Best reasonably priced 4x4 for towing

[H.K.D]

Hi,

I potentially need to get a 4x4 and trailer. I do not currently own a car and sold my 3.5 tonne horsebox a year ago due to horses going on loan.

I do not want or have a huge budget, and I am 21 years so insurance might be sky high for some.

I would love a landrover but not sure on prices and insurance costs plus I will be using it as my sole car!

Diesel or Petrol, I think Diesel?

So what would you recommend to tow two 14.3hh polo ponies, 450kg each roughly in probably an ifor williams. My mother will tow until I take my test for trailer. Also am I able to drive with her in with me, or have the grandfather rules been scrapped?

Many thanks any info much appreciated, makes, models, age, insurance companies and prices.

 

[Ladylina83]

I made the step recently and bit the bullet with a Disco - I looked into loads of other stuff but it is a mine field of infor re tow weights etc and I didn't want to take any risks

I honestly love it costs about £55 a month on insurance and I put about £50 diesel in it each week - the fuel economy iis about the same as my old golf auto petrol

 

[H.K.D]

The disco is the one I am most keen on,

What year is yours and if you would not mind me asking, can you post or pm me what you paid for it?

Thanks for the feedback, who do you insure with?

 

[tango'smum]

i have a diahatsu fourtrak, i spend about £20 a week on diesal... disco's arnt that great, rot and no end of engine problems.. my fourtrak is 23 yrs old and gone straight through every mot.. never been welded..engine is sound...been a great truck in the snow, lost count of the amount of landrovers i have pulled out...mate turned his disco over in the snow, i offroad mine too...

 

[dixie]

Its down to personal choice as well.

I hate Fourtracks, they are very agricultural and are rust buckets, although of course there are exceptions - as post above !

I've had a few Nissan Terrano's which have all been great, although a couple did leak. Fuel not too bad at around 30mpg I think.

I've now got a Jeep Grand Cherokee 3.1 TD that I picked up for £2500 on a Y plate and its fab. Its an automatic as well, so very easy to drive and all leather interior giving a very luxurious feel. It does around 28mpg on a run but lower towing.

My mothers Isuzu is a great towing vehicle as well and very good in the snow and ice.

I didn't like the Disco's to drive but I believe they are quite good on fuel and tow very well. But as I say its down to personal preference and how far you need to drive every day etc.

 

[posie_honey]

i like my ssangyong rexton - great for towing and good high tow capacity

 

[Ladylina83]

The disco is the one I am most keen on,

What year is yours and if you would not mind me asking, can you post or pm me what you paid for it?

Thanks for the feedback, who do you insure with?

Admiral - we have a multi car policy

It is an N reg 2.5L ES model which has more mod cons than I have ever had in my life and leather seats plus had had new panels on the bits that go rather than just being welded. FYI the rust bits are boot floor and back arches I paid £1200 for it - BF has put a new more economical air filter and exhaust system on and got budget tyres all round for £380 fitted - It was the 1st one we went to look at and only went to see if we liked it as a style etc ! ! I think we were just lucky though - anything else we have seen like it is about £1850 ish. You want an older one as the tax is cheaper. It does tow like a dream, I've got an Ifor 510.

ETA the Izuzu was next on the list if we hadn't jumped in feet first !

 

[polo_han]

Hiya, I am 24 and have an R Reg Landrover Discovery which costs me £65 per month on insurance (including breakdown cover), and I spend approx £40 p/week on diesel. It cost me £2250 two years ago and it has towed 2 X 15hh polo ponies nearly every weekend over the last two seasons with a fairly new Ifor Williams trailer. Tax is £118 every 6 months...

 

[ROG]

If anyone on this thread is concerned with any towing licence rules or if they can legally tow a particular weight with the vehicle they have then please feel free to click the link in my signature

 

[alcraw]

I'd second a Jeep Grand Cherokee. Really reasonable secondhand, you get a lot of car for your money and they're fab for towing.

I bought mine in May on an 02 plate with 50k on the clock - £5,000. It's a 2.7 diesel, does 33mpg, leather seats, automatic, air con.. love it!

 

[Alfiem]

If you want cheap and reliable go for a fourtrack - if you can get one - or an Izusu trooper, 3.1 diesel, not the 3.0ltr as they had a few major problems. Most landrovers I looked at were rustbuckets and I'm sorry but I would never, ever buy another british built car again. I'd avoid Nissans too, they are gutless wonders for towing and rustbuckets too!! Shoguns are a decent car if you can afford the insurance.

 

[sywell]

Second hand shogun any time. I am on my second now had a 2.8 Turbo bought on Ebay for 2500 did 50,000 miles in it over 4 years and it never went wrong.

 

[xDENISEx]

I made that step about a year ago, the best for me is a ford ranger truck, insurance isn't high (iam 25 and have a bad track record with insurance company, wrote off car and have points)

I do about £50 a week diesel, cost £125 a year to tax (whereas a big disco will costs lots!!) The service cost are cheap and easy to repair, whereas the bigger 4x4 and disco's service rates are mentally high!!! I really wanted a disco but after looking at all costs i opted for the ford ranger truck!!! The best thing about it is i put all my feed/hay/woodchips in the back and doesn't mess up the inside of my car lol x

 

[georgiegirl]

I used to have a landrover and have to say NEVER again. I spent more time sat on the hard shoulder waiting for the AA than towing - spent thousands on the bloody thing.

I went for an older mitubishi pajero/shogun automatic. So easy to tow with the automatic I would never go back to a manual car again for towing. Mine was 16 years old and in the years I owned it I never had to spend a penny on it, it was fab. Shame as Ive just recently sold it to a farmer who loves it too.

Diahatsu fourtraks are also of a similar type. Not fancy and full of mod cons but real workhorses and the engines are bombproof. Similar with nissan terranos too which are also great towing cars.

If you get something older remember you will have less road tax to pay and as my mechanic puts it 'the older basic diesel engines are the best compared to these new fancy ones. The old ones you can fix with a hammer!'

 

[xDENISEx]

See my truck is on a 57 plate (Ford Ranger that i mentioned in earlier post) at 2.5 liter and only costs £125 a year to tax, x

 

[Toffee44]

My OH has a N reg Disco, does us very well. Tows beautifully. And not just horses, it also towed a steam engine chassis with not problem and pulled a fowler living van out of a hedge for us And towed the fordson back to the yard when it met its end Have been on holiday with it a couple of times as well.

 

[Daytona]

KIA Sorento has been voted best towing vehicle by various horse magazines..!! Loads of people I know have them and all rate them highly. Cheap to buy, cheap to run and reliable as he'll

 

[scribble]

isuzu trooper all the way. we have a SWB W reg one done 90K now and i love it. It is the 3 litre version and we had isuzu put new injectors in it free of charge as soon as we brought it last year as this was the issue with them. It tows my new ifor lovely with 2 big horses in it. good in snow. citation model is good as has heated seats etc.

 

[TequilaMist]

KIA Sorento has been voted best towing vehicle by various horse magazines..!! Loads of people I know have them and all rate them highly. Cheap to buy, cheap to run and reliable as he'll

Yes thats what we have.OH really wants a land cruiser but will have to wait til lottery ticket comes in for that.
But after looking/researching he decided the sorento was the best one. We have an automatic which is great esp for me as hate towing so one less thing to worry about.Its not to bad on fuel either £45 per week.

 

[Llanali]

Firstly look on ROGs post for towing legality. Secondly please be aware if you buy a auto and take ur test in it, you will thn only be legal to tow in an auto.

I am 23 and my oh and I but the bullet with a 2.8 td shogun, lwb. I adore it- ours is a glx n reg and has electric windows etc. pajeros are the import version of a shOgun, but although they are higher spec. And comfort insurance will rocket.

Diesel wise isn't too awful, tows a dream, and tax I fine as it is older and less than 3 l engine.

 

[CAH7]

I have an 04 diesel Kia Sorento, which I was a bit dubious about initially TBH! But, it is a fab towing vehicle - I have towed with (admittedly older & very noisy) Isuzu Troopers and Ford Mavericks, and with the Sorento you hardly know you're towing. I have a IW 510 and a big 16.2hh, so I am v impressed, and I am spending less money running it too! I am yet to service it of course, but fingers crossed...! Best of luck with your search.

 

[kiteman0]

I brought a sorento along with a trailer a few months ago and I love it. It has all the comfort and a good towing capacity.

 

[ROG]

I brought a sorento along with a trailer a few months ago and I love it. It has all the comfort and a good towing capacity.

Sorento 4X4
http://www.getcarspecs.com/kia/2008-kia-sorento-ex-4x4
Weight:1285 kg (UNLADEN)
Maximum weigth with load:1946 kg (GVW)
Towing weight:2268 kg

Plenty of trailers around with these specs -
UNLADEN under 800
MAM of 1600 which could be downplated to 1500 therefore allowing a load weight of around 700 which is plenty for a good sized horse + bits and bobs

ALL LEGAL ON A B LICENCE

 

[dornrose]

Oh the sorrento I looked at had a towing weight of 2800kgs was thinking about looking into one as my next tow car at the moment I use a ford maverick and find it brilliant.

 

[Kat]

Word of warning on the KIA Sorento.

We bought one having read all the glowing reviews and seen the best tow car awards.

We got one on a 55 plate, less than six years old. Within two weeks of buying it we were told it had a dangerous fault with the drive shaft. It would have cost almost as much to put it right as we paid for the car! Had the drive shaft failed it would have written the car off and could have caused a serious accident.

When we looked up the problem it transpired that there is a known issue with the drive shaft and several owners are in dispute with KIA.

Luckily ours was under warranty so we sent it back and got a refund.

Thank god we found out before we tried towing with it!

 

[kiteman0]

The issue with the drive shaft has been slighted on mine with all the receipts to back it up. Mine is a 54 plate and it has a 2800 kg towing weight not 2268 as ROG has said.

 

[ROG]

The issue with the drive shaft has been slighted on mine with all the receipts to back it up. Mine is a 54 plate and it has a 2800 kg towing weight not 2268 as ROG has said.

I got that from an internet site and they are not always correct
Info from a handbook, V5 or the plates in the vehicle are usually spot on

 

[kiteman0]

You did say a 08 so that's why the figures might be different. Any way certainly a good vehicle for towing

 

[assuan]

Shogun or Pajero

As Llanali said, the Pajero is the import version of the Shogun and is of a higher build quality and specification, also has higher towing capactiy, however, the comments with regards the insurance rocketing is untrue; many insurance companies now do not add risk for that fact that it's an import model. I done various quotes for comparable Shoguns and Pajeros, all quote were like for like, no increase for the imported version.

Been in very very muddy fields several times over the years, sat back and watched as disco after disco, cherokee after cherokee, etc etc got stuck and couldn't move. The Izuzu Trooper hardly ever got stuck, if they did it was usually and under skilled driver...... so what happened to all these stuck 4x4's, the Shogun/Pajero owners pulled them out!!!!

Enough said I believe lol

If you go for a Pajero, you can grab a bargin on ebay, don't be put of by high millage, quite often on the imports that face has been changed to MPH but the milometre is still KM's, and people don't post it as such. Mine currently has 200,000 KM on it, going strong and flew through it's MOT yesterday. This kind of millage is still running the engine in!

 

[little_critter]

I have a Landrover Defender 110 which tows really well - however don't expect any luxuries! OH said it's best to buy the ones with the fewest gadgets as there's less to go wrong!
Diesel is fairly pricey and I haven't the foggiest about insurance (leave all that to my man!)
BUT - I like it, it's sturdy, it tows well and I don't feel bad about getting mud all over the inside of it!
We do have a small car we use for longer journeys to try and keep fuel costs down.