Replacement Tow Car - Page 2

wellhouse · 23 June 2012, 08:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by Devonmark35

We borrowed a brand new Kuga the other day to tow a SR 6m down to Cornwall from Portsmouth. Lovely car and surprisingly upmarket for a Ford. I think the price reflects this fact though.... It too was an AWD model but I must admit I cant agree with regards to the comment "it tows like its not there". Sure its a great tow car and I like it a lot but as for towing like the boat was not there - I'm not sure about that.

Nice car though but I think residual prices are still quite high at present.

i should have stated it's the higher output tdci model with the towing stability program activated. (for some reason you have to specify this when you have the tow bar fitted, a simple software update at your ford dealer)

diver 1 · 23 June 2012, 08:47

Thanks everyone. The Kia which has received a lot of comments appears to be uneconomical (avg 35.8mpg, slowish, very heavy on co2 emmisions (209g/km) etc. Sure it would suit lots of people, but if I was buying something that heavy on fuel and co2 I'd defintiely go for an Audi Allroad. Test drove one last night, for a 2004 model with half a billion miles it drove like a new car still. Faultless.

I tested the diesel Outback at a Subaru dealership yesterday and when I querried clutch problems they admitted they had dozens of problems and that they had been adding electronic updates to the ECU's on all diesel subaru's to limit torque when pulling away. Not really what you want for a tow car!

Think I'm going to look for a newer Passat 4motion and try and source some VW 'rough road' springs from europe to increase ground clearance a couple of inches and stiffen the suspension.

44mpg, 0-60 in 10.5 sec, only 159g Co2 and its fully galvanised. Can't go too far wrong with that!

Ian M · 23 June 2012, 11:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by diver 1

Thanks everyone. The Kia which has received a lot of comments appears to be uneconomical (avg 35.8mpg, slowish, very heavy on co2 emmisions (209g/km) etc. Sure it would suit lots of people, but if I was buying something that heavy on fuel and co2 I'd defintiely go for an Audi Allroad. Test drove one last night, for a 2004 model with half a billion miles it drove like a new car still. Faultless.

Totally agree. My 2005 Allroad was a brilliant car, but I have to admit I got a little scared by the whisperings of high cost failures of the air suspension that seem to happen at around 100K miles. So I have now gone for the fastest tow car award with a new 3.0 Tdi A6 Quattro

Wahoo! · 23 June 2012, 12:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ian M

Totally agree. My 2005 Allroad was a brilliant car, but I have to admit I got a little scared by the whisperings of high cost failures of the air suspension that seem to happen at around 100K miles. So I have now gone for the fastest tow car award with a new 3.0 Tdi A6 Quattro

I have an A4 Quattro 3.0 tdi (2006) and i am thinking of having a removable tow bar fitted to tow my 5.6m Avon rib. Does anyone on here have experience of this cars towing capabilities? I think my rib, engine, trailer combo is around 1350kg and no brakes on trailer at present

Will this car be up to the job????

Landlockedpirate · 23 June 2012, 12:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wahoo!

I have an A4 Quattro 3.0 tdi (2006) and i am thinking of having a removable tow bar fitted to tow my 5.6m Avon rib. Does anyone on here have experience of this cars towing capabilities? I think my rib, engine, trailer combo is around 1350kg and no brakes on trailer at present

Will this car be up to the job????

You need to fit brakes, its not legal ( or safe ) without them over 750kg. Audi will pull it easily, used one to tow a heavier plant trailer, really good tow car.

wavelength · 23 June 2012, 19:34

Quote:

I like the car but one more breakdown means it goes........

Bruce I can't decide whether I am just lucky or you are plain unlucky!
Virtually same car and boat set up and we haven't had a problem with either - but your humber and kia have apparently both caused grief. I'm not gonna ask you to buy me a lottery ticket bud

Nos4r2 · 23 June 2012, 22:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by wavelength

Bruce I can't decide whether I am just lucky or you are plain unlucky!
Virtually same car and boat set up and we haven't had a problem with either - but your humber and kia have apparently both caused grief. I'm not gonna ask you to buy me a lottery ticket bud

You should-Sod's law says the ticket will only win if he buys it for someone else

BruceB · 23 June 2012, 23:16

Its funny in that my last car, a Jeep Cherokee, was treated like s*it and never looked after but ran for 10 years without missing a beat and was still going strong when I sold it.
The Kia is cossetted, serviced, does fewer miles cos we have a second car for work and seems to be breaking down without warning twice a year roughly since we got it.

As far as boats are concerned its not just me, my mate with a similiar aged Destroyer sent me a pic today and his transom is cracked in exactly the same place and he doesn't know why either.............
To be fair it was only the first crack on my boat that was unexplained, the second one was simply caused by an initial botched repair at the factory of the original crack...........

Personally I think I am extremely lucky, generally............

spartacus · 24 June 2012, 09:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by diver 1

Think I'm going to look for a newer Passat 4motion and try and source some VW 'rough road' springs from europe to increase ground clearance a couple of inches and stiffen the suspension.

44mpg, 0-60 in 10.5 sec, only 159g Co2 and its fully galvanised. Can't go too far wrong with that!

Good luck with your search. It's a rare car to find, especially within budget.

A comparable car would have been the Audi A4 1.9 TDI avant quattro (130PS). The B6 model was made up to 2004, managed 52 mpg coupled with 6 speed manual transmission, 157g CO2, galvanised bodywork, 0-60 in 10.4 seconds, etc. However now über-rare but still sought after - only high mileage cars on the market, although to be fair they'll do 200k easily. The Passat still wins hands down in terms of interior space though.

This one is outwith budget, but something similar with slightly higher miles should bring the cost down. 2009 Volkswagen Passat 2.0 SPORT TDI 4MOTION 5DR

wavelength · 24 June 2012, 15:58

Quote:

Personally I think I am extremely lucky, generally............

good on ya then Brucie

diver 1 · 25 June 2012, 17:02

Just had a look at a 2008/08 Passat 4motion, great car but VW advised me they have quite a few problems with the electronic gubbins on the rear cailipers which operate the electronic handbrake. They said if I get the rear wheels / caliper wet with sea water it will probably cost be between 200 and 500 quid each and every time. Some of the slips I use this is a hard to avoid without messing around for ages with bits of rope..

Will look at the Skoda options without an electric handbrake or possibly even look at a Honda CRV with the extra ground clearance, still more economical than an Allroad

mick · 25 June 2012, 17:43

A lot of cars seem to have EPB these days never had any trouble with my D3 & D4 got them wet loads of times

Landlockedpirate · 25 June 2012, 18:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by diver 1

Just had a look at a 2008/08 Passat 4motion, great car but VW advised me they have quite a few problems with the electronic gubbins on the rear cailipers which operate the electronic handbrake. They said if I get the rear wheels / caliper wet with sea water it will probably cost be between 200 and 500 quid each and every time. Some of the slips I use this is a hard to avoid without messing around for ages with bits of rope..

Will look at the Skoda options without an electric handbrake or possibly even look at a Honda CRV with the extra ground clearance, still more economical than an Allroad

Had the previous model CR-V from new, reliable, brisk (for an SUV), good tow car even with over the plated weight on the back. No faults at all over 120k miles. Had an X-trail as well with similar qualities. Both had real life mpg around 40.

xs 400 · 25 June 2012, 18:48

anyone any experience with the mitsubishi outlander????

Portholme · 25 June 2012, 18:56

Yep. I did a fair bit of work for Mitsubishi at the time of the launch. Did some fairly hefty off road tracks in it, way more than the average Joe would do towing a horse box across a field. It went well and didn't need towing out by the pick ups with heavy tread tyres.

Personal views are that it was very plasticky and wouldn't stand the test of time and no idea how it stacks up four years later. Fundamentally the same as the Peugeot and Citroen but with different engines IIRC.

Not for me and I've been dissed on here for owning a Land Cruiser. Apparently that's a hair dressers car too!!!!