Another "what car should I buy?" thread

[Iznurgle]

I hope this is the right place to post this!

I've been driving an 04 Nissan Micra for about 6 years now, and while I adore the car, the clutch is beginning to go and it's tiny! I'm carrying tack, feed, changes of clothes, waterproofs, fist aid, dogs, and occasionally people (!) in it, and driving 50km each way to work at the yard 5 days a week, then out to my horse's livery yard up quite steep roads 7 days a week. I've applied for my B+E test and am on the wait list, and I think it might be time to think about a new car, specifically one that can tow. I have a budget of about E10,000, and I'm considering a Volkswagen Tiguan, or possibly a Touareg, but they seem to be harder to come by. I don't have a box, but can rent one from my YO, hers are all two-horse Ifor Williams boxes. The pony is around 425kg according to the weightape, but in the future I may be transporting two (the heaviest of which would be about 750kg).

Are one of the VW models right for me? Is there another car I should consider? I've heard that the Tiguan in particular is very economical to run and the tax isn't crazy, but I'm so overwhelmed looking at cars and trying to figure out what I actually need. I wouldn't be towing constantly, just boxing out once a month or so for lessons or hacking, so if it didn't cost the earth to run that would be a dream. I appreciate any advice you can give me!

 

[dixie]

Look at the Ssangyong Rexton too.
they have a great towing capacity and you’ll probably get a newer model over the more fashionable makes for your money.
I’ve had one for 6yrs towing IW510 and two horses with no trouble.

 

[maisie06]

I hope this is the right place to post this!

I've been driving an 04 Nissan Micra for about 6 years now, and while I adore the car, the clutch is beginning to go and it's tiny! I'm carrying tack, feed, changes of clothes, waterproofs, fist aid, dogs, and occasionally people (!) in it, and driving 50km each way to work at the yard 5 days a week, then out to my horse's livery yard up quite steep roads 7 days a week. I've applied for my B+E test and am on the wait list, and I think it might be time to think about a new car, specifically one that can tow. I have a budget of about E10,000, and I'm considering a Volkswagen Tiguan, or possibly a Touareg, but they seem to be harder to come by. I don't have a box, but can rent one from my YO, hers are all two-horse Ifor Williams boxes. The pony is around 425kg according to the weightape, but in the future I may be transporting two (the heaviest of which would be about 750kg).

Are one of the VW models right for me? Is there another car I should consider? I've heard that the Tiguan in particular is very economical to run and the tax isn't crazy, but I'm so overwhelmed looking at cars and trying to figure out what I actually need. I wouldn't be towing constantly, just boxing out once a month or so for lessons or hacking, so if it didn't cost the earth to run that would be a dream. I appreciate any advice you can give me!

I bpught a Skoda Yeti for carrying dogs, changes of clothes and all manner of junk over rough tracks, the 4x4 diesel model is good on fuel and reasonable tax unlike many other 4x4's, I wouldn't tow with it but perfect for chcucking things in loads of space too.

 

[Iznurgle]

Thank you for the recommendations so far! Clearly I'll have to broaden my search.

 

[abbijay]

If you are looking at VWs have a look at the Passat AllTrack. It's a 4x4 in an estate body making it more economical than the Tiguan and more space inside too. I tow with it; I have a richardson supreme ultra (1100kg unladen) and tow 1 heavy horse in it 850kg. It has 2.2t of towing so while it won't drag 2 big horses in a big trailer it will not cripple you to run it as an everyday car.

 

[Prancerpoos]

Just another way of looking at it: given the amount of miles you cover each week (c600km so around 400miles), running a big car is going to cost you around £100 more a month in petrol and probably £200-£300 more with all the extra running costs included - and I think that is being conservative. That's a minimum of £2.5k plus extra a year. Everything costs more on big 4x4s, tyres, servicing etc etc and on an older car, which is all you will get for £10k, you can expect some hefty bills. If that would be a concern, you may be better off buying a smaller engined 'regular', but larger than your current, car and look at renting a horse box once a month.

 

[AShetlandBitMeOnce]

Just another way of looking at it: given the amount of miles you cover each week (c600km so around 400miles), running a big car is going to cost you around £100 more a month in petrol and probably £200-£300 more with all the extra running costs included - and I think that is being conservative. That's a minimum of £2.5k plus extra a year. Everything costs more on big 4x4s, tyres, servicing etc etc and on an older car, which is all you will get for £10k, you can expect some hefty bills. If that would be a concern, you may be better off buying a smaller engined 'regular', but larger than your current, car and look at renting a horse box once a month.

Just to expand on this, a 4x4 on the less thirsty side of things will be approx 30mpg on a diesel, this will cost you £0.20 per mile (diesel costing £1.30 as an average). Whereas your Micra on an average of 45mpg will have been costing you £0.12 per mile. That's £4.51 more just to get to work everyday on a 61 mile round trip, plus then the driving to the yard. Then you have the more expensive parts, the more expensive insurance, the road tax.. It may be cheaper for you to buy a horsebox and stick with a small car - or to hire one as and when you need it.

Saying that the Vauxhall Antara is a lot of 4x4 for your money, 2.2t towing and a 2.2l diesel engine. Approx 30mpg around town. Can get a '15 plate for about £6500.

Things to note: don't ever go for a CVT automatic gearbox, they won't stand up to towing and they're expensive to repair. It's a good idea to shop for a towing vehicle in-land if your coastal based, as cars that drive around coastal towns rot quicker, I would avoid Range Rovers, Land Rovers and Hyundai Santa Fe's. Always check the servicing paperwork, it should have a full service. If they have neglected the oil changes on a transfer box for example it's about a £3000 job to get another one. Try and get one with a tow bar already in situ as it's about £400 to get one put on!

That's about all I can think of. Good luck!

 

[abbijay]

Just to expand on this, a 4x4 on the less thirsty side of things will be approx 30mpg on a diesel, this will cost you £0.20 per mile (diesel costing £1.30 as an average). Whereas your Micra on an average of 45mpg will have been costing you £0.12 per mile. That's £4.51 more just to get to work everyday on a 61 mile round trip, plus then the driving to the yard. Then you have the more expensive parts, the more expensive insurance, the road tax.. It may be cheaper for you to buy a horsebox and stick with a small car - or to hire one as and when you need it.

Saying that the Vauxhall Antara is a lot of 4x4 for your money, 2.2t towing and a 2.2l diesel engine. Approx 30mpg around town. Can get a '15 plate for about £6500.

Things to note: don't ever go for a CVT automatic gearbox, they won't stand up to towing and they're expensive to repair. It's a good idea to shop for a towing vehicle in-land if your coastal based, as cars that drive around coastal towns rot quicker, I would avoid Range Rovers, Land Rovers and Hyundai Santa Fe's. Always check the servicing paperwork, it should have a full service. If they have neglected the oil changes on a transfer box for example it's about a £3000 job to get another one. Try and get one with a tow bar already in situ as it's about £400 to get one put on!

That's about all I can think of. Good luck!

Interesting that you think you will only get 45mpg from the Micra. My old fiesta used to get close to 60mpg, the Passat Alltrack does about 55mpg average (same size engine and towing capacity as the Antara above) and tows at 31mpg with just shy of 2t behind while my GLC 4x4 does 44.5mpg split between town/country/motorway rides.
Definitely worth considering the efficiency of the car you're looking at though when doing the costings.

 

[Iznurgle]

Thank you so much for all the replies! Clearly this is more complicated (and expensive ) than I thought! I might have to retreat from the idea for now, look at finances, and start a spreadsheet to put everything into perspective. Hopefully the Micra will hold on for a few more months.

 

[AShetlandBitMeOnce]

Interesting that you think you will only get 45mpg from the Micra. My old fiesta used to get close to 60mpg, the Passat Alltrack does about 55mpg average (same size engine and towing capacity as the Antara above) and tows at 31mpg with just shy of 2t behind while my GLC 4x4 does 44.5mpg split between town/country/motorway rides.
Definitely worth considering the efficiency of the car you're looking at though when doing the costings.

I just googled the average MPG of a micra, my Fiesta only does about 44mpg around town and that's a 1.4 petrol, so super small. The alltrack sounds like it's great on fuel!

 

[horsimous]

My Tiguan is not much different in running costs than my VW Golf was (Though it’s not the 4x4 version). It makes much lighter work of corners and long journeys too and I can fit sooo much more into it. The slidable back seats are really useful.

 

[Michen]

Having had two Tiguans and now a touareg there is just no comparison. Much happier towing with the treg and I didn’t feel unhappy towing with the Tiguan!

Appalling MPG though. Spend around £200 a month on 800 miles.

 

[Scarlett]

Haven't read all the responses, but here's my tuppence worth anyway...

I'm just selling my Tiguan, and honestly it's been fantastic. I have the 140bhp 4wd, it does tow two and it's been the cheapest 4wd to run that I've ever owned. It's basically a jumped up Golf in size and costs, and is absolutely cheaper to run than the bigger 4wds. My mpg was 40+, tax £28 a month and it was cheap to insure.

I bought it because I needed something I could tow with that didn't cost the world and would be reliable and it did not let me down.

Great car too for dogs, feed shop runs and general carting stuff about!

You can pick nice ones up for well under 10k - mine is an older model and is for sale for under 3k.

Only selling mine as new job gives me a car allowance and dodgy knee really needs an auto so I've bought an old Jeep.

All cars cost money, but something being 4wd doesn't mean it doesn't have to be expensive to run.