Towing vehicle yet again, I'm so sorry...

Pippity

Pippity

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I'd been idly thinking about getting a cheap (<£7k) 4x4 to use as a towing vehicle (which would live at the yard, alongside the hypothetical trailer I haven't bought yet) and continuing to run my beloved Golf as my main car. However, my Golf has started to have a few contrary moments and random warning lights, so I'm now considering just getting one vehicle for towing.

Budget is £25-30k, ideally looking for something 1-2 years old. Trailer would most likely be a Cheval Liberte (850kg) with two horses, allowing 5-600kg for each, so towing capacity minimum 2-2.5. (Mine's 570kg. I'd like to be able to take a friend along when going out to fun places.)

I want something reliable, comfortable, easy to drive, and I'd prefer an automatic if it's going to be my everyday car. (Dream would be with the ability to flip to semi-automatic, same as my Golf.) Parking around me is a nightmare, so I don't want anything too mahoosive, but accept it's got to be fairly hefty to have the required towing capacity.

I was considering the Kia Sorento as a pure tow vehicle, but don't really want a diesel as an everyday car. Disco? Something else?
 
If you want to tow two, go full up 4x4, with a 3.5t tow limit.

Or possibly a SWB version? Shoguns have been discontinued, but the SWB towed up to 3t, I think? That would do you.

It's always advisable when towing to have extra spare 'Get out of jail' towing capacity. I used to tow for many years with not-quite-good-enough vehicles, and the difference now I have proper tow cars is immense.
 
Isuzu dmax. Without a doubt. Fab trucks and can tow 3.5 tonnes. Its a proper towing vehicle. I'm tired of seeing people trying to tow with vehicles that aren't up to it.
I drive mine as my day to day vehicle too.
 
Another with a Tourareg to do everyday and tow. I just love it and I have driven a lot of 4x4s for towing!
 
If you want reliable. Get a Japanese 4x4. Isuzu, Mitsubishi, Toyota.
You’ve got a decent budget so can get a nice smart pickup at that price. Put a box on the back and it’s got room for your tack and it’s more like a “big car” than a pick up.
Or a Ford ranger - be careful as the newer fords have had problems with fuel injectors (2019 onwards I think)

However…
I have an old defender to tow which has been an absolute dream, it’s my daily and very practical but not comfortable for journeys over an hour. (Sore arse and sore clutch foot)

I would get a newer disco if I could, or a big RR vogue or something if I had unlimited funds for repairs and time spent off the road. NOT RELIABLE ?
 
Tiddlypom said:
Shoguns have been discontinued, but the SWB towed up to 3t, I think? That would do you
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Our Shogun is a old 2005 with 100k on the clock now but owned 5 years and wow it’s been reliable! It’s super to tow with, 2 horses on the back and it just ticks over.

Touaregs are suppose to be very good cars too. I wouldn’t touch a Tiguan, heard bad things.

I have a little petrol for running around and we keep a third vehicle for towing (the Shogun) mainly as I do such short journeys it wouldn’t do a bigger Diesel engine any good!
 
dixie said:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2019-Ssa...p2349624.m46890.l6249&mkrid=710-127635-2958-0

I have an older version of this and they are fabulous towing vehicles with a long warranty and luxury driving. They tow 3.5t - the older vehicles a bit less but up to an IW511 and 2 horses easily.
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And when they break it will cost you an arm and a leg to get them repaired, and thats if you can. I had to write off 7ks worth of car as it had something wrong that no one could identify, and ended up neededing a new gear box which cost 6k, coudnt be sourced second hand as there arent enough of them about, and the main dealer and manufacturer just washed their hands of it. Absolute nightmare and would strongly recommend everyone avoids any sort of SSangyong!
 
I’ve never had any problems with my Ssangyong and I’ve had it 6yrs. The dealers are brilliant and have fixed anything I’ve needed.
I’ve not had anything major go tho but with the current situation most garages are having difficulty sourcing the materials to fix any car.
 
dixie said:
I’ve never had any problems with my Ssangyong and I’ve had it 6yrs. The dealers are brilliant and have fixed anything I’ve needed.
I’ve not had anything major go tho but with the current situation most garages are having difficulty sourcing the materials to fix any car.
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It was pre covid. My experience was utterly horrendous and we tried 3 main dealers, including 1 who did a software update and made everything worse then couldnt undo it. Ssanyong themselves were worse than useless. I know I'm not the only person to have had issues. I wouldnt have another one for free.
 
Another vote for the Ssangyong Rexton. I'd never heard of the make before a friend got one, and then I got one too, and suddenly, there seem to be tonnes of them about. I was looking at Shoguns and others as well, and got far more car for my budget. We do have a garage about that specialises in them, but I've not needed it yet, so can't comment on the parts problems some others seem to have had, but its popularity does seem to be increasing, so perhaps the parts problems are resolving? I've towed two in an IW, and it didn't seem to notice; has plenty of juice and feels very stable.
 
I have a ssangyong rexton although I don't tow with it. I bought it at a year old, two years ago, with 40 miles on the clock and love it as a car. It is pretty big, which can make car parks interesting ? but I learned to drive in a cortina estate and its about the same length. We do have a main dealer locally, but I took it to our usual local garage for its service. It took a bit longer to source brake pads, had to wait a day rather than pick it up the same day. It certainly beats the land rover disco that I had before it, but that was elderly. The mechanic I use did say not to bother getting getting a newer disco and had considered a rexton when he got his vw.
 
For that budget you can get some very nice vehicles. It depends what you want but for every day driving as well as towing then a touareg or similar are nice enough. I have a Porsche cayenne which gives a nice bit of luxury too
 
If you like VW but don't want as big or thirsty as a Touraeg have you considered a Passat Alltrack? We have 1 as our family car and my towing vehicle. It has brilliant MPG, tows fab (I tow a 850kg heavy horse in a big Richardson trailer with no worries), lots of space inside but not as big on the outside as most of the big 4x4s suggested above.
You should get a pretty new one within your budget.
 
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