towing car - price/expense increase vs a smaller car

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Sgathach

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Hi everyone,

I know there are lots of threads about which car is best for pulling etc...but to those only just making the jump to a bigger car, how much more expensive did you find it?
Ie, if you've been driving a corsa/fiesta or so, then decided instead of getting a lorry, to get a bigger car and trailer for transport, but your new bigger towing car is now your main car for work, shopping etc?
Are the big cars a lot more in fuel? insurances? repairs? did you cut corners and cycle to work now?
I am guessing they are a lot nicer to drive :)


Alernatively, did anyone buy a lorry and only insure it for when it is needed, adhoc insurance if that is possible?

Thank you
 
I have done this just recently. I used to have a very small car, it was elderly though so not as fuel efficient as it could have been. Now I've got a towing car, it's a diesel (hooray for shrinking diesel price :) ) and I'm finding it's costing me about £5 per week more in fuel than my old car did. My daily commute is 30 miles round trip so I don't think £5 extra pw is too bad.
The tax is about twice what I paid on the small car, insurance not very much more at all. It's cheaper than running a lorry and a small car, for me anyway.
Hope that helps.
 
Thank you, this helps a lot, even 10 quid extra a month - more trips walking to the shops etc could work.
Tax however will be a big one...insurance I'm glad to hear isn't all that much more...may be possible after all :)
Could I ask, did you go for a new(ish) big car or an older model?

Thank you :)
 
I did have a small new corsa and a 3.5T lorry. I was doing a long round trip every day to the yard, work and in reverse in the evening. I know live, work and have the horses within cycling distance so have sold the corsa and bought a towing car and trailer.
The corsa was £20 a year to tax, my new car is about £180 I think. The new car is £20 a month more to tax.
As I'm cycling I don't use a lot of fuel but if I drove it would probably be about the same as the mileage is so much lower but if I did the same miles it would likely be around £200 a month more than the corsa.
All in all, I find it works out better for me to have the one older big towing vehicle and cycle to work, than to have a new small car and older horsebox. It's only one vehicle to tax, insure and worry about repairs.
 
that's what I am thinking, I am driving a wee old yaris and he's cheap as chips....but he also makes noises and repairs may be due. You make a good point about repairs needed for 2 vehicles.
I won't use transport very often, yet hiring a 3.5t for a weekend is 200 alone...plus petrol...seems a lot. I was thinking of seeing if I could get a lorry and see for insurance that's only applicaple when you need it, ie insure for 3-4 days at a time, then it would just be tax to pay. But as you said...repairs and MOT.
£200 a month more in petrol/diesel sounds like quite a bit...plus the extra insurance. My yaris is old so I am on £120 a month tax.
Seems there's really no affordable way to have transport eh :/
 
You need to work out how many times you'll use transport. I was out four to five days a week in mine and it made sense to have a decent lorry and keep a cheap car running. If you're only going out once a month then hire a 3.5 tonner well in advance for one day only, that takes it down to £100 a month plus fuel. If you buy a 3.5 or a 7.5 tonner your insurance is going to be around £300, tax around £200, breakdown cover around £150, test with no work is a good £100 and you have all the responsibility and all the money invested in the vehicle. Ad hoc insurance works if you borrow someone else's vehicle very infrequently. Otherwise you have an expensive uninsured vehicle standing on your yard and the insurance is extremely expensive for what you get.
 
Insurance on the lorry isn't going to be the big expense, mines cheaper for my 7.5t than it is for my car! I would of thought you would spend far more than £25 a month if you try to insure just a few days at a time.

How many miles do you do a day or week? Extra fuel costs won't really be a problem if your mileage is very low. Car tax is the largest jump
 
I usually do between 200-250 every 8-9 days, maybe about 20 miles a day to calculate it carefully? that's to work and to the stables.
Someone mentioned to get a small 3.5t lorry and use it as everyday car too - I'm not sure about this.
I have some time before I've saved up to buy, but I like to know what is best to save up for.
Jemima, I wouldn't use it very often, maybe once or twice a month or so, more in the summer I guess.
 
My tow car is far more economical than my small old sports car. You just have to pick the right tow car, mine is a Sorento and excellent.
 
I was looking for a 3.5 tonne lorry & they were all so old for my budget & I was fussy about re-I forcement & break bar/back area partition. I wanted it safe.

So I took my trailer test & traded my small car with £30 pa road tax for a 4x4 & it is costing me more to run, in tax, MoT's, servicing and fuel but let's face it a lorry would be costing me the same. My at is a 12 reg & I could never have afforded a 12 lorry.

I've had to take my trailer test, put on a tow bar & I'm now looking for a trailer which should last me 10 years plus.

A lorry would be incredible but I've compromised & im pretty happy with my choice at the moment. I really wish transport was more affordable for us though, it's taken me years.
 
My yaris is amazing for fuel, 30pounds fills the tank for a good 250 miles or more. I'll keep Sorento in mind then :)
Miss Jessica, any rough idea how much more in fuel etc you are spending compared to before?
 
I've been browsing tow cars for a while to replace my much loved but elderly Terrano - one on my list turned out to be £505/year for tax, so look out for that at almost £10 a week. And late date Sorentos are like rocking horse poo, according to the main agent (and Autotrader) - if anyone on here is selling one let me know!
 
HAve a good think about what you are going to be transporting. I've just got rid of a Skoda Octavia which was happy and legally able to tow a single horse trailer. Sensible tax and up to 60mpg when not towing. I've swapped it for an ML270 and the fuel consumption is twice that of the Skoda :( It can of course tow a attle trailer with several big cows in though.
 
JillA said:
I've been browsing tow cars for a while to replace my much loved but elderly Terrano - one on my list turned out to be £505/year for tax, so look out for that at almost £10 a week. And late date Sorentos are like rocking horse poo, according to the main agent (and Autotrader) - if anyone on here is selling one let me know!
Click to expand...

You don't want a newer Sorento, they have limited towing capacity. Post 2010 their towing capacity went down to 2000kg for auto and 2500kg for manual. Before that, they're at least 2800kg and some like the Titan are 3500kg.
 
Thanks for that. Anyone have experience of the SsangYong Rexton? I saw one with a cattle trailer at our local mart the other day, that's usually a good sign.
 
At the moment mainly 1 cob and a 2 wheel cart, I am saving up for a 4 wheelrr though which are heavier and would quite like a towing option of being able to take a friend along to a venue (minus the cart then). So either 2 horses or horse and cart would be what I would ideally like to be able to transport.
Someone mentioned to me the Honda cvr or so are good for petrol too
 
I have just changed from a Fiat Punto 1.4 to a SsangYong Korando SE4 AWD. The Korando only tows 2T but i couldn't afford anything new which would tow two and i only have one horse, just means no friends :) Switching from Petrol to Diesel has been good too as the prices have changed and diesel is cheaper.

Old MPG - 44 av
New MPG - 47 average so far (29 when towing). Tows Ifor 510 and one large 16.3 with ease
Old car tax - £140
New car tax - £180
Insurance was about the same, and new one has 5 year unlimited warranty where as the punto was 5 years old and starting to go a bit wrong so service and maintenance running costs are less.

So far so good anyway in terms of costs.
 
Your mileage is quite low so fuel isn't a great jump in expense. Your current car costs 12p a mile based on the information provided, if new vehicle does 40mpg then it would only cost you 2p more a mile to run (based on £1.20 litre fuel cost) so 40p a day based on 20 miles.
 
that doesn't seem so bad looking at it that way.
Well, current plan is to:
a.) get trailer licence - no transport without licence
b.) get trailer - no point in bigger car before having a reason to have it - a friend can bring trailer home
c.) find best most economical affordable pulling car that will do our needs.
( d. - collect pension as I'll be old by the time I reach this!)

it's good to have a plan thought and I thank everyone for their help and information in terms of your experiences with costs involved :)
 
We tow with our Honda CRV, it's a great car, tax is approx. £205 and we're getting 44 mpg, it's a 2.2 diesel. But it's a 2000kg tow limit which is fine for us with one 14.2 (420kg) and IW 505 (925kg) and whilst I've seen them towing 2 large horses they must be close to the limit. We find it excellent for both towing and as our main day to day car but we are well below the towing limit. Also some CRV's have a 1500kg tow limit depending on engine/transmission/age.
 
Sgathach said:
Thank you, this helps a lot, even 10 quid extra a month - more trips walking to the shops etc could work.
Tax however will be a big one...insurance I'm glad to hear isn't all that much more...may be possible after all :)
Could I ask, did you go for a new(ish) big car or an older model?

Thank you :)
Click to expand...

I got an older model, the tax is less on those. Tax is about £250 pa, but the newer ones you can double it.
It's a Nissan, so parts will be readily available. I looked at the Rexton but the garage man advised against it.
 
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