Do you have both a towing vehicle and a regular car?

[abbijay]

When I first started towing i had a company car so I had to buy an "extra" car just for that purpose, plus OH had a family sized car. Long story short it cost me an absolute fortune as it wasn't running regularly enough and stuff started breaking on it because when I did run it it had to work so flipping hard. We ended up switching to a large family car that could tow and a smaller more fuel efficient second car and saved ourselves a fortune. This is basically where we have stayed now; one smallish 4x4 (2.5t towing capacity) and a nice commuting car for OH. I'm fairly high mileage and it is still more economical than running a second beast car!

 

[Alibear]

My everday car is my tow car. Its a freelander so not too bad on diesel consumption and means I'm confident towing with it. It helps that work is about 6 miles from home with the yard half way so my daily mileage is low.

 

[Squeak]

I got a small run around when I was doing a lot of mileage and it will pay itself off in under 2 years. I was really worried about taking on another car but it has saved me a fortune. If the 4x4 hasn't done enough then I can choose to take it on a journey so it still gets enough use.

 

[maisie06]

I have 2 cars , a nice car and a dog car - dog car is a yeti and nice car is a sporty estate that doesn't get used enough really, I used to have a tow car but got rid when I gave up horses - It costs me less to run both of my cars than it does for my friend to run her disco!! I keep thinking about selling both and getting Kodiaq...

 

[atropa]

My partner and I have 4 cars between us...big towing car (3.5T capacity so not cheap to run day to day), his beloved convertible, and two small runarounds.
The diesel saving on my tow vehicle alone pays for all monthly running costs of my city bug, however we do tend to also use it most weekends for shopping trips or recycling trips, and if we are going on a staycation, so it does get good non-towing use as well.

 

[Annagain]

We had 4 vehicles at one point. OH's 'fast' car (he's a bit of a petrol head) his off roading (but road legal) Range Rover, our camper van and Wilf, my Defender. He's my everyday car and my tow car, although I work from home mostly (and only do a 12 mile round trip to work when I go to the office) so 8 miles a day to the yard and back is normally all I do. The fact it's not great on fuel isn't that big a deal as I do so few miles. We're down to 3 now as he sold both the RR and the fast car to fund a new Defender - his decision, nothing to do with me! I think the camper van will go soon too as we're just not using it that much. I'd gladly share his Defender and get something smaller / cheaper but he's both ridiculously protective over Bruce (his new Defender) and ridiculously attached to Wilf. I think we'd possibly be able to sell Wilf for more than we bought him brand new 10 years ago now, which is crazy but OH is adamant Wilf is with us for life.

I think in your place though (without a husband who is a Land Rover nut), I'd get a more economical tow car and, if necessary, a smaller trailer. If you're only towing one horse most estate cars or mid-sized SUVs will have a towing capacity that's plenty big enough.

ETA - I named them not him . He thinks I'm deranged for doing that. The camper van is called Felicity.

 

[Fransurrey]

I only own one, but have access to a multitude of vehicles, all used for different purposes. Towing wise we have the L200. Not the most powerful or efficient, but it does the job. I have a smaller truck as my 'ute', which I use when shopping for straw bales and large amounts of feed. That one is old (1992), so I make sure it has an outing at least once a week, as it has 4wd and is amazing in the snow/bad ice, once it's warmed up, that is!! Daily car is a fiesta - zero tax, but if you go for one of these (has to be before they got rid of zero tax on petrol vehicles), beware of the Ecoboost wet belt issue. The belt passes through the oil and breaks down over time, so if you don't overservice (change oil more than recommended) AND replace the belts, you risk the engine going bang.
We're lucky to have the space for all the vehicles (we also have vans and tippers as part of the fleet), but I don't think your idea is daft at all as long as you make sure you give the towing vehicle a proper run at least once a week.

 

[Toby_Zaphod]

Over the years I've had a Discovery & a long wheelbase Pajero, the best of which was the Pajero. It was a 3.5 litre turbo diesel, fantastic towing vehicle but it drank fuel like no tomorrow. In the end I sold my trailer and my Pajero & bought a Fiesta Ecco & a 7.5 ton MAN LE180. Obviously I had extra insurance to pay plus excise license for the lorry and maybe some mechanics on the lorry occasionally but to be honest I saved a lot by not having to buy diesel for the Pajero. The lorry had better MPG than the Pajero and I now had an economic vehicle in the Fiesta which I used for normal use. I ran the MAN for about 6 years & when I sold it I received £1000 more for it than I paid. I miss not having the lorry, it was a very powerful, had cruise control & had a load capacity of 2.2 tons so carrying 2 horses was easy & in fact could have carried 3 horses legally & not many 7.5 ton lorries can do that. I sold it because my horses have been retired from competing, 25 years & 21 years. If I need to take them to a vet I have access to other lorries on our yard or a horse transport company just down the road.