Santa fe vs Ford mondeo TDCI - towing?

N

Nutty Chestnut

Member
Joined
22 August 2004
Messages
25
Location
England
Visit site
Hi All,

I am in the process of looking for a new car to tow my ned with I have got a cheval liberte 1003xl (660kg unladen) and the use of 401 ifor (approx 750kg unladen). Both the santa fe and the mondeo have the right tow rating for these fully loaded trailers. Also I only have 15.2 lightweight TB that is approx 500kg (at peak fattness)

I am just wondering what to do for the best and cost wise and thought Id ask the knowledgeable people on horse and hound forum.

What would you do? - get the ford mondeo that is front wheel drive but self balancing and 58 MPG cheaper maintence costs and a smoother ride on roads or santa fe which is a lower 38 MPG, expensive to maintain and more expensive allround to drive but offers 4wd? Is 4wd necessary? Does anyone tow with these vehicles how do you find them?


Dilemma :s your help would be much appreciated
 
Nutty Chestnut said:
Hi All,

I am in the process of looking for a new car to tow my ned with I have got a cheval liberte 1003xl (660kg unladen) and the use of 401 ifor (approx 750kg unladen). Both the santa fe and the mondeo have the right tow rating for these fully loaded trailers. Also I only have 15.2 lightweight TB that is approx 500kg (at peak fattness)

I am just wondering what to do for the best and cost wise and thought Id ask the knowledgeable people on horse and hound forum.

What would you do? - get the ford mondeo that is front wheel drive but self balancing and 58 MPG cheaper maintence costs and a smoother ride on roads or santa fe which is a lower 38 MPG, expensive to maintain and more expensive allround to drive but offers 4wd? Is 4wd necessary? Does anyone tow with these vehicles how do you find them?


Dilemma :s your help would be much appreciated
Click to expand...
Mondeo will be fine if you only tow on good roads, dont go on grass , and only need to reverse on the flat otherwise a 4x4 would be better....
 
Friend of mine used to tow several plus years ago with a Ford Sierra 4x4, she said it towed ok but she went through clutches on a regular basis. Basically I think they are fine for a caravan but not really made for towing horses so the clutch is not very heavy duty and burnt out due to the weight. Also not much guts going up hills especially if you have to stop on a hill
 
I'd go for the 4x4. Purely for the amount of shows I go to are in unlevel bumpy fields. I'd also have piece of mind that the 4x4 was 'up to it' rather than with the mondeo which may not cope in every situation.
 
I have the 2.7 v6 petrol automatic santa fe, a 15.2 tb and an ifor 505.

its awesome!! no tricky gear changes going up hill and has a locking type gear thing for going down steep hills so it can't run away with you.

lovely car, not to bad on fuel LOADS of space

4 wheels of awesomeness :)
 
I have a Mondeo Estate - it tows my Fautras (920kg unladen) withour any issues with my 2 ponies on board... as you mentioned it is self leveling and is great to drive on my daily commute too.

Cannot comment on the Santa Fe.
 
Thank you for your feedback its great to have some reasurrance :D I am going to see a mondeo estate tomorrow and a santa fe early part of next week to compare. Can't wait to finally get the neddy out and about.
 
I used to tow with my OH's Vauxhall Omega and it did the job ok on the road but wouldn't have coped with muddy fields so I had to be careful where I went. Even parking the empty trailer in a muddy area could be a challenge.
I now have a Santa Fe and it is so much better to tow with. I have the 2l tdi and use it as my everyday car. It doesn't cost silly amounts to run (for a 4x4 anyway) and during the snow last year I was very glad to have it!
Personally, I would go for the 4x4 if you can afford it.
 
We had a tdci mondeo estate to tow a bateson deauville and we had lots of trouble and didn't keep it long. We have a slight incline coming out of our drive and the tow bar would bottom out when the horses were in. Also my husband said the flywheels are prone to breaking down and filings end up going in to the starter motor, we had to replace ours for this apparently common problem. We now have a Nissan x trail which is great so i would go for a 4x4.
 
We also have a Santa Fe, 2.7 V6 petrol auto. Not had a problem with her yet (had her nearly 2 years, before us she pulled a caraven every weekend!) and she did have a hard time last winter in the snow as we had to drive her up and down a field to feed the sheep and horses. She pulls our old rice trailer with my cob x in no problem even up and down steep hills, on grass and on muddy/wet fields.

We once pulled our trailer empty with a Ford Foucs, there wasnt a problem towing it empty but if it had weighed anymore then there would have been as the Focus' tow bar is too low to pulled the nose of the trailer down slightly. Not sure how that effects the car you are looking at but i'd guess that most cars would have the same problem unless you have the tow bar put on higher up(?)
 
Santa fe every time. A friend has one, i believe its a 2.4 diesel. Its relatively low tax, and she has very good mpg on it. Spends about £30 a week in fuel (depending on fuel prices!),i do £20 a week in my 53mpg 207!
I was amazed by my disco! i did a day of towing helping a friend move yards and did 100 miles of towing! 60 of those with a 15.2 tb in! and only used £40 of fuel!
 
I tow a single with a ford mondeo no problems. It's got some guts at 2L and it's diesel and has no probs. I'm just careful not to park on grass if it's really wet.

However - it's a company car so I don't get a choice of what car I have but not sure I could justify a 4 x 4 as an everyday car.
 
I think you have to think about where you are going to go and how often before making a decision. I have towed with a non 4WD car and now have a Santa Fe. My car could manage the towing on normal roads, stone tracks ok but get on some slightly damp grass and I was stuck on more than one occasion. Santa Fe is a good option for normal use and towing, with variable and locking 4WD should you need extra grip. I have automatic version and as a previous poster said, you can use it in manual gears as well, which help with the hills and it never stalls when moving off.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top