Better to spend 8k on a tow vehicle or 3k??

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billylula

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I could theoretically afford to by a Kia Sorento for about 8k. Pros: comfortable, reliable, would be happy driving around as a mum vehicle as well as a tow car. Cons: expensive! will have almost no money left OR I could buy an Isuzu trooper for about 2k. Pros: cheap! will tow well, I'll have some money left for a trailer and eventually a new horse for my daughter as she will need one next year. Cons: will have about 111 thousand miles on the clock, probably very unreliable, will be nervous every time I drive it

I have no idea what to do. What would you do??
 
Ony 111000 miles on the clock? Assuming it's a diesel that's not high mileage. I'm currently running three diesel engined cars each with more than 150K on and a landrover with 186K on. The unreliability will be down to how it has been maintained, just the same as for the Kia. Check up the vehicles' paperwork to see the bills and service history, if there is any.
 
Why not get a tow vehicle for 6k and a trailer for 1k and the 1k towards pony? x Im sure theres plenty about for 6k or did you particilarly want the Kia? x
 
The Kia seems a good bet - tows well and recommended by lots of towers.

I really want a Defender but boy are they expensive!
 
The amount you decide to spend is immaterial if the vehicle is well maintained and reliable. If you think that the cheaper car is likely to be unreliable I wouldn't buy it at all. Imagine if it decided to break down while you were towing your horse about, nightmare! I would be a nervous wreck, even with all the breakdown cover. Also the amount you would save initially might well be spent on repairs in the long run. You can get the AA/RAC to look over a car that you are thinking of buying if you are a member. If you are unsure then I would go for that.

FWIW I have a Kia Sorrento and it is a fabulous vehicle to tow with, I'm very pleased with it.
 
Agree with DOD, 111,000 is low miles for an older 4x4 and Troopers are very reliable vehicles, particularly those with the 3.1 engine (as opposed to the 3L). Personally, I'd rather have an older Land Rover, Trooper or Fourtrak than new kia.
 
Don't think I'd buy either...... I had a horror with a Kia Sorrento (with an issue which is common to Sorrentos), and a lady on my yard is having major issues with a trooper....

I ended up saving a bit longer and getting something of a reliable make that was a bit newer.

Old tow vehicles are a bit of a nightmare. I ended up getting something without a tow bar, the cost of having one fitted was small, I have peice of mind that it was done properly and that the vehicle hasn't been used for heavy towing in the past.

I also bought a commercial vehicle as it has lower tax. If you look outside the box a bit at vehicles that aren't so popular for horsebox and caravan towing you might get a better deal.

Buy from a dealer that offers a warranty and get the car checked before the warranty expires and before you buy search the internet for known faults and go on the owners club forum. We realised that a mitsubishi we looked at was a complete lemon by searching the forums for common faults and things to avoid. Found a really useful article which listed faults and features which are nothing to worry about and those to steer well clear of.
 
billylula said:
The Kia seems a good bet - tows well and recommended by lots of towers.
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Our Kia was sent back to the dealer, it needed so much work doing it would have cost as much to get it right as it did to buy, it has since been sold through an auction by the dealer, without the work being done. :eek:

While looking for something else we explained the problem to a very knowledgeable guy at the Jeep dealer and he told us that the "best tow car" award is assessed purely on new cars, no consideration is given to how they stand up to prolonged use or to problems which arise when they get older.

I dread to think what would have happened if we had not discovered the fault with ours before we towed with it. We were very lucky.
 
I can't save any longer - dd and dpony are getting bored! Must get transport sorted this summer. I suppose the best thing to do is test drive stuff *bored*

Shame my OH is utterly uninterested in tow cars as this is so one I'd like to hand over to someone else :D
 
And do shedloads of research.

Have you considered an old toyota? Might cost the same as the Kia and be as old as the trooper but they have a terrific reputation for reliability, you might get an ex-fleet hilux for £8k, landcruisers are pretty hard to find but are worth looking out for. A mitsubishi shogun or L200 would be worth a look too. Or a really ancient Landrover Defender, they hold their value brilliantly and as they are basic there isn't much to go wrong and if they do they can be fixed relatively easily.

We bought a Nissan, but for your budget you'd be looking at the older engine which had reliability issues.
 
Kias have got a lot better of late according to my hubby who is a mechanic.

As everyone has said, 110k miles on a diesel is nothing. Our discovery has done 170k and goes superbly.

I would go for an older, well maintained better one than a newer cheap car. You ought to be able to get a good discovery for about £4k.
 
Daihatsu Fourtraks aren't made any more and the secondhand ones are rare. They do have a known problem with the gearbox linkage (trust me I had one and I know how expensive it was) Secondhand gearboxes are a risky option and new ones unavailable. I tried everything to get mine repaired as it was a fab vehicle but it wasn't possible to do it. Please don't consider one, it could be a very costly mistake. It is a great shame that they stopped making them and that the gearbox problem wasn't sorted as they were a real workhorse. Mine went anywhere and did all sorts of jobs for us. I was so sad to lose it.

I only went for the Kia as it was available at the time and came from a reliable main dealer but have no regrets at all for having it.

I would go to a main dealer frankly, they have a reputation to maintain, you might pay a bit more but the follow up is excellent and they don't tend to switch the phone off if things go wrong.
 
Honey08 said:
Kias have got a lot better of late according to my hubby who is a mechanic.
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Trouble is that the newer models have a lower towing capacity. The one that people like for towing because it can tow about 3t is the one we had trouble with and it turned out to be a common fault with the driveshaft and the universal joint.
 
It depends on whether its going to be your every day vehicle also. If you are just buying for the purposes of pulling a box, I would go for the trooper as long as its the 3.1 engine and it will be as reliable as any of the newer ones and hold onto your money. You can always change it next year if you prefer and you wont have lost(if any) money compared to a higher value one.
 
Have you discounted THIS IDEA for the Nissan Xtrail ?

Are you still restricted for towing by only having a B licence or are you going to fork out for the B+E?
 
Depends if you've got a pet mechanic or not. I bought an older Shogun for towing and it's super, though it needed a new brake caliper and pads all round for my peace of mind. I don't use it as an everyday vehicle as it's far too thirsty but parts are cheap, it'd pull a house down and I had some left over for a trailer.
 
Thank you. I think I am tempted to go for the trooper - its the 3.1, has had 2 owners, 100,000miles, diesel auto. And I can get it for 1500. Yikes! I don't want it as a main car as I have a current non 4 x 4 car that does good mph for work and school run.
 
Looking carefully at your possible dilemma I suggest this -

Get a vehicle and double horse trailer that will comply to B licence towing
that would mean downplating the trailer at little or no cost so it can take just your current horse

I'll use this set up as an example

Nissan Xtrail 4X4 perhaps at around £5K
Unladen/kerb = 1515
GVW = 2050
Towing = 2000
Max trailer plated MAM = 1450 kgs

Then get something like

IFOR HB505 double horse trailer - not good on trailer prices but around £3K ??
unladen 905
MAM 2340 but downplate it to 1450
That leaves a load/horse capacity of 545 kgs

After saving up for a bit longer take & pass the B+E test, get second horse, and then up-plate the trailer back to its original 2340
This will then allow for a load capacity of 1095 due to the 2000 towing capacity limit of the Xtrail but should be fine for what you need it for


Hows that for an idea?
 
That is a very good idea :)

I had discounted xtrails as I had heard bad things - my OH would be delighted if I did get one as he told me to get one in the first place ;)

How do you get a trailer downplated? I am going to fork out for the b and e but you are right, if I can get a B rig set up at least I can drive my daughter and pony around during the summer.
 
billylula said:
That is a very good idea :)

I had discounted xtrails as I had heard bad things - my OH would be delighted if I did get one as he told me to get one in the first place ;)

How do you get a trailer downplated? I am going to fork out for the b and e but you are right, if I can get a B rig set up at least I can drive my daughter and pony around during the summer.
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To downplate a trailer simply call the manufacturer of that trailer and they will arrange for you to go to their nearest dealer and have it done for free or very little cost - same for replating it back up again

I think someone was recently charged £25 for this -WOW!!

PS - most reports on here and other sites have rated the Xtrail as great!!
 
If the choice is trooper-and-trailer or kia-and-not-trailer, then I'd opt for trooper.

111,000m is nothng on a low-revving diesel like a trooper. Run it for 3 yrs, then buy another one.

My first Fourtrak was an old one, 2k, very reliable, 120k on the clock when I bought it. Only sold it 2 years on because the opportunity came up to buy a much newer Fourtrak with 45,000 on the clock for 7k (which is now an old Fourtrak, being 1999 reg!).
 
This is all personal opinion really, I have just sold a jeep grand cherokee which I have had for 6 years towed my horse all over the place with no issues at all and bought a Kia sorento!!
I wouldn't have a fourtrak I hate them.
I had my trailer downrated at no cost- the garage just did it for me and then when I got a bigger vehicle no charge to change it back. That was the Ifor Williams main dealer.
Having said all this I always make sure my vehicles are regularly serviced and the trailer as well and have recovery -just in case.
 
Agree with the above poster on preference and reliability- it is all pretty unique to the car and if you look hard enough you will find someone who hates every car on the planet!

We have had a Jeep which was horrendous at towing, a Mitzi Shogun Warrior which we thought was good at towing (until we got the next car!) but very thirsty and had quite a few niggly things go wrong with it.

We now have a Kia and it is superb- pulls MUCH better than the Shogun, even with my 18hh middleweight in the back.
More comfortable cruising down the motorway and so much better up hills.

I wasn't sure about swapping before we got the Kia as thought the Shogun was great but to be honest, the Kia has blown it out of the water :)
 
If it helps then i have a 2000 yr W reg trooper i paid 3K for 18 months ago it is a 3litre DOHC short wheel base and it had full isuzu service history, had been a mums car and so not heavy use for towing or off road is a citation so comfy and top spec lots of stuff on it and it had 85,000 on the clock. We had to go to doncaster from norfolk for it as good low mileage troopers are like gold dust. i got a new Ifor 506 and it tows that empty like it is not there (did 60 accelerating up hill with it this morning), gets you out of any snow, mud etc you dont need to put it in 4wheel drive much and i have never had to use low ratio as 4 wheel drive just moves anything- you can really feel it. With my 16.3 warmblood in it and friends 17hand ISH yes you knew you had them in the back but it still towed very well and did 50-60 cruising. The only thing with the 3littres is make sure the injectors have been changed and Isuzu will check this and change them free of charge. mine went straight to isuzu for a check once we had it home and it had old ones in so they changed them free. also keep oil changes on time and use 5w30 fully synthetic. dont use cheap oils or car oils.
 
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