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Hi,

We are looking at buying our first 4/5 berth caravan and a suitable towcar.  Currently we have a Citroen C5 2.0 110 HDi.

We are looking at spending approx £10k on a towcar.  We have looked at Diesel Kia Sorento, Freelander TD4 and an X Trail but unsure what will be best? 

The car will be used for daily communting to work on rual roads so economy is important as well as being a good safe towing car for first timers!

Any advice would be appreciated??

Thx Brigitte.

I would brows all your desired vans and make a short list then make a note of there weights, your C5 will tow most of them, you don't need to get a fuel guzzling 4x4 to tow

You could also ask the van sales to check if your car will tow the van you want

hi all, no zero about 4x4s. but use a c5 110bhp for towing a 1350k loaded, 4 berth caravan with no problem.  

best of luck whatever your choice.

andy

Quote: Originally posted by takisawa on 26/6/2010

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Oh, & not all 4x4's are gas guzzlers by the way.

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They will be using the vehicle for commuting as well so its a no brain-er buying a 4x4 to tow a few times a year

Dont forget 4x4s are more expensive to own and the RFL is going or has gone up astronomically, plus the extra servicing and insurance costs

Quote: Originally posted by old chap on 28/6/2010

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I use a C5 2.2HDi to tow a bailey 4 berth pagent of 1360kg mtplm  & average 28/30 mpg.Towed the van all round europe with absolutly no bother at any time   The van to car ratio is about 87%

However of your list the sorrento would be my bet, land rover & xTrails have both got reliability problems. xTrails for turbo failier & land rovers just general mechcanical probs

Well... we now have a 2.0 diesel Xtrail to tow with as our old petrol Zafira was not even able to tow our caravan legaly...

The Xtrail averages 35-40mpg (When not towing), the Zafira used to get 30mpg at most... So it's actually more economical than our old car. The RFL is £235 for 12 months - the Zafira was £180, so not a massive jump when you think it is for a year - divide the £55 extra over 12 months... not a lot is it!?

We looked at various 4x4's before going for the Xtrail, we chose it as it has a massive boot & lots of forums rave about it's mpg for such a large vehicle. It's also very comfortable & easy to drive & being Japanese it has good build quality... we did look at / test drove the Mitsibushi Outlander & the Landrover Freelander, but decided the Nissan Xtrail was better value for money.

Hi everyone,

Many thanks for your comments, seems a mixed bag of opinions lol! 

Please can I ask those of you with Citroen C5 what engine size they are?  Our current car is a 2.0HDi 110 model and was wondering about van weights.

Thanks for all your advice, brigitte.

http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/specs/Detail.aspx?deriv=24935

Under practicality