please recommend a towing vehicle..

tiggipop

tiggipop

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i have a 12 year old discovery 2 td5 that last week died. unfortunately it is terminal and needs new engine / turbo so need to find another vehicle.

requirements - needs to be able to tow ifor williams hb510r trailer and a single large horse .. (17.1hh friesian / 17.2hh warmblood)

have seen 7 year old bmw x5 3 litre diesel V6 at "the right price" but not seen many towing horses.. any ideas if any good?

any other recommendations or Stay aways will be greatly appreciated. thankyou

oh nearly forgot - budget is an absolute max of £10k
 
HB510 is 1000 kgs empty and horse probably around 600 kgs? so a vehicle with a towing capacity of at least 1800 kgs would be preferable in case of a few extra bits in the trailer

Any vehicle with that towing capacity should be fine but if not a 4x4 then you will need to tow on hard ground
 
I tow with a BMW X5 3.0 d and love it.

It is a smooth car to drive with and without the trailer and has plenty of 'grunt'. I tow with a Bateson Ascot trailer which is a bit lighter than the ifor and with a 16.2hh middleweight ISH so plenty of weight in there. Have had 2 horses in there and no prob with towing.

Been told the engines in the diesel should last a while. Mine has 95,000 miles on the clock and still fine....although had to do some repairs generally to the car in the past year or so but nothing major.

We were also considering the VW Toureg as I think this has a slightly higher towing capacity.

Only downside is that the BMW isnt great on ice or mud. There is no low gear options like the Disco but i dont do much driving in really bad conditions that would warrant needing it.

Hope thats helped!
 
If I had that budget I'd look at the vw tourage-if you go for the sport it's a ton of extras! I loved my partners but unfortunately he has traveling a lot more for work so sold it to get a car.
Look at the jeep range too they are lovely I've got a 56 plate cherokee which I'm very surprised at.
 
I have a very similar set up (HB510 with 16.3hh warmblood on board) which I tow with a Mitsubishi Shogun 3.2 litre diesel automatic and couldn't be happier with it. Mine is a 55 plate which I picked up for £10k from my local Mitsubishi dealer.
 
I agree with the shogun, also I have a Nissan Pathfinder, tows 3t has low and high 4WD and 2WD options. Loads of extras on mine but not sure what date they were all added. I get about 35mpg on the diesel manual (less towing or if going stupid fast on m/way) I tow a horse and pony and don't even know they're there.
 
I have a Freelander 2, 2008 2.2 and this is perfect for the job. I paid £10k for mine. I pull an Ifor 505 with my 15.2 tb and it pulls like a dream.
 
thanks for your replies..

chap brought the x5 over for me to have a drive in yesterday.. seemed lovely car and plenty of oomph! it does not have a tow bar on it (at present) so could not hitch trailer up and go for a proper test !

am just going to try and work out weights etc to make sure I am not breaking any laws and that it will be safe for the horses
 
tiggipop said:
have seen 7 year old bmw x5 3 litre diesel V6 at "the right price" but not seen many towing horses.. any ideas if any good?

any other recommendations or Stay aways will be greatly appreciated. thankyou

oh nearly forgot - budget is an absolute max of £10k
Click to expand...

If you don't mind getting stuck on wet grass the BMW will suit!! I personally wouldn't touch one with a barge pole for towing horses. Very, Very expensive to repair too. I would look for a Toyota Landcruiser or Mitsubishi shogun, or even a newer Disco you should find plenty in a 10k price bracket.
 
The parkers website has a good section for checking the towing allowances of many vehicles. Also if you search there was a great thread on here before with loads of help. I tow a 511 with a santa fe and have 2300 towing weight; worth checking the exact vehicle as each model can have a different allowance.
 
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