'Best' towing and everyday vehicle <£5K

HiPo'sHuman

HiPo'sHuman

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Sorry guys, I know this has been done to death! After about a million cars breaking down on me, not even much of an exaggeration &#128542; I am on the lookout for something new. Budget is max £5000. I do a c.45 motorway trip 4 days p/week as well as lots of little journeys...think school run/back and forth to the yard etc. Fuel economy isn't going to be great but as good as possible!

Currently have a freelander which I HATE. What's an X5 like? I'd love another disco but my last one was so unreliable. However, it was a £1100 version whereas this time I can buy newer.

Must tow a minimum of 3T.

Thanks!!
 
Problem is that £5/- is still too little to buy reliability other than by luck. And you only get decent mpg by going for newer models, even that is doubtful if you need to to 3000kg.

My instinct might be to go for a £2000 or £3000 Disco and keep the balance as a repairs fund...
 
Nissan Terrano. Roughly £1k with a full MOT - the rest of your cash will pay for repairs, or a new one if the repair is too expensive. £5k is too cheap to be reliable, and too expensive to walk away from.

I've talked to too many AA men to risk a Disco.
 
Thanks, that's an interesting way to look at it!

I'm tempted to sell the trailer and get a cheap, economical run around but I think I'd really miss the spontaneity of being able to wake up and take the pony out. I don't even use it much so hiring a box at £50 a day would work out cheaper when you factor in maintenance costs of the trailer and the extra related costs of owning a 4x4!
 
I've got a Terrano. It was £2.5k. I had a Terrano before (4 years out of it) for £2.2k.

Actually I still have the old one, meaning to repair it just haven't got round to it yet!

I've never spent over £2.5k on a car and never had one last less than 4 years. I buy ones known to last well, with cheap to reasonable priced parts that are easy to repair. Current daily drive is a 14 yr old Focus with 120k on the clock.
 
Adore my Terrano and it's going like a trooper. I can't say it's good as a run around though- it's thirsty!
 
Thanks, I'll have a look at them

I've always had brand new but since a career change and going back to uni I've been forced to rein in my spending ;) I was spending £3600 a year on car finance so I'd be over the moon to get even two years out of a £2.5K car!
 
We currently have a small run around and an old disco that cost about £1500. We have spent money on repairs etc but it is a work horse and does a good job towing and fitting my great dane in. I did all the figures and even just using the disco once a week works out more economical to have a second car than run a 4x4 all the time. We looked at upgrading a truck but even spending £9000-£10000 you can't guarantee reliability... F-in-law owns a garage so I run everything past him. We are currently looking for a mitsubishi shogun sport to upgrade the disco to.
 
I've got an 03 kia Sorrento, Paid about £5k for it 6 years ago. Been a fab car, tows well (ifor 505 with 2 in it). Last mot had to spend about £500, but prior to that little more than servicing.
Had it chipped to help economy & get 33/35 mpg for longer runs without trailer.
If considering one, I think the tow capacity changed in 09, so don't look at newer than that.
 
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ROG said:
Ta - missed that bit

3 tonne is a lot !! ?? - Most double trailers are about 1 tonne and with 2 horses at 500 each would make a total of 2 tonnes
Click to expand...

some trailers like Equitreks weigh conciderably more than 1ton, thier lightest model is 1.2ton unladen, thier heaviest is nearly 2 ton unladen.

my 15.2hh small hunter is just shy of 600kg, he is not fat and that is a weight taken at the vets on a set of scales for an anasthetic.

for a 16.2hh horse I'd expect around 650 to 700kg allowance each. Then most people do not like towing up to the max of thier cars ability.
Also people dont always put horses in horse trailers, I've use mine for moving house, for cattle, sheep and even moving a forge round the country!
 
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I've got a Mitsubishi Shogun, it's an 04 plate, had it about a year and half now- paid around £4.5k for it, not had (KNOCKING WOOD) too many issues with it at all. It tows my 511 and my horse (recently weigh taped at 732kg) with no problems at all.
 
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