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Could owners of Bailey Pageants please let me know what they're using to tow.

Mine's a Vendee and I've been told that a Renault Diesel Grand Scenic is too small.

The van is 1180kg, the car kerb weight is 1530 kg BUT has a manufacturers towing limit of 1300kg.  

Any advice?   Should I chance it or should I change the car?

Thanks

To stay legal and not invalidate your insurance you have to go with what Renault say.    Looks like you need to get a new car.

How big is your engine?  Would it cope with that weight of van on a 20% hill anyway?

( you can tell I know nothing about cars/engines!! )

Hi, I don't have a Bailey but my van weighs exactly the same as yours.  Although the kerbweight of my car (Citroen C5) is just over 1500kg and therefore a good match, the particular model (Auto 2.2Hdi with particulate filter) has a towing limit of 1100kg, whereas the limit for other C5's is 1500. 

Just as I was about to give up in despair, I noted a little comment in the car's handbook which said I can go up to 1500kg towed if the total weight of car, van, occupants & luggage doesn't exceed a certain figure.  I make sure I stay under that figure and the unit is lovely and stable and tows fine. 

Suggest you check handbook to see if the same applies to your Grand Scenic. If not, you might have to ensure you only ever tow the van empty - either that or change the car.

Jon

Hi

We tow our Pageant with a Citroen C5 2.0 HDI. Ours is 110 bhp but they also produce a 90bhp model.

Check out this free Dutch site and it will give you a better idea. Remember the 85% rule is only advisory and you can increase the margins according to experience and correct loading of car and van. http://www.caravantrekker.nl/en/

Cheers Michael

We're looking to upgrade to an Auverne.

We've just landed a Honda CRV Diesel - goes like a train solo.  Towbar's being fitted next week.....Roll on 1/2 term.

I had a Bailey ranger which was more or less the same weight as your pageant. I presume this is the total maximum permissable weight? I towed with a Citroen Xsara Picasso diesel, which kerbweight was 1300kg so although i was a bit over the 85% rule, this is only a guideline and if your experienced at towing and distribute the weight carefully you should be fine. I never had any problems and it towed up hills ok, had to drop down a  gear at times but only on steep gradients. Hope this helps

Donna

Well Geraint, I think you should take a real good look at the true figures as you are about to make a decision that could possibly have a great influence upon yours and your family's life.

One, we are talking about cost, which obviously only yourself is privy to that information. Make a poor judgement now and it could turn out to be very expensive in the days ahead.

Two, if the actual technical figures don't tally and you make the wrong decision, then you might well be heading for a serious misshap concerning whoever maybe in your towcar and possibly other road users too. I can't really tell you which way to go but I can certainly put some figures before you so that you can make a cool and rational choice.

The MTPLM for a 2005 Vendeé is 1397kg and that should be the figure you should enter into your calculations. I know this because I am fortunate to own one and you can also check here http://www.berkshire-caravans.co.uk/bailey_brochure05.pdf but I cannot say what year your van is therefore your actual van maybe different but wouldn't think by much.

Having checked with Renault's website, you are absolutely correct in that the kerbweight of your car is as you say 1530kg. Therefore dividing 1397 by 1530 brings us to a tad under 92%. As you can see, already you are over the recommended 85% guideline. Now that in itself is not necessarily the be all and end all, I tow at something like that figure myself but I certainly wouldn't advocate anyone else do so. That's a decision purely for the individual. It does mean however, you must make absolutely certain of not exceeding the 200kg payload as recommended by Baileys and believe me this is very easy to do. It also makes all the other critical points about towing i.e. tyre pressures, weight distribution inside the van etc that much more  important.

Now closely examine the reasons why Renault place such a low maximum towing limit on your car or better still phone Renault UK and ask their technical bods for confirmation. By that figure alone you would be towing the best part of 100kg in excess and god forbid anything untoward should happen I wouldn't think they would very sympathetic as neither I suspect would your insurance company .

The final point to examine Geraint is the fact that Whattowcar indicate that your top gear usability is pretty naff. By that token I would take it to mean you would therefore be spending most of your time in a lower gear which as you know will lend itself to a), a substantial decrease in your mpg and b), in turn place a much greater strain on the engine thereby shortening it's lifespan.

Here's hoping you make the right decision Geraint. atb

We have just ordered a Bretagne(MTPLM=1409Kg) and intend towing it with a Galaxy 2.3. I weighed it with a full tank of petrol but otherwise empty on the weighbridge at work and it was 1780Kgs which i work out to be 79%.So even fully laden should be ok. This may not be of much use to you but thought i'd let you know.

Mike+judi.

Thanks very much for all the advice.

I'm really looking forward to getting on with caravanning and will probably end up asking more nonsense questions during the winter as we discover the joys of it all ......

Thanks very much for all the replies or Diolch as we say in Wales

Geraint