Talk to me about everyday cars for towing

[Joyous70]

It would seem that there are good and bad in every model, and you just have to buy the best you can afford. Maybe i need to get out and view some of the models mentioned and take them for a test drive to see if i like them, and maybe draw up a short list and go from there.

 

[HorsesRule2009]

Parkers car specs is a good site for checking capabilities

 

[Hormonal Filly]

I'm in my second Kia Sportage (made a mistake selling the first one!).

My friend has a newish Kia, its 2 months out of their 7 year warranty and the engine has just gone. Kia have refused to help because its out of warranty, it only has 60k on it... No engine (thats been serviced regularly) should go at that age and mileage! Crazy.

My day-to-day and local (up to 2 hours away) tow car is a LandRover Freelander. I can hear the groans already, but it works just fine for my needs. But I do live in the flat lands of east anglia.

Same here, FL2. I was told by 2 independent mechanics the FL2 was one of the best they made. I've done 45,000 miles in mine (2013 reg) in the last couple of years and touch wood not had a issue. I'm going to run it into the ground now, hopefully get a few more years yet.

 

[Ouch05]

Had a Santa Fe, Kia Sorento, Volvo D5 all great with no issues the Volvo was awesome, just changed to a F Pace (might live to regret it, but is gorgeous and tows like a dream)

 

[Annagain]

Barge and pole.. some probably are great but my friend has a newish Kia, its 2 months out of their 7 year warranty and the engine has just gone. Kia have refused to help because its out of warranty, it only has 60k on it... No engine (thats been serviced regularly) should go at that age and mileage! Crazy.


Same here, FL2. I was told by 2 independent mechanics the FL2 was one of the best they made. I've done 45,000 miles in mine (2013 reg) in the last couple of years and touch wood not had a issue. I'm going to run it into the ground now, hopefully get a few more years yet.

Yes, the very late FL2s (2015 onwards) are excellent cars. They got it just right and then stopped making it! Well, they sort of do but call it a Disco Sport and it's not as good!

 

[Birker2020]

I have a four door Insignia, its the cdti SE model and belonged to Dad so has little mileage for a diesel although its a 2010 plate. Recently its had £800 spent on it with DPF/turbo/intercooler issues so we are thinking that we might have to trade it in for something else but I'd really want the same make and model but a few years younger. We've been advised by the mechanic at the garage to buy a diesel for towing.

The car I have is 160bhp and does 44mpg towing (or used to). It has 1650KG towing capacity which I was well inside of by about 350kg, having a super light trailer and a single horse. You don't need to buy a 4 x 4 in order to tow, a family saloon is capable as long as you look at your weight limits accordingly. We have around £6K to spend on another car so we will replace it next year before it starts costing more money.

 

[Hormonal Filly]

e very late FL2s (2015 onwards) are excellent cars.

They stopped making the FL2 in 2015 I believe, then swapped to Disco Sports. Mine is a 2013. I think if I were to change I'd look into the XC60 or XC90.

 

[BACR]

I've got a 2018 Rexton and I really can't say enough to put you off it. I'd never buy one of these again ever in my life, the cost of repairs is astronomical, we're talking more expensive than a Range Rover, and let me tell you it's no Range Rover! It does tow well, I've had 2x 16.3 tbs in my 511 behind it and it's no bother at all but it's causing me all sorts of stress at the moment. It's only done 40k, it's got a 4x4 issue where it won't fully disengage from 4x4 (and the manual says don't drive in 4x4 on paved surfaces or tarmac because it will damage the drive train). It makes a horrible mental on metal grinding noise. It's been to 4 different garages, 2 won't work on it and the other two have given me quotes for £3,500 to fix. We know what's wrong, the 4x4 works of a vacuum and a seal has gone. But oh no, you can't fix the seal, you've got to put the whole bearing hub in there which costs £1,000, so for two of these and two actuators it's £2,800 just in parts! It's spent most of the last 6 months parked up and useless because of this. I'm currently looking for cheaper parts but they are hard to come by due to them being rare. I believe the older ones are better, but as far as I can tell the brand new ones have all sorts of electrical faults too. Sorry for the essay but just thought I'd put it here. Maybe mines a 'Friday car' but it's put me off for life. I don't expect premium price repair costs for what is essentially a budget car. I wish I'd bought a Hilux or a D max. This car has ruined all my plans for the year.

 

[Joyous70]

I've got a 2018 Rexton and I really can't say enough to put you off it. I'd never buy one of these again ever in my life, the cost of repairs is astronomical, we're talking more expensive than a Range Rover, and let me tell you it's no Range Rover! It does tow well, I've had 2x 16.3 tbs in my 511 behind it and it's no bother at all but it's causing me all sorts of stress at the moment. It's only done 40k, it's got a 4x4 issue where it won't fully disengage from 4x4 (and the manual says don't drive in 4x4 on paved surfaces or tarmac because it will damage the drive train). It makes a horrible mental on metal grinding noise. It's been to 4 different garages, 2 won't work on it and the other two have given me quotes for £3,500 to fix. We know what's wrong, the 4x4 works of a vacuum and a seal has gone. But oh no, you can't fix the seal, you've got to put the whole bearing hub in there which costs £1,000, so for two of these and two actuators it's £2,800 just in parts! It's spent most of the last 6 months parked up and useless because of this. I'm currently looking for cheaper parts but they are hard to come by due to them being rare. I believe the older ones are better, but as far as I can tell the brand new ones have all sorts of electrical faults too. Sorry for the essay but just thought I'd put it here. Maybe mines a 'Friday car' but it's put me off for life. I don't expect premium price repair costs for what is essentially a budget car. I wish I'd bought a Hilux or a D max. This car has ruined all my plans for the year.

Oh my days, I can only sympathise that your are having such an awful time with it, but this is the kind of information I was looking for. I do hope you can maybe get something done, and hopefully get out at some point this year

 

[Annagain]

They stopped making the FL2 in 2015 I believe, then swapped to Disco Sports. Mine is a 2013. I think if I were to change I'd look into the XC60 or XC90.

You can get up to 2016 plates.

 

[BACR]

Oh my days, I can only sympathise that your are having such an awful time with it, but this is the kind of information I was looking for. I do hope you can maybe get something done, and hopefully get out at some point this year

Thank you and glad I could help, just trying to make sure no-one falls into the same trap as me. I just didn't want to spend a ton of money on a car that's going to be towing in and out of fields, down little lanes etc. you know it's going to get a bit of cosmetic damage on it here and there so it doesn't make sense to spend a fortune. The frustrating bit about it is my brother is a mechanic, and could probably find a fix but I don't trust the car to get 6 hours over the other side of the country!

On the other hand, my brother did have a 2011 Tiguan, the one with the bigger towing capacity, that gave no trouble at all and was perfectly capable of towing one horse. One of those might be a good option to look at, I see other people have recommended them too. Hope you find something nice and reliable to get you out and about.

 

[GoldenWillow]

Have a look at Honda CRV, ours is an older diesel model which has 2t tow capacity but I'm fairly sure at least some of the newer ones have 2t as well. Ours is our second CRV, bought as we needed an everyday car which would also tow 1 horse about once a month. With our IW and horse we were at 1400kg so plenty of tow capacity spare.

 

[maisie06]

What about a Skoda Yeti/ Yeti Outdoor?

I have a Yeti and I wouldn't tow a horse with it....

 

[Nonjumper]

I've got a Kuga and love it, and judging by the numbers of them on the caravan site I was on last week, so do plenty of other people. Despite towing caravans, some big ones too, I'm not sure I'd use it to tow a horse trailer though. For me there are only two cars I'd ever buy for towing horses, the Range Rover and the Discovery. Never had anything that could tow one or two large horses without noticing like those did. Expensive to run though sadly.

 

[QueenT]

My car (Hyundai Santa Fe) is very old and tired, and needs to be upgraded, options are to get another Santa Fe, or look for something else. My trailer is an Ifor HB506, my mare is under 500kg. I need my tow car for everyday driving i do roughly 250 miles a week and tow 3 or 4 times a month.

I have considered the following

Mistubishi Outlander
Ssang Yong Rexton
Ford Kuga
another Santa
Edit to add also considered Kia Sorrento

Anyone tow with any of the above have any useful insights to share, which of the above are a good bet, or are there some i should steer clear of, expensive on parts etc? Unfortunately I don't have the budget for a proper 4x5

I just bought a Mazda CX-60 plug-in - works really well so far

 

[webble]

I have a Yeti and I wouldn't tow a horse with it....

Is it the 4x4 version? It says it has a tow capacity of 2t from memory

 

[Pen]

We have a diesel 4x4 Yeti and it has 2.1t towing capacity. Also its a great all round car.

 

[JoA]

Really sorry to hear that re the 2018 Rexton. Yeeks! I have the model prior to this - a March 2017 reg - and it now has 75,000 miles on the clock. I love it.....and have now just jinxed myself. The vacuum hub on the front needed doing before Christmas..and yes it cost me £800... but the mechanic said it was a great car to work on (far easier than LR) and if he was in the market for a good towing vehicle, he'd happily look at one. The only problem was the two week wait for the part. Nothing like the months my friends 2015 disco has spent in the garage or the repair costs.
Prior to this I had a Korando which at the time got a caravan tow car of the year award. It was the diesel version and I don't think they make that model any more, so you'd be looking at the older model.
So thumbs up for the older Rexton. It's a good solid tow vehicle and has great boot space for the dogs too.

As an aside I had a Freelander TD4 2003 reg for 11 years and clocked up 145,000 miles. Other than the spring on the folding rear seats going at around 100,000 miles, it never put a foot wrong. I was obviously v lucky. Sadly the rear diffs went and the air cond unit died and it was going to cost far more to repair than car was worth. Sad day when that went!

 

[OldNag]

I used to tow with a CR-V and really rated it, it was effortless. Very economical, too and great as an everyday car.

 

[dixie]

I've got a 2018 Rexton and I really can't say enough to put you off it. I'd never buy one of these again ever in my life, the cost of repairs is astronomical, we're talking more expensive than a Range Rover, and let me tell you it's no Range Rover! It does tow well, I've had 2x 16.3 tbs in my 511 behind it and it's no bother at all but it's causing me all sorts of stress at the moment. It's only done 40k, it's got a 4x4 issue where it won't fully disengage from 4x4 (and the manual says don't drive in 4x4 on paved surfaces or tarmac because it will damage the drive train). It makes a horrible mental on metal grinding noise. It's been to 4 different garages, 2 won't work on it and the other two have given me quotes for £3,500 to fix. We know what's wrong, the 4x4 works of a vacuum and a seal has gone. But oh no, you can't fix the seal, you've got to put the whole bearing hub in there which costs £1,000, so for two of these and two actuators it's £2,800 just in parts! It's spent most of the last 6 months parked up and useless because of this. I'm currently looking for cheaper parts but they are hard to come by due to them being rare. I believe the older ones are better, but as far as I can tell the brand new ones have all sorts of electrical faults too. Sorry for the essay but just thought I'd put it here. Maybe mines a 'Friday car' but it's put me off for life. I don't expect premium price repair costs for what is essentially a budget car. I wish I'd bought a Hilux or a D max. This car has ruined all my plans for the year.

Sounds awful and think you’ve got a right lemon there.
I’ve had a Rexton and now a Musso for the last 8yrs or so and not had any problems of significance.
My local Ssangyong dealer is excellent as well. I do a lot of miles every week as it’s my day to day car as well as a towing car.

 

[rabatsa]

I just bought a Mazda CX-60 plug-in - works really well so far

I have just bought a Mazda CX-60 mild hybrid diesel AWD. The Shogun is at auction with Motorway,co.uk right now. Only changed as we wanted to go automatic.

 

[CluelessShowjumper]

Completely throwing a spanner here…I have a Jeep Cherokee 2018 (the smaller one), it is brilliant to tow and has a capacity of 2500kg.

It’s not expensive to run and have never had an issue with it.
I get about 42mpg on a long distance drive not towing and 39mpg around town. Towing I get around 32mpg.

My dad had the Grand Cherokee and loves driving my small one.

 

[Squeak]

Completely throwing a spanner here…I have a Jeep Cherokee 2018 (the smaller one), it is brilliant to tow and has a capacity of 2500kg.

It’s not expensive to run and have never had an issue with it.
I get about 42mpg on a long distance drive not towing and 39mpg around town. Towing I get around 32mpg.

My dad had the Grand Cherokee and loves driving my small one.

Don't know how true it is but my friend who had a jeep said it was a nightmare because they could never get parts for it. It did seem to be constantly broken as well.

 

[BACR]

Sounds awful and think you’ve got a right lemon there.
I’ve had a Rexton and now a Musso for the last 8yrs or so and not had any problems of significance.
My local Ssangyong dealer is excellent as well. I do a lot of miles every week as it’s my day to day car as well as a towing car.

It is awful, I've eventually in my 40's got to the point where I could afford the horse, training, 4x4 and trailer and we've been grounded for the last 6 months. As it happens, last week it somehow worked its way out of 4x4 (no idea how that's happened randomly) and we can use it! The dealer over here is a con artist, I can't believe the costs. I'm waiting on another dealer to price up parts and some guy from a Facebook group who specialises in Ssangyong parts so we'll see if I can get it cheaper.
I bought it because I'd heard good things, as you say. In all fairness it does tow brilliantly when it's working. It tows the 511 with 2 16.3 tbs in there no bother. I wouldn't buy another one though, the dealership has done enough to put me off ever walking in there again so it'll probably be a Toyota or an Isuzu next.

 

[maisie06]

Is it the 4x4 version? It says it has a tow capacity of 2t from memory

Yes it is and pretty capable off road too, but for towing a horse it's just not beefy enough, probably get away with an emergency trip to the vets or a little local show but for full on towing horses it's a no for me.

 

[The Bay]

I wouldn’t touch a saangyoung with a barge pole unless you’re planning on keeping it until it owes you nothing! These cars depreciate at the speed of light, parts are expensive and the garage can never quite find what’s wrong with them.

 

[BACR]

I wouldn’t touch a saangyoung with a barge pole unless you’re planning on keeping it until it owes you nothing! These cars depreciate at the speed of light, parts are expensive and the garage can never quite find what’s wrong with them.

I'm with you on that after my experience. I was planning on keeping it for years but the cost of parts is just ridiculous. I've got a friend with a Range Rover sport SVR and parts are cheaper for that than the Rexton!

 

[meesha]

I'm now considering a new tow car. I love my automatic Mercedes glc220d and might have another but looking for other recommendations... I do 20k miles a year and tow couple of times a week. My Merc is approaching 100k and injector has just failed, apart from that it's been amazing, excellent mpg (50mpg not towing) and kind to tyres.

Hate buying cars ...

 

[djms123]

Hi all,
Such useful information!
Does a tow car need to be 4x4? Would a 2wd Tiguan with higher hp do the trick for trailer and horse weighing 1400kg?
I know it'd get stuck in a muddy field but so do most of the soft roaders too!
Thanks

 

[meesha]

I have been towing my 700kg horse in an ifor 505 with a mercedes GLC 220d for years. It's all wheel drive not 4x4 and I've never had a problem.

Gor for automatic