Best small towing car...

[Rich L]

OK if I wanted to regularly travel 300 miles fast and economically and be able to collect & launch a 6m boat on a decent slip (4x4 unnecessary) at the other end, what would you buy?

Say £5k budget?

[codprawn]

What about a Rover 75? Very under rated car and FAR more reliable than people give them credit for. How the hell Ford can sell the tat they do and yet Rover have gone bust is beyond me!!!

Just spotted this on Ebay as a quick example

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2001-51-ROVER-...QQcmdZViewItem

Rover 75 Estate - they look really nice - 2001 model with 23500 miles on it.

To be honest most cars these days are so cheap s/h you can buy all sorts for that sort of budget.

How about an Audi S8 4.2 quattro - you can get a 1999 model with low milage for that sort of money - was £65,000 new!!! Oops - forgot you said cheap to run!!!

[Richard B]

Codprawn, you are completely bonkers!

Spend £6k on a five-year-old Rover on Ebay... you can get one-year-old Mondeos 12,000 miles on the clock from a ford main dealer for £8k!

As for Ford motors being tat, we ran a Rover and a Ford alongside each other a few years ago... the Rover broke down and was regularly returned to the dealer whilst the Ford ran like a swiss watch. Wake up and smell the coffee, there are good reasons why Rover went to the wall, and quality was a major one.

[codprawn]

We ran 5 Rover 400s - all rover's own 2l turbo diesel. All bought in 1998. No problems at all with any of them. Still have 1 which we use as a backup - 165,000 miles and still nice to drive. A few mates of mine have got Fords of a similar age - rusted to hell and all sorts of electrical troubles.

The Mondeo and Focus are much better than Fords used to be but still not brilliant. I have test driven a few Fiestas for mates recently and also drove a 3 yr old one to Newport on the M4 last week - totally gutless and hideous to drive - our old Rover is in a different league.

I was just posting a quick example!!!

Only 1 car I have ever owned had an engine that went bang - also happened to be the ONLY Ford I have ever owned!!!

Transits are great though.

[Nos4r2]

Rover 418sld-and you'll have £4k spare afterwards.

My girlfriend has one. It's got a Pug 1800 turbo diesel in it, pulls like a train and does 48mpg. Find a one-owner example and you're laughing. Hers is great. Looks a bit like an old man's car but to be honest that's an advantage as thieves don't even notice it.

[donutsina911]

ford will be worth tuppence after a couple of years and rover is a bit of an unknown - for circa £5k I'd get a VW Golf 1.9 TDI, probably on a X/W plate for that kind of money - quickish, economical, would have no probs with your rib and should hold its value.

[Hightower]

Rovers are nice reliable cars, we run a small fleet of them (Turbo Diesel) and no real problems.

However don't you want a rear wheel drive car for slipway recovery, my Pug 405 was crap even on shallow slips.

[mdt]

Get your self a Audi A4 Tdi Quattro should manage to get them for the sort of cash you are talking about, 45 mpg and it will last…

[Rogue Wave]

I found my Audi a bit gutless when towing I don't run a car anymore just a 4*4 but i believe tht Primeras are very underated cars. we had a 2.0 litre GTEfi cdm and bar and it was a very good tow vehicle and very nippy without a tow.

if you get the diesel version Nissan have a good rep for making diesels. How mauch can you get a volvo estate for

[Phil Davies]

Rich - you could do a lot worse than a 4x4 Skoda Octavia estate. And this one even comes with a towbar:

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/54592.htm

[Andy_Rs600]

Subaru Impreza GX

4WD, twin ratio gear box, no turbo so it's not too thirsty. It'll also tow better than most 4x4s on the motorway, and will take 1600Kgs. Only slight problem is the insurance, they are very nickable because the stupid ***** confuse them with the WRX turbo version!

They aren't expensive because everyone want the turbo, which doesn't have the 2 ratio box. However, they are hard to come by because the people who have them keep them seemingly forever.

[ADS]

I think Phil and Donuts are on the right lines with something German, the Octavia is a good car as is the golf gt tdi, although on autotrader all the Golfs for around 5k have done over 100k miles, the 1.8t 150bhp petrol GTi however depreciates alot more and a friend of mine still got 40mpg out of it, didn't desere a Gti badge though.
The Rover diesels aren't bad as Nos says, and the 75 is an underated car the diesel lump in that I believe is BMW. Although apologies to anyone that owns one, I could not drive around in an antique sideboard

Originally Posted by codprawn

I have test driven a few Fiestas for mates recently and also drove a 3 yr old one to Newport on the M4 last week - totally gutless and hideous to drive - our old Rover is in a different league.

IOnly 1 car I have ever owned had an engine that went bang - also happened to be the ONLY Ford I have ever owned!!!

Transits are great though.

I don't agree with you cod on the fiestas
The newer ones aren't that special and are weighed down by extra air bags and everything else but the MK4's (pre 2001) are good cars particularly with the zetec engines 1.25/ 1.4 and 1.6.
I have a mate with the 75bhp 1.25 and it is by no means gutless, wheelspins without even trying in 2nd! And that was with 17" alloys on it. Have seen 112mph indicated on the standard wheels. In my book thats nippy for a 1.2, admittably they do rust, but the gearbox is nice and the handling is not bad. No good for towing, any distance though.
One of those Mondeos looks like a good deal, although probably poverty spec.
I need to get out more!

Alex

[codprawn]

Originally Posted by ADS

I think Phil and Donuts are on the right lines with something German, the Octavia is a good car as is the golf gt tdi, although on autotrader all the Golfs for around 5k have done over 100k miles, the 1.8t 150bhp petrol GTi however depreciates alot more and a friend of mine still got 40mpg out of it, didn't desere a Gti badge though.
The Rover diesels aren't bad as Nos says, and the 75 is an underated car the diesel lump in that I believe is BMW. Although apologies to anyone that owns one, I could not drive around in an antique sideboard


I don't agree with you cod on the fiestas
The newer ones aren't that special and are weighed down by extra air bags and everything else but the MK4's (pre 2001) are good cars particularly with the zetec engines 1.25/ 1.4 and 1.6.
I have a mate with the 75bhp 1.25 and it is by no means gutless, wheelspins without even trying in 2nd! And that was with 17" alloys on it. Have seen 112mph indicated on the standard wheels. In my book thats nippy for a 1.2, admittably they do rust, but the gearbox is nice and the handling is not bad. No good for towing, any distance though.
One of those Mondeos looks like a good deal, although probably poverty spec.
I need to get out more!

Alex

Nothing wrong with Rover's own 2l diesel - actually a better engine for towing than the BMW one as more really low down torque.

As to Fiestas being gutless maybe it's what you are used to - after driving a few about the age you mention getting back into a Rover 420 diesel was a joy - far more oomph!!!

Mind you my 300tdi discovery is about the same as the fiesta on the motorway!!!

[Hightower]

Was following a Skoda Octavia the other day on e-bay. It was the turbo version 4x4 and went for £3150....Bargain.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...MEWA%3AIT&rd=1

[Hugh Jardon]

Originally Posted by codprawn

As to Fiestas being gutless maybe it's what you are used to - after driving a few about the age you mention getting back into a Rover 420 diesel was a joy - far more oomph!!!

I find anything without a V8 and less that 4 litre a bit sluggish and far too economical!!!

must admit there are a lot of car diesels that seem to be able to tow faster than a landy on the open road on steady inclines so the mid sized mondeo size cars with nice turbo diesels look a good bet and they return good mpg which the landys dont. Trouble is on the slip and i know i can pull anything out with my landy but would not be very comfortable with a normal car in same and slippery conditions

[stedj]

e class merc 3 ltr deisel pull any thing ,5k will get a face lift version 96-97 looks good and luxury aswell

[osprey__viper]

Originally Posted by Hightower

However don't you want a rear wheel drive car for slipway recovery, my Pug 405 was crap even on shallow slips.

Dont be so sure Andy. My Vectra sri/dti 2.2 dragged KeyMar up haslar slip no problem and returned 30mpg on the way home to Mansfield.

Wish me td5 was that economical

[Alan]

Have to agree to an extent with Osprey Viper. I used to drag around a 6.5m RIB up and down slips with a 2.0L or 2.5V6 Mondeo (original shape) and only had a problem once on Calshot slip getting stuck in silt and shit. Rear WD wouldn't have been any help either. I must admit to probably having shagged some of the body welds over time but they were company cars )

Cant really help with car selection advice as having been out of the country for 18mths or so have no real idea of used car pricing. I would just observe that Codprawn is talking his usual bollox (or rather his mates are....have you notice that he always has a mate who has bought/sold/experienced/done anything you might want to talk about?...but I digress.) Buying a Rover, any kind of Rover unless you basically get it for free is kinda silly given Rover's demise. (Which was partly due to poor quality but more due to old designs and not having the wherewithall to make new ones, unsurprising in an industry where you have to be a billion dollar (or pound) turnover organisation to survive!). I think modern Ford's are petty good but then I did work there for 11 years so I'm biased I s'pose.

Most classy suggestion so far is the Merc E Class. Gotta be worth a thought if insurance or spares cost dont put you off. Otherwise howabout Scooby Forester - then non turbo version. Reasonably nippy and roomy with 4x4?

[Dino]

Need to get yourself off to auction,"02 52" Passat 130 tdi se spec est. 65000 miles and one company owner with full history made £5000 and nothing comes near 'em for reliability and 'cred.50 mpg too!

DO NOT BUY A ROVER(unless you want to watch your resale disappear off the planet)

[Hugh Jardon]

now that i would agree with, the passat is a great car and i recommended getting one to my sis as they have a young baby, they got the 130 tdi version and love it and it is quite nippy and does loads to the gall