Vehicle for towing a small caravan

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cherry_red, Jul 4, 6:49pm
Hi, can anyone recommend a vehicle for towing a 14 foot caravan? It's a '64 Zephyr so maybe 1000-1200kgs? It has brakes. My budget is about $10k. Thing is. I don't tow very often so the vehicle will mostly be used for around town driving, therefore I don't want something too thirsty. BUT when we take the caravan away we go long distance. Last trip we did was over 600 km towing with my 2000cc PT Cruiser which handled it surprisingly well-no issues-but surely is not an ideal tow vehicle! TIA
cherry_red, Jul 4, 6:54pm
Currently have Mazda Tribute, Ford Escape, Nissan X-Trail, Mitsubishi Outlander, Ford Territory on my watch list. your picks or suggestions? Cheers
tweake, Jul 4, 6:59pm
any large car or medium 4wd will do.
the fact that its got brakes on the caravan makes it a lot simpler.
you only need something heavy enough to withstand the caravan moving around, especially in high wind.
other than that its just power and traction.
PT cruiser is ok.

i prefer diesels for towing. 4wd is nice to have. most utes and their suv versions are around 2 ton in weight and ideal for that sort of towing.
however 10k doesn't get you much of a ute.
franc123, Jul 4, 7:06pm
Falcon or Fairmont has always been the best value tool for that job, most of that soggy softroader list you have there are pretty weak in the trans dept, even with a Falcon or Territory you need to be fitting good coolers to them. Sadly they won't be that economical round town but certainly not any worse than an Escape or Tribute.
grangies, Jul 4, 7:11pm
What about something simple, like a Holden Commodore? Or A Nissan Maxima?

If you're used to driving normal cars, and on a whim you buy a medium sized 4x4 like those on your watch list and ending up hating it with a passion. LOL

Take a Ford Escape or Mazda Tribute for a test drive, and you'll soon see what disgusting piles of junk they are to drive.
cherry_red, Jul 4, 7:12pm
Thanks tweake. agree, very few utes for that price. Reliability is a big thing. have a couple of small kiddies so don't want to get stuck in the back of beyond with a broken down vehicle, obviously. Been reading online reviews & it soon gets overwhelming. everything seems to have issues of one sort or the other.
thejazzpianoma, Jul 4, 7:13pm
Go with a VW Audi or Skoda product. My pick would probably be a new model starting 2006 Passat. Theses vehicles are built to do EXACTLY what you want to do. Be very economical, well equipped and safe every day vehicles, while being excellent tow vehicles for caravanning in particular.

Pretty much all models from 2005 have tow stability control which will save your butt like nothing else if anything goes awry while towing. In other words, if the caravan starts to fishtail or you need to throw your car around in an emergency, you can. No problem.

These vehicles have won the UK Caravan club overall tow car of the year awards pretty much every year since they came out.

Jump on youtube and check out "VW tow car of the year" to see their reviews. Also there is an excellent landrover video demonstrating tow stability control on there.

Pretty much no other medium/small car comes close for what you want to do.
cherry_red, Jul 4, 7:13pm
Haha. thanks guys. back to square one then.
thejazzpianoma, Jul 4, 7:16pm
Tribute and Territory are expensive to run, expensive to own and are known for expensive issues. I wouldn't be in a rush to buy a 4x4 for towing, especially for what you are towing. A high centre of gravity is a disadvantage not an advantage for what you are doing, especially without tow stability control.

My personal pick would be the Passat 4motion (4WD) 3.2 if you really want 4WD. Otherwise I might go for a 2.0 T version of the same or even the diesel. Certainly the diesel if you are still getting out on the open road for a few km's once or so a fortnight (they really need an open road run to clear their exhaust system periodically).
brapbrap8, Jul 4, 7:26pm
Get a decent car, just about anything will tow that weight fine.
You do not want an SUV or Ute, you will get something old, expensive to run and horrible to drive for that price.
The Ford Escape and Mazda Tribute are absolutely terrible, they have really bad transmissions that fail badly with any sort of towing,
The Territory is extremely thirsty, and they seem to develop bad rust issues according to panel beaters.
The X-trail and Outlander would be the better options, but avoid the CVT transmission models for towing would be the advice there.

Normal cars are so much better value these days than SUVs, not to mention cheaper to run and far nicer to drive.
I would look at the Nissan Maxima, or VW Passat as they are nice vehicles to drive and will tow fine. I would rate them above a Commodore or Falcon in your price range.
monaro17, Jul 4, 7:30pm
Falcon or commodore in that price range. You can't go wrong with a well cared for example. A late model on of either would be good. You could get a early to mid 2000s model for well under your budget. In saying this a mid sized car would also be fine in particular a camry, mondeo, or Mazda 6, Honda Accord. You aren't towing a lot of weight at all so you have plenty of options
cherry_red, Jul 4, 7:31pm
Thanks. will definitely have a look at the Passat. not something I had considered. I do head out of town fairly frequently so no drama there. My other run about is a VW Golf & it is by far the most reliable vehicle I have owned. Granted, the parts can be expensive but it just keeps on going!
msigg, Jul 4, 7:59pm
Yes I would go for the maxima or camry , great cars, cheap to run, very reliable, just be careful and with anything you buy get a car inspection done buy a decent mechanic, you may need a trans cooler fitter to prolong the life of your gearbox (if automatic). Also the other big issue is cooling system must be in excellent shape, best get the anti freeze/corrosion inhibitor changed.
thejazzpianoma, Jul 4, 8:32pm
What model/year Golf do you have?

The Passat, while larger is built on the Golf platform, so is essentially a Golf underneath (same engines, transmissions, electronics etc).

The MK5 and newer Golfs have been UK caravan club tow car of the year many times. You would want to use a 2005 or newer Golf for towing though in my opinion (better engines, trans and tow stability). Passat would be even better. Likewise the Skoda Octavia or Supurb which are also the same as the Passat/Golf Mechanically. Sometimes the Skoda is better in that it can be a more practical car from a space perspective.

BTW. the DSG used in the newer VW's doesn't have the heat issues with towing that you get with a traditional auto. That's because it's direct drive like a manual transmission. This means it's more efficient and usually has an extra gear or two over the opposition as well, this all helps with towing.

Also, a 2.0 TDI VW will give you bucket loads of relaxed towing power, it will also be exceptionally economical, both around town and towing.
cammey, Jul 4, 9:54pm
I tow a large boat.

Had a new falcon. Was only rated to tow 900kg. Handled like a rubber band on ice. Got stuck on wet grass. Couldn't pull up a ramp. Ate tyres and brake pads, leaked oil from rocker cover from new. IMHO Junk.

Had a Ford Escape. Transmission failed. Then again. Then again. Was reaching end of warranty so sold it. But, Ford did keep fixing it, although it always seemed to take months. IMHO Junk.

Had a 3.2L V6 Holden-Isuzu Trooper. Transmission failed. Holden very reluctant to do repairs, even under new car warranty. Won't go near a GM dealership again. IMHO junk with bad warranty performance.

Then a Landrover Discovery V8. ZF transmission.

The only car I managed to get through warranty without a major failure. So I have had two more. But you wouldn't want to be fixing them once they are out of warranty.
horses7, Jul 4, 10:03pm
Either X Trail or Outlander would do what you want fine,if you want to go diesel and have a limited budget hard to go past the Nissan Terrano,either 2.7 or 3.2 engines 1995-98,while they are getting on a bit they are great wagons and almost indestructible and their are still a few good ones out there
tamarillo, Jul 4, 11:49pm
Agree with others, modern 2 litre cars tow that weight easily and whist a big engined heavy car might be better towing its overboard for the majority of time.
Passat good idea. Euro cars often have towing tech on board as they love caravans. The softroaders you mention hardly have enough to pull them selves and offer no advantage, except territory which is a huge gas guzzler.
Older cvt boxes are not good for towing.
Your cruiser is fine why are you changing it?
A Japanese offering might be a 6 cylinder Subaru Outback. H6 engine I think it's called. Some swear by them and claim remarkable economy considering the 3 litres engine. Plus 4 wd in case campsite gets muddy.
franc123, Jul 5, 12:09am
Your problem is your boat is too heavy and/or your tow vehicles haven't been set up properly to tow them, it sounds like you should have been using a Patrol or Landcruiser for doing it, not to mention being damn lucky your warranty claims were accepted. You must have had a cheap crappy aftermarket towbar on a Falcon to be only rated at 900kg, all of the Ford approved ones made in the last twenty years have been 1600 minimum for automatics, some 2300 with the top tow pack depending on model so I'm not sure where 900 comes from.
brapbrap8, Jul 5, 12:13am
I would happily have either of these and tow a caravan with them, I actually had an Outback the same as that, and wish I had never sold it.
gammelvind, Jul 5, 12:58am
After reading the replies here, I'm wondering why not stay with the car you have, you must like it if you have one of those. You stated that it towed just fine so save yourself $10k and carry on.
cammey, Jul 5, 12:59am
Current Boats really big. Almost 9m, heavy alloy, carries 500L of fuel, so it weighs lots.

But my falcon was around '97 I think, and I had a 7m boat then, not so big. I'm sure I had the best tow kit Ford had at the time. It was certainly expensive. But the car was junk.

The Escape was OK but the transmission was just too weak.

I goes into the dealership, tells em what I want to do.

They sell me a vehicle that they assure me is perfect for the job when I am buying it.

And as you say, they then tell me I am "asking too much" when it needs a repair.

Land-rovers haven't been faultless. One did an axle in. Stupid cross flow radiators gets hot sometimes. But the man always fixes them without me needing the company lawyer.

Ford needed to talk to the lawyer.

Holden/Isuzu needed to see him.

Frau Cammey had a VW golf. That was a reliability nightmare so I wont be going there again, but the dealers went all out, so I think we just had a bad un.
grangies, Jul 5, 1:05am
Yep

I live on a main highway and see heaps of those Subaru Outback's towing boats that would be a lot more than 1200kg, with ease. So the Caravan the OP mentions would be a piece of piss.
grangies, Jul 5, 1:07am
I was thinking that too actually LOL.
tweake, Jul 5, 1:56am
maybe they shouldn't be.
the manufactures braked towing capacity is only 1800kg.
the side wind effect on a caravan is not to be ignored. they are not a heavy car and would be easily thrown around by wind on a big caravan.
just something to keep in mind.
grangies, Jul 5, 2:05am
I don't mean large boats. I just mean I see them pulling runabouts that would be a lot more than 1200kg. As in say 1500kg or maybe 1800kg. Which is still subtantially more than 1200kg.

I don't ever see them pulling 22ft game fishing boats etc. LOL