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Hi to everyone, My first post so hope to get it right,

Been towing an Abbey Dorset 17ft, my handbook says the weight ex factory is 960kg with our ford focus 2ltr petrol,Been towing 3 yars with this car. we had to have a new clutch fitted not sure if it was a fault with car or towing our caravan which caused problem,We have been looking at a Nissan Quashki 1.5 ltr diesel which garage says has a maxium towing weight of around 1100 kg,l would be very grateful if any of you caravaners out there can advise me if this would be a practical car to purchase for towing our caravan as l cant wait to get out and start to holiday this year, many thanks for all information anyone can give me as l am confused with all these towing weights,

The kerb weight from what I can see is about 1471 kg, that's for the 1500 diesel Accenta.  Its max tow weight is 1200 kg so it is this figure that you MUST NOT exceed.

I think I am right in saying the ex factory weight is the unladen weight, you need to find the metal plate on your caravan that tells you what its maximum weight when loaded is, or MTPLM.  This will then give you the amount you can load the caravan with personal items and things such as the awning etc.

Providing your MTPLM is 1200 kg or less and you don't exceed this then there is no reason why the Qashqai won't make a reasonable tow car.

Please check the MTPLM of your caravan and the EXACT figures for the intended model of Qashqai as they may well differ from the figures I have used but without knowing the full details I can't be more accurate.

http://forum.qashqaiclub.co.uk/  Here's their forum, have a read before deciding.

HTH.

Ali

Many Thanks for all your helpful information,l will certainly get all this checked out before we think about the nissan tow car,nissan is a bit pricey if it wont tow our precious caravan,

NICALA,

dont know about the 1.5, would rather look at a 2 litre diesel

knew I had a tech sheet for the qashqui handy here goes... 1.5d kerbweight1470kg, max tow 1200kg

2 litre diesel, 1503 for the 2wd and 1566 for the 4wd and max tow of 1400kg

the 2 litre has almost a third more power. IMO dont look at the 1.5 as the power to weight ratio is pants. also IMO the nissan is a bit overpriced for what you are getting, wait a while until some come onto the used market