new to caravaning and just purchased bailey pageant although tow car is 1340kg and mtlp of the caravan is 1409 i have no intention of ever loading it to its limit can i still legally tow this caravan as long as i stay below the 1340
any help appreciated hope i havent bought myself a lemon
What is the max towing limit of the car? Without full details of the car I can't check the towing limit of your car but it may be less than the kerbweight.
What is the MRO of the caravan? By the time you've loaded gas bottles, battery, step, aquaroll and wastemaster, crockery, cookware etc you may already be over the car's kerbweight.
The guideline for novices is that the MTPLM of the caravan should be around 85% of the car's kerbweight. Even an experienced caravanner would not tow an outfit which is an 105% match like yours and may be well over the towing limit of the car.
Come back with the car weights or details and we can work it out for you.
car is a qashqai 1.5 dci 1340kg max towing
caravan bailey pageant mtplm 1409kg
not sounding good although when i got it i was told so long as im not overfilling it should be ok doesn't sound like it now
No it doesn't look good at the moment. What is the MRO of the caravan? What is the kerbweight of the car?
I've just checked some figures from when we were looking at the Qashqai. Most of the 1.5 diesels can only tow 1200kg but obviously without knowing the car details I can't check this for your car, where did you find the 1340 kg figure?
The first rule when towing is to check the figures yourself and don't believe what anybody else tells you, especially if they are trying to sell you a caravan.
If you don't know the MRO of the caravan or the kerbweight of the car just post the full details and we should be able to look it up for you.
You need to check the kerbweight of the car and check the dealer has got the figures correct. Have you checked the weight plate on the car or the figures on the V5 or in the handbook?
If the car weighs less than 1340 then the situation may be worse than it looks at the moment. If you can post the details of the car including model, year and transmission I can look up the relevant information for you but without that it's just guesswork and my crystal ball is not working tonight.
I have assumed that your Qashqai is a 2014 model rather than a 2013 model that was registered in 2014.
According to Parkers your kerbweight is 1365kg with a max tow of 1350kg. The ideal match of 85% would be a caravan with an MTPLM of 1160kg. The max tow weight is the max weight that the car can tow to perform a hill start on a certain gradient, it is not suggesting that it would be safe to tow a big white box of that weight at motorway speeds.
We purchased another caravan recently and the dealer insisted on taking all the details of my tow car and a copy of my licence. When we collected the caravan we were presented with a printout showing all the details including the towing ratio and noseweight etc. Has your dealer done this?
Personally I would not want to tow this and I have been towing for years and years. I am surprised that your caravan has such a big payload but by the time you've loaded in the bits I mentioned earlier plus perhaps an awning, a motor mover and then food, bedding, clothes etc it is surprising how it all adds up and a lot of people end up getting the caravan uprated so that they can carry all the extra weight.
You could tow this caravan loaded up to the car's limit but it would not be adviseable, your MRO is over the 85% guideline for beginners. It would not be legal to tow the caravan at the MTPLM.
You are legal to tow it provided loaded weight of caravan is less than max tow weight of car but you need to speak to your caravan insurer. Towergate for example do not cover accident damage to caravan above kerbweight of car even if outfit is legal.
Tbh the whole thing is too marginal. You are going to struggle to get it legal. If you want to go ahead I wouldn't waste money on caravan insurance as not a legal requirement & doubtful if you would be covered so just rely on car insurance for third party cover while towing but speak to car insurer to see what they say.
Thanks for the advice however i did ask for advice from a caravan sales company who did say i was fine as long as not fully loaded hence why i asked on here.
Some Caravan sales people will say anything for a sale. Always good to get a second opinion on a forum like this before buying. Just as you would for buying a car as an example.
It is for your safety and the safety of others on the road.
------------- It is a wise man who has something to say.
It is a fool who has to say something.
For anybody else reading this thread. The place that sells you the caravan are the last people you should ask if the caravan they want to sell you is compatible with your car. Some will of course give good impartial advice but others may not so it is important to do homework to discover max weight of caravan your car can safely tow. For example op may find 1.5 diesel is underpowered for that weight of caravan.
It is highly irresponsible of salesman to sell caravan with mtplm of over car max tow weight & advise not to fully load caravan. As stated even though legal there could be insurance implications in event of accident.
Another point is that max tow weight of any car is a technical figure based on the weight it can move from standing usually on an 8% gradient. It is not an indication of safe tow weight for a caravan nor does it indicate there will be enough power for normal driving conditions.
Caravanning is a recreational pursuit for one to enjoy & a towcar on the margin of it's performance is not really a joy to drive.
Quote: Originally posted by VangoMan02 on 22/10/2017
Some Caravan sales people will say anything for a sale. Always good to get a second opinion on a forum like this before buying. Just as you would for buying a car as an example.
It is for your safety and the safety of others on the road.
You mean you can't tow a twin axle with a Smart car?
------------- DS-There's more to life than football!!!