Towing car under £20k

007Equestrian

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In the market for a towing car - of course open to second hand with my budget! Is there anything you’d recommend under £20k? I’m not very handy (read: completely useless) so probably couldn’t be trusted with something older that needs a lot of maintenance. “That’s impossible” is a valid answer too 😂

Towing one large (700kg) horse with an ifor Williams trailer.
 
Is it only for towing or do you need it for every day too?
I have an X3 which tows one horse great and is good on diesel day to day
Maintenance isn't cheap but if you do it right they are very reliable and also very nice and comfortable to drive.
 
I was going to say the Ssangyong Rexton as well. You can get them cheaper than other brands since most people don’t know the name Ssangyong, but they’re really reliable and you get a lot of car for your money! Can easily pick one up for around £10k with decent mileage and less than 8 years old.
 
Is it only for towing or do you need it for every day too?
I have an X3 which tows one horse great and is good on diesel day to day
Maintenance isn't cheap but if you do it right they are very reliable and also very nice and comfortable to drive.

This is my dilemma, trying to figure out if it’s better to stick with my normal car and try to find a 3.5 ton for the 20k mark or upgrade the car and accept the higher fuel/running costs 🤔
 
Is it only for towing or do you need it for every day too?
I have an X3 which tows one horse great and is good on diesel day to day
Maintenance isn't cheap but if you do it right they are very reliable and also very nice and comfortable to drive.
We were looking at the x-drives - what weight combined are you towing your x3? How do you find it to tow?
We currently have a defender and just don’t need the hassles that come with them. Plus we don’t need to haul 3 tonnes around anymore.
 
I've just bought myself a 2015 Tiguan to start towing (a pony, not 700kg!), some models can do 2.5t and you can get a nice spec and not very old for 20k. My budget was half that but I'm still very pleased with the car and so far it's doing similar mileage to the 2010 fiesta which is mind-boggling. Haven't actually towed with it yet tho!

I have three friends with Discoveries that are never out of the garage so they did not make my shortlist. If I'd had an extra 10k to play with I would have looked at the Audi Q7 or a Volvo XC60. I was coming from the opposite direction from you on age though, an older car sometimes has fewer bells and whistles to go wrong. I'm already looking at my electric parking brake and wondering how much that will cost to fix if it goes 😂
 
I've just bought myself a 2015 Tiguan to start towing (a pony, not 700kg!), some models can do 2.5t and you can get a nice spec and not very old for 20k. My budget was half that but I'm still very pleased with the car and so far it's doing similar mileage to the 2010 fiesta which is mind-boggling. Haven't actually towed with it yet tho!

I have three friends with Discoveries that are never out of the garage so they did not make my shortlist. If I'd had an extra 10k to play with I would have looked at the Audi Q7 or a Volvo XC60. I was coming from the opposite direction from you on age though, an older car sometimes has fewer bells and whistles to go wrong. I'm already looking at my electric parking brake and wondering how much that will cost to fix if it goes 😂

This is what I’m worried about too haha! Part of me misses being able to physically pull a handbrake to check it’s definitely on lol

I’m tempted by an Audi Q5, a bit over budget but…
 
This is what I’m worried about too haha! Part of me misses being able to physically pull a handbrake to check it’s definitely on lol

I’m tempted by an Audi Q5, a bit over budget but…
Once you start test driving it will narrow you down. I sat in a couple that were bang-on on paper and viscerally hated them 😂

I had a spreadsheet going with towing capacity, average stated fuel consumption, insurance group (!!!) and then knocked ones off as I sat in them till I had it narrowed down to the Tiguan which is what I wanted in the first place, but at least I'd done due diligence! If you sit in the Q5 and love it.. well whoops, sell some saddle pads 😂
 
Hilux, bulletproof mechanically and just brilliant cars.
I towed with a Tiguan (650kg horse and ifor) and had no complaints at all.
Do not buy: anything Land Rover, a Ford Ranger 2.0l, an older BMW X5 - yes you may get lucky with any of them, the chances are you won't

If you're buying something 60k+ miles check for a gearbox service and a transfer box service in the service history. You want at least one oil chance every year too.
 
Once you start test driving it will narrow you down. I sat in a couple that were bang-on on paper and viscerally hated them 😂

I had a spreadsheet going with towing capacity, average stated fuel consumption, insurance group (!!!) and then knocked ones off as I sat in them till I had it narrowed down to the Tiguan which is what I wanted in the first place, but at least I'd done due diligence! If you sit in the Q5 and love it.. well whoops, sell some saddle pads 😂

This is a good idea! Might make one myself.

They are just so pretty… funny how before I was towing I wanted an A1 😂 ah the horse girl life
 
Hilux, bulletproof mechanically and just brilliant cars.
I towed with a Tiguan (650kg horse and ifor) and had no complaints at all.
Do not buy: anything Land Rover, a Ford Ranger 2.0l, an older BMW X5 - yes you may get lucky with any of them, the chances are you won't

If you're buying something 60k+ miles check for a gearbox service and a transfer box service in the service history. You want at least one oil chance every year too.

Tiguan is on the list - only certain models have the right towing capacity don’t they?

It’s funny I’d always put off any pickup because I’d heard they all fall apart but maybe that was just ford rangers 😂
 
Tiguan is on the list - only certain models have the right towing capacity don’t they?

It’s funny I’d always put off any pickup because I’d heard they all fall apart but maybe that was just ford rangers 😂
Tiguan 2.0lt engine generally varies between 2000kg and 2500kg by model. I used the Parkers website to check general models then you can double check the reg for specific cars just in case.
 
Tiguan is on the list - only certain models have the right towing capacity don’t they?

It’s funny I’d always put off any pickup because I’d heard they all fall apart but maybe that was just ford rangers 😂
Nissan Navara was the one that fell apart, the chassis would snap but Nissan never did a recall. We bought a new one in 2012 and it was rubbish and to add insult to injury, every time it went back to the garage we ended up with a Micra!
 
Tiguan is on the list - only certain models have the right towing capacity don’t they?

It’s funny I’d always put off any pickup because I’d heard they all fall apart but maybe that was just ford rangers 😂

There is a joke that Ford stands for 'Fix or Repair Daily'. Some of the Rangers have a 'wet belt' which without boring you to tears, is not something you should ever buy on any vehicle ever. Its £££££££ and will fail.

I had the blue motion Tiguan that could two 2.2t - 2.0l I think it was, something like the below will do 2.5t

Tiguan - Ebay
 
Hilux, bulletproof mechanically and just brilliant cars.
I towed with a Tiguan (650kg horse and ifor) and had no complaints at all.
Do not buy: anything Land Rover, a Ford Ranger 2.0l, an older BMW X5 - yes you may get lucky with any of them, the chances are you won't

If you're buying something 60k+ miles check for a gearbox service and a transfer box service in the service history. You want at least one oil chance every year too.
my dad has an ancient hillux...think its done 280/290K miles now
the driver seat is a sofa cushion cable tied together, you need a hammer to get the handbrake off some days, and it doesnt do over 55mph BUT it sails through its MOT every year and has never not started.....a true trojan of a car!
 
Another vote for Hilux. Mine is approaching 18 years old and I plan on hanging on to it for as long as it still starts! It's had the usual repairs expected for a vehicle of that age but nothing catastrophic has ever gone wrong (touching wood), and it gets a fair bit of abuse driving round fields and up and down my driveway.

I'm not out and about anymore but towing wise it was as solid as a rock, I towed an Ifor 511 and 2x big hunter/warmblood types and never once felt underpowered or in difficulty.

I can't comment on newer vehicles but a Hilux also had the best turning circle of equivalent double cab trucks when I was doing my research at that time.
 
my dad has an ancient hillux...think its done 280/290K miles now
the driver seat is a sofa cushion cable tied together, you need a hammer to get the handbrake off some days, and it doesnt do over 55mph BUT it sails through its MOT every year and has never not started.....a true trojan of a car!

Our old farm Hilux had a screwdriver as a key!
 
There has to be one, it may as well be me!

Had a Land Rover of one sort or another for 55 years, only gave up towing three years ago but still have a Discovery 4 and love it. My main point is that they have all been reliable in that they were maintained and serviced as best as one can do.
 
I invested in a Tiguan earlier this year after making do with older high mileage, cheaper 4x4s, all of which lasted about a year before giving up.
I’ve gone for one from a min dealership with an extended warranty and service plan because this time I want it to last.
It has been excellent so far 🤞
 
VW Touareg is great! We had one it was a mega car for towing. My husband killed it driving into flood water (don’t ask!) so we had to get something else and ended up with a Volvo XC90. Again it’s great for towing but incredibly thirsty and it isn’t amazing going up hills (it’s an automatic and does roll back) so we are about to change it for another VW Touareg!

I’ve definitely noticed the difference towing with 3500 (Touareg) vs towing with the Volvo which is 2200kg. We only have one 400kg pony in a 950kg cheval and it’s ok…but for me the 3500kg has a lot more go and I feel much more confident towing it.

If you can I’d recommend something with 3500kg tow capacity if you have any hills you need to go over!

Tiguans are also good but too low a tow capacity for me and our hills!
 
There has to be one, it may as well be me!

Had a Land Rover of one sort or another for 55 years, only gave up towing three years ago but still have a Discovery 4 and love it. My main point is that they have all been reliable in that they were maintained and serviced as best as one can do.
Nope! Not just you, my Dad has had them since the early 90s and had very few issues, I've had them for over a decade and had very few issues. The only dodgy one was an LPG conversion. We have an amazing specialist 4x4 garage near us which might explain why about 60% of our primary school parents drive them!

We had a Range Rover a few years ago and tbh it almost ruined driving for me as nothing else is as nice, fast, reliable and good off road!
 
In the market for a towing car - of course open to second hand with my budget! Is there anything you’d recommend under £20k? I’m not very handy (read: completely useless) so probably couldn’t be trusted with something older that needs a lot of maintenance. “That’s impossible” is a valid answer too 😂

Towing one large (700kg) horse with an ifor Williams trailer.
We are bargain basement buyers. My husbands Kia Sorento 14 plate cost £3.500, comfy and towed well, the garage did some work on it, didn't cost a fortune, but unfortuately it got completely written off the week after it passed its MOT.
It has been replaced quickly, because we need a tow car, with something off of ebay, Vauxall Antara, which a trip up North showed in towed and coped with hills well, and cost less than £1500. Its not cheap on fuel, but like good tow cars, towing makes little difference to fuel consumption. Its been well looked after and looks like it cost three times as much.

We went to our local privately owned garage, its a bit like Waitrose, older people shop there and if they get a bad car they will tell everyone, so they are very careful what they sell. The salesman said he would not buy/sell use a newer Land Rover as they have too many problems, Kia, yes. TBH we didn't want to spend a lot money on something that would be scraped.
 
Nope! Not just you, my Dad has had them since the early 90s and had very few issues, I've had them for over a decade and had very few issues. The only dodgy one was an LPG conversion. We have an amazing specialist 4x4 garage near us which might explain why about 60% of our primary school parents drive them!

We had a Range Rover a few years ago and tbh it almost ruined driving for me as nothing else is as nice, fast, reliable and good off road!

I worked for JLR for a while, albeit in finance but I oversaw 13 dealerships/parts centres/service centres so saw/heard about/drove many thousands of their vehicles, and I will absolutely support that the Range Rover is about the nicest large vehicle to drive, for performance, luxury and driving experience, but I just cannot in good faith recommend that someone buy one unless they have family/friend that is a mechanic, or knows enough about them to do some diagnosis, or they have a very large budget.

You may get lucky, but the chances are you won't (and that goes for any age, I have seen engines blow up beyond repair on vehicles with less than 100 miles on them, many many times) and they are just not reliable in any way, either mechanically or electronically, repairs and parts are expensive and they're often on back order if you go for OEM parts.
 
We were looking at the x-drives - what weight combined are you towing your x3? How do you find it to tow?
We currently have a defender and just don’t need the hassles that come with them. Plus we don’t need to haul 3 tonnes around anymore.
It is excellent to tow, I only tow one big horse and an IFOR though, not sure what it would be like with 2. Its rated to 2500kg. I think it is punchier towing (and a heavier car for braking) than the Tiguan I used to have. It also averages 45mpg for normal driving. Maintenance (tyres etc) isn't cheap but nothing else at all has gone wrong with it so that reliability is worth the £800 tyres for me
 
It’s funny I’d always put off any pickup because I’d heard they all fall apart but maybe that was just ford rangers 😂
Older Ford Rangers are fine. My son has had four and does a huge mileage with them and has had very few problems. His current one is a 2019 plate and has done over 250k miles with only wear and tear things needing sorted. They are relatively cheap for parts and servicing and share some parts with Transits so they are readily available. We also have one and the servicing at the local Ford garage is much cheaper than any car we have had since the 90s (Izuzu, Ssangyong, Mitsubishi and Toyotas). The newer ones with a 2.0l engine are problematic as they have a wet belt and if it goes wrong the repairs are astronomically expensive, from memory these are 2021 onwards.
 
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