What petrol car to tow with?

[sidesaddlegirl]

Hi guys, my beloved C-max 2 litre diesel looks like it could be on it's way out. It's a brilliant tower with so much torque and power to tow with, but with the new government diesel laws coming in and the MOTS will make it harder for diesels to pass, my OH doesn't want another diesel.

What do you guys recommend? I have a Ifor 401 which has been downplated to 1500kgs and a B licence. I was legal to tow with my c-max and IW401 as I was 10kgs under my 3500kg towing limit (and ROG checked me too when he came out to me! ) but know with a petrol, I may have to take my test as may need a larger car.

All I go to is showing and dressage so generally have good drainage or are paved so 4x4 isn't essential and it has to be something I can find second hand as I've got a smallish budget of about £3000- £4000. I also need it to drive to work in town so has to be fairly fuel efficient, lol.

Before this diesel change in law, I wanted a diesel S-Max but don't know if petrol ones would be any good at towing. I know nothing about cars.

Please help! Thank you

 

[tallyho!]

The VED rates only affect vehicles registered after 1st April 2018. It's a very small change and unless you are a company car driver with BIK tax, you have no need to worry - it's not a huge increase. This might help...

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/car-ne...everything-you-need-to-know-about-uk-road-tax

I wouldn't bother compromising a decent deisel 4x4 by buying a crappy petrol vehicle. Especially at your budget, you only have a choice of what was available when petrol cars were only built for speed, not torque. Plus only the newer petrols model seem to be able to tow anything over 1.2t...

 

[windand rain]

OH reckons he would like an oldish volvo estate if we had to go petrol. The chap selling new cars outside the supermarket said he coulnt think of a petrol car the had 2.5 ton tow capacity. My guess would be that he was trying to sell me his petrol 4x4 lookalike

 

[ROG]

Petrol car with GVW max 2000kg that can tow 1500 (probably ok with 1300?) that does not need to be a 4x4 for towing and economic use ...... there have to be a few out there ....

Skoda Octavia does a petrol 2.0 with 1300 max tow and a GVW under 2000
That is just one of many

Seems that you have to go for a higher cc in a petrol to get the towing capacity you need but that in turn makes it less economical

 

[turnbuckle]

Haven't checked the weights, but Mondeo estates are good big barges, and you should pick up an excellent one for your budget.

You will lose a bit on fuel economy.

 

[coss]

i had a petrol honda cr-v 55plate that i towed a ifor 403. It did the job and had 1.5tonne tow capacity, 2ton GVW so fits your criteria and i'd suspect they could be picked up for your budget. Fuel economy not super though (hard for me to judge since I generally did short journeys not decent commutes and any length of journey had the horsebox in tow) - usually got 30mpg on average but had higher on the odd motorway trip i did (without box)