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Subject Topic: Astra towing?
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17/9/2014 at 10:38am
 Location: Mid Wales
 Outfit: Coachman Vip 520
View ferretlady's Profile View Profile   Reply to ferretlady Reply   Quote ferretlady Quote  
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Hi all, i want to buy my daughter and partner a cheap used caravan, around £2000. It has to be a 4 berth. Her car is a petrol automatic astra 1.6 sri 2011. I have looked at the tow matching sites, and states her car will tow a1250kg mtplm. Would it be advisable to tow this weight or should i be looking at a lower weight. My car is also 1.6 auto petrol. Mine is a focus zetec and can only tow 800kg. Any advise welcome please!

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17/9/2014 at 10:52am
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Car kerbweight is about 1600kg. So 1250kg is safe enough to tow. Towing performance at that weight won't be that good with petrol engine, slow uphill. For £2k you will be looking at a 1990s caravan which tend to be lighter than better equipped more modern caravans so you should find a suitable caravan of size required well under 1250kg mtplm.

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17/9/2014 at 10:55am
 Location: Mid Wales
 Outfit: Coachman Vip 520
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Thankyou Ludovine! Will start the search!

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17/9/2014 at 11:05am
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...This is the sort of thing you might be looking for. 90s ABI, quite large but light. Usually quite a few on ebay. Do the usual damp checks though.

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17/9/2014 at 8:07pm
 Location: Mid Wales
 Outfit: Coachman Vip 520
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Thankyou
ludovine, don't know whether safer to go to dealers.

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18/9/2014 at 8:01am
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If you only want to spend £2k a dealer will not give you any sort of meaningful warranty & may not even service it. Even big main dealers often sell off their cheaper trade ins 'as taken in', ie with all the faults & no warranty.

You will get a much better deal buying privately, off ebay etc. particularly at this time of yr up to before Xmas.

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18/9/2014 at 11:01am
 Location: Mid Wales
 Outfit: Coachman Vip 520
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Hi Ludovine, we are going to look at a Bailey Ranger 500/4 tomorrow. Dealer was asking £3250, but I've knocked them down to £2900. Don't know if this is a good price? They say it's a lovely van in really good condition. They have a gas engineer come out and check all the gas, they also check all the electrics. No awning, but they will throw in a starter kit, ehu cable, step etc.

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18/9/2014 at 12:09pm
 Location: Lancashire
 Outfit:  Volvo X60 Coachman
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Hi ferretlady i'm not sure were ludovine is getting his 1600kg kerbweight from, what towcar have a 2009 1.6 auto astra at 1458kg. it also says a baily ranger 500 is 11k to heavy. You need a van with less that 1250 laden weight even then unless really light it will still be a tall order for a 1.6 petrol auto with 115 bhp.

I'd look for a van with less than 1100 kgs the lighter the better dont forget caravans are'nt very aerodynamic 

 

bessie 



18/9/2014 at 12:32pm
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I was assuming as 2011 car, op has newer, ie current model Astra with 1600kg kerbweight. I've no idea of the weight of the caravan mentioned but ferretlady needs to ascertain mtplm from manufacturer handbook. I would agree that with petrol Astra 1100kg max would be ideal. Whatever caravan you eventually buy ensure you check it for damp.

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18/9/2014 at 2:49pm
 Location: Mid Wales
 Outfit: Coachman Vip 520
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Hi Bessie500, my daughters car is an SRI model, i think that makes a difference. On the specsi found, the carwvan is mptlm 1188kg, so should be fine to tow. Her astra was showing could tow 1250kg.

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18/9/2014 at 3:22pm
 Location: Lancashire
 Outfit:  Volvo X60 Coachman
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Hi ferretlady on paper yes it looks fine, but please dont forget its a 1.6 115bhp petrol engine that has to pull just over 2.5 tonnes and thats before anyone gets in the car, personally i'd look for a lighter caravan, something like a adria or lunar ?? the car will be ok on the flat but any type of incline and it will struggle, My wife has the same engine in her zafira and i know it wont pull you out of bed and thats a brand new car.

 

Bessie       



18/9/2014 at 3:52pm
 Location: Mid Wales
 Outfit: Coachman Vip 520
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I've had a look on what towcar, i can't find the exact car model or the caravan. The caravan was registered in 1997.

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Enjoy life while you can, none of us know what's round the corner!


18/9/2014 at 4:08pm
 Location: Lancashire
 Outfit:  Volvo X60 Coachman
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This link will give you the closest match

http://www.towcar.info/report.php

It's basically the same car with a slightly lighter caravan, the car is heavy enought its just the engine that lacks the grunt, thats why the vast majority of tow cars are diesels, i'd try for a lighter van

 

bessie



18/9/2014 at 4:39pm
 Location: Lancashire
 Outfit:  Volvo X60 Coachman
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please see attached caravan club data, the weight match is 85% which is correct, it also says it will be fine as a towcar.

Vauxhall Astra SRi 1.6i 16v VVT auto (2010)

Make Vauxhall
Range SRi 1.6i 16v VVT auto
Model Astra
Year 2010
Fuel type Unleaded
Transmission type Automatic
Body type Hatchback
Kerb weight 1393.00kg
Towing limit 1250.00kg
Gross vehicle weight 1940.00kg
Gross train weight 3190.00kg
Nose weight 75.00kg
BHP 115
RPM for maximum BHP 6000.00
Maximum torque 155.00
RPM for maximum torque 4000.00

More info

Bailey Ranger 500/4 (1997)

Make Bailey
Range Ranger
Model 500/4
Year 1997
Type Caravan
Berths 4
Number of axles 1
MTPLM 1188kg
MIRO 937kg
User payload 223kg
Hitch limit Unknown
Shipping length 6.64m
Overall width 2.19m
Overall height 2.71m
Body Length 5.15m


18/9/2014 at 4:42pm
 Location: Mid Wales
 Outfit: Coachman Vip 520
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Hi, is it not worth us looking at then? Although the caravan club details sayit is in the 85% ratio, so should be ok, ut struggle a bit on hills.

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Enjoy life while you can, none of us know what's round the corner!


18/9/2014 at 4:54pm
 Location: Mid Wales
 Outfit: Coachman Vip 520
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Thankyou for looking it up for me. My daughter has set her heart on it, and its the layout she was after. Her partner drives a big van, so he could always tow it with that.

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Enjoy life while you can, none of us know what's round the corner!



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