I currently have a 2000 Nissan Terrano Regulus, absolutly love my truck, but i think it is struggling a little to tow my 2 big horses, can anyone recommend one that would tow with ease thats not outrageous on gas, would prefer petrol as mine is diesel and from what i hear they are much more expensive to fix, and with RUC and rego now being so expensive, is there really much difference between the 2!
jamstew,
Apr 20, 6:24am
Well diesel will be better at towing physically, and may well end up being cheaper than the petrol while towing two big horses, RUC inclusive. I would say a Landcruiser 4.2TD, even the slightly older ones have alot of get up and pull, ours comfortably pulls our 18 and 16.5hand horses. When towed behind a territory (petrol), it used in excess of 45L/100k. I'm sure someone will come along saying the opposite, but this is just what we have found.
peter148,
Apr 20, 6:31am
45L/100km is about two dollars a kilometer.Surely you would be better off getting the horses to tow your car to the shows.Better yet remove the plates and rego, dump the truck somehwere, and ride the horses home. Grass is natural and free, and horses love it.
morrisman1,
Apr 20, 6:32am
Diesel is Gunnar be cheaper definitely. Jazz if you pop in post that comparison site you had because that will help with seeing how much cheaper diesel is going to be
ralphdog1,
Apr 20, 6:58am
45l/100km. Either you maths is not too sharp, or there is something terribly wrong with it. Not driving with the handbrake on and the float tailgate down are you!
i would say a vx cruiser if you like petrol and then check underneath most of them have a recess in the floor for the actual sparewheel even tho they are normallly on the back door and then people convert to lpg and put the tanks in there so you get the power of petrol and the costs of lpg with out inflated rego/road user charges
richardmayes,
Apr 20, 2:50pm
RUC is just the petrol tax you aren't paying at the pump, if you pump diesel instead of petrol. It's not some kind of extra "greenie punishment tax for being a being big nasty truck" no matter how much some people like to pretend that's what it is.
And post #2 seconded, diesel fuel is far more efficient for the kind of continuous pulling power you need for towing heavy trailers.
hotrodtodd1,
Apr 20, 4:18pm
A Nissan Safari diesel turbo is a great tow wagon, and will be cheaper than a Landcruiser to buy, but will be worth less when it comes time to sell it.
r15,
Apr 21, 2:13am
probably best to just let your truck struggle, if its still doing a reasonable pace up hills and not over heating its fine.
if its auto, definately have a large transmission cooler fitted to it, this will make it last a lot longer.
otherwise, patrol / safari or landcruiser, or even prado, but the prado wont give much performance gains over the terrano
spottie,
Apr 21, 5:22am
Just be aware that if you buy a diesel the RUC's are calculated on the combined weight of the wagon and loaded float ie; by hooking up a float it may push you into the next level of RUC's. The boys in blue have a blitz on this every now and then.
paddyman,
Apr 21, 5:27am
The Mrs has aVX Landcruiser to tow her double float and it handles it no problem. Try and get a manual 4.2 Diesel T/Dthey tow really good.
nickolaz,
Apr 21, 6:39am
Best. Post. EVAR
xs1100,
Apr 22, 2:53am
persoanlly if stick with diesel as suggested would go nissan safari/patrol only thing to remeber is the diesels also hold about 10 litrs of oil when it comes time for a oil change
thejazzpianoma,
Apr 22, 3:06am
You raise a really good point, most of those old fashioned diesels have really short service intervals as well. Much better to try and get something modern and common rail if at all possible. You win on 3 counts, much more economical, less oil capacity, and service intervals that are usually around 3 times longer.
rajah1,
Apr 22, 4:01am
Not a lot of choice if you want economy, diesel Patrol or Cruiser.
serf407,
Apr 22, 6:41am
It depends how the vehicle is maintained ,I have seen a few smokey VXs about. How much weight can the horses lose in order for you to have a smaller vehicle ! Do you have a budget! Obviously < Merc G Wagon . Put a more fruity engine in the Terrano perhaps ! Nissan Safari jumbo for towing on weekends. Rice bubble compact to drive during the week.
kiwi_fisherman,
Apr 22, 7:35am
My 2000 new shape 4.0 Grand cherokee. Only done 82 clicks and the engines are pretty much bullet proof. Will run away easy with you float and 2 large horses, Economical too when not towing, About the same as a Commodore or Falcon but a lot more comfortable and is high spec
xs1100,
Apr 22, 5:26pm
yes but 5000ks if not being used as a daily runner should be quite a while and the differance in pricing between a safari/patrol (even if uses more oil) and a vx cruiser is huge and personally more a fan of the safari
mrcat1,
Apr 22, 10:02pm
Well you have no ideas about RUC then, It is taken on the Tare weight of the vehicle AND it's load, not what it's towing behind, unless of course it's a heavy truck and trailer and then you would have to pay RUC on both as well. You sound like a post office worker years ago that told me i had to buy RUC at the Gross Manufacturers weight, instead of the weight i wanted as tare and load, I wanted 20 tonne and they told me i had to buy 125 tonne as it was a ex heavy haulage unit, lets just say they got taught a whole new vocabuary.
xs1100,
Apr 23, 3:33am
one word of advice also in regards to nissan avoid the EARLY NISSAN ZD30 like the plague.pre 2002 they are a bad 1 and come in all the models
mull05,
Apr 23, 4:42am
get a rav4
grangies,
Apr 23, 3:03pm
Nah. A Suzuki Vitara .
jezz43,
Apr 23, 3:11pm
a mate of mine has had 2 touregs, he reckons the V8 version is the only one worthwhile using for towing. apparently the V6 isnt grunty enough
mrcat1,
Apr 23, 9:16pm
The only problems is their transmissions in the V10, I have heard one of the reasons they have gone away from them is so much torque and the transmissions can't cope with it.
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