UKC

looking to get a 4x4 to tow my caravan.
I am trying to find the most economical and paying around £5000-£6000.I have looked at the Kia sorento 2.5 but not sure.
I have been looking at estates also but not really finding anything

In reply to andyd1970:

http://www.whatcar.com/car-news/best-cars-towing/1201988 has a list of their best ones - could have a look there and see if there are any that take your fancy and are in budget.

No surprises that Skoda are up there - UKC must have been voting!

In reply to andyd1970:

Really depends what you want to do with it. What weight is the caravan, how much stuff do you carry etc etc ?

Sorento is a good call and do 35mpg but has to have 4wd engaged.

If you don't carry that much and are intimidated by bigger cars then the Rav4/Tucson might be best as both permanent 4wd and more economy as long as they can tow your van. look at max tow weight and gross train weight.

In reply to andyd1970:

My van is around 985kg.
I would rather a bigger 4x4 with more space(wife,2 kids and a dog)
I live in north west England and currently just tow my caravan round north wales but my current MPV is a bit small and struggles sometimes and doesn't have much room.

In reply to andyd1970:
The Sorento is a good buy with good mpg tow weight and selectable 4wd. Ive not had one but it won 4x4 magazine of the year once. check back issues www.4x4i.com.

I've had plenty of 4x4s over the years and have had better results with Japanese variants than with the American/Britpacks.

The beauty is if you are towing your van off a field you can put it in 4wd and let it do its job (done it many times) rather than an estate car spinning its wheels .

In reply to andyd1970:

Or perhaps a different approach.... spend 2k on a landy 110 in pretty good nick and then you have 4k to spend on fuel! It'll have no trouble towing and parts are piss cheap.

In reply to andyd1970:

We use a '03 Volvo XC90. 31MPH out and about, with about 25MPH towing our van. (Which it pis*es) Motorway, we get around 34MPH. Loads of room for our two Lurchers in the back. 7 seats if you ever need them. 5-6K should get you a decent one, maybe high mileage though and a few years old. Just make sure the 4x4 is actually working if you buy one. (Older models are prone to the Spline sleeve sticking) Trust me on that one

In reply to arch:

Hi Arch
first time i saw one I thought I will get one of those, as it suites all my requirements. I have had a look around and can only find high mileage old ones, like you say. Very nice though

In reply to andyd1970:

Depending on the miles you do, how long you're going to keep it, look at unpopular petrol models (so cheaper to buy) and LPG convert them. You can DIY if you're competent and do it v cheap.

I pay 65p a litre at the moment.

Although if it's a 4x4 with the spare on the tailgate you probably need to fit a new petrol tank.

In reply to arch:

I'm hoping you mean mpg not MPH!

In reply to IanC:


For a van tower it's probably MPH

In reply to IanC:

MPG. I meant MPG..........LOL.

As for the speed we tow at. Sometimes I do have to slow down to the limit. Ooops.

In reply to andyd1970:

I've got a 2005 Rav4 D4D and I average nearly 40 mpg and that's with me being quite heavy footed. I have managed over 40mpg on long runs.

The person that had it before me used it for towing horses, so I guess it must be ok for towing. Should be able to pick up a decent one for £4-5k.