhaust.Also concerned about mpg , is this also affected by newness of engine and it needing"bedding in"as dealer says?

Otherwise nice car and pulls quite happily at 60mph on motorways.

Difficult to compare it to a similar vehicle as no other reviews or comments can be found on captivas.

Starting to wish we'd kept our galaxy.

Can anyone help reduce our anxieties.

Dawn and Gary

Hi

I had my towcar from new and managed to put just over 1,000 miles on it before towing (I would have liked more).

It doesn't appear to have caused any problems (I've done 46,000 miles now - approx 12,000 miles of them towing).

Diesel engines do take a few miles to loosen up. I haven't really noticed it with this particular car but previously had a Xantia 2.0 hdi. There was a marked step change with better performance and fuel consumption around 23,000 miles.

Perhaps it varies from engine to engine plus how it's used/abused. Diesels are strong engines and will take a fair bit of hammering.

Tyreman

It might be worth checking your manual D&G. I have a Kia Sportage 2.0 CRDi and it states in the manual that the vehicle should not be used for towing until X number if miles have been covered. (I can't remember what the actual mileage is).

Hi DawnSunny

With the X-Trail 39 mpg solo if I don't go much above 70 mph on the m/way (don't normally do traffic jams) but towing can be down to 22 to 24 depending on speed and mountainous country.

Tyreman

My previous car, Nissan X-Trail and current car Kia Sorento both said don't tow until you have done 500 miles.

David

thanks for replies,

handbook states to do a "few hundred miles before towing"? we put 350mls on before first tow and drove very carefully,paticularly as its the first auto we've had.It also says no passengers in third row of seats when towing.Whats all that about???

this weekend was our second outing a trip to lady margarets park cc site in CHIRK, outward journey was o.k. no real concerns over mpg. Fuel tank was filled Sat eve ready for return trip to BOLTON.

CHIRK TO BOLTON   68miles, setting off from the site the B5070{i think} climbs fairly moderately up towards the A5/A483, it was here where things didn't seem right the car showed a distinct lack of power up this climb and each bit of accelerator pressure caused a thick blue smoke to emit from exhausts.Once on level roads it settled down and was happier towing at 50-60mph.HOWEVER, looking at the fuel gauge needle fall and fall was alarming.By the time we reached BOLTON it had fallen to one bar short of half a tank.

HALF A TANK for 68 miles whats going on???

Dealer has been contacted and its booked in for investigation, just feel this car may not be up to the job, our van is a lightweight sprite major5, matches well on paper.

Sorry to go on just sounding off i guess!!

Gary.

No passengers in third row would be to do with weight on the rear axle I would guess?

Fuel consumption doesn't sound right though, lets see what the dealer finds eh?  Don't forget the needle is often a poor indicator of fuel used.  Mine hardly moves then plummets at the end for instance!

Ali