Due to our picasso dying last year, we decided to downsize to a diesel Fiesta (partly due to redundancy as well...) It's been great, but we want to go camping and it's far too small for all our clobber, plus 2 kids. We are undecided whether to go for long-term or short-term fix: [1] just hire an estate for camping (short-term) [2] fork out for new roof bars & use our existing roof box [3] get a towbar & trailer (long-term solution) I like option 3, but am unsure whether a fiesta is really up to the job (let alone what the expense would be)
Any advice welcome (other than, get a bigger car! )
A diesel Fiesta of any age will pull a loaded camping trailer no probs. Towbar/single electrics probabley around £200 & plenty of secondhand Erde & Daxara trailers on ebay. If you can get all your gear in with just a roofbox tho, I would have thought that was a better idea.
Go for the trailer. I used to have a 1.2 Corsa, the old 8v engine which only produced 45bhp. It towed my trailer and several boats up and down the country no problem. (Not all at the same time!)
Since getting a trailer I've found so many uses for it that I wonder how I ever lived without it.
By the way, since all modern towbars have to meet an exact BS standard they are very easy to fit. If you look under the carpet in your boot you'll find the mounting points are marked by dimples in the floor - drill them out and any modern towbar will match those holes exactly. The wiring is also very simple. The hardest bit is usually getting the rear bumper off.
Quote: Originally posted by Grad Sailor on 18/6/2010
I used to have a 1.2 Corsa, the old 8v engine which only produced 45bhp. It towed my trailer and several boats up and down the country no problem. (Not all at the same time!)
Pmsl - I was just trying to imagine what that would look like!
A Fiesta should pull a trailer no problem, we used to tow a fully loaded tt with front storage box plus loaded roof box strapped on top, with our 1800 diesel Fiesta, and never had any problems
------------- Tigermouse
I have a very temperamental personality - 50% temper and 50% mental
The roof bars option to use an existing box will be the cheapest option (Halfords bars would be cheap enough), but you'd need to be aware of loading and roof bearing weight limits.
Long term, I'd favour the trailer route if this suits your budget and you may well find other uses/benefits to having use of a trailer.
Hi.We went on our main holiday last year with an ageing Fiesta diesel. I fitted a towbar from Towequipe in about an hour at a cost of less than £60 at the time. No problems fitting as all the holes were already there. Just needed a little help holding a spanner at the top while I was under the car tightening up. Electrics were included and took about 30 minutes to fix. Trailer was a 5foot by 3foot wooden one from the local paper for around £100. No problems at all towing, it took it in its stride.
We used a diesel fiesta (1.8 I think) with our trailer. The car already had a towbar when we bought it. We got a metal trailer from "preloved" for £100 (only a couple of years old - someone locally who was giving up camping). Extra number plate cost less than £10.
I towed a boat with a Citroen 2CV and a 10 foot caravan with a Peugeot 205. More surprisingly, the Tin Snail and the boat was a much better outfit. The Peugeot was a terrible tow car, despite having the 1.9 litre diesel engine from the bigger Peugeots that had a great reputation for towing.
Hi I have a fiesta an would like a roof box, does anyone know how I work out the maximum size I can have? Tried googling and I'm gettin stuck! The man in halfords said I could have any but surely that's not right? Seen one on here and on ebay for sale but don't wanna get the wwrong thing!
about a 340-360 litre box i would think ..any larger would look odd.. if you buy thurle rails with it at the same time halfords will fit it free .. i hope this helps