Not that I want to p*** on the crinklies, but it is not unknown for a timing chain to snap or jump a tooth. Chains do wear and stretch and the pulleys wear, so I would check with the manufacturer about chain replacement intervals. These are usually a lot longerthan the intervals for a belt, but not always. Ford for example recommend a very short interval. There is a thread here somewhere regarding a Mondeo chain that has jumped a tooth.
Our RAV4 has been great at towing. Only downside is that boot space is a bit on the small size (CR-V also). All RAVs except the base model now come without spare wheels. This may or may not be an issue for you. Also, Toyota reliability and dealership quality are excellent (as are Honda) but to me, Hyundai was a bit more of an unknown quantity.
Quote: Originally posted by Joanne1 on 22/7/2009
thanks mick, we had discounted the x trail as down to problems with turbo's failures?
The percentage of turbo failures on the X-trail is less than 1% , dont believe everthing you hear about them . Untill recently i had a 2005 Nissan X-trail 2.2 dci and had 49,000 trouble free miles including 5 long trips to Europe the last being to the Algarve with ambsolutely no problems . Although i now have a new CRV it is only marginally more powerfull than the Nissan and as far as towing ability much the same
We bought an 06 plate CR-V 2.2i CTDI 3 months ago and love it. So far it has only been used to tow a Pennine Pullman (900kgs) but from next week it gets to tow an Elddis Avante. We bought it because our previous vehicle towed like a shopping trolley and was all over the place but was fine solo. Having done the maths we couldn't justify 2 vehicles so traded the old one in and bought the CRv. Current consumption solo in mixed conditions is around 47mpg and towing the Pennine (which is low but well loaded) dropped to about 38mpg. As for boot space, we manage to get everything in and this year even managed to take 2 folding bikes to Wales and bring 3 back (don't ask).
As to the issue of turbo failures you can get them with any vehicle and they reckon a lot of it is due to people stopping after a long high speed run and turning the engine off straight away. I always let it sit and idle for a few seconds when we stop just to let the turbo 'run down'.