For a licence dated 1997 or later you must add together the plated max weight of the caravan and trailer, if the total is 3500 or less you can tow it. You may even tow a caravan with a MAM greater than the cars unladen mass the restriction was removed in 2013
for £3k your looking at tdci`s in the age range that had the injector problems.bit of a gamble & i dont think id risk any tdci older than 05 regd. spend £2k max and get a tddi 115bhp but then your at 2002 at the latest and looking at mega milers....
is there much difference towing wise between the 115 and 130 versions of the mondeo?
simon.
I have no idea, I asked the question when I bought mine and was told that the 115 would do the job very well. I have run it for 3 years now and I can safely say that whilst towing a 1450kg caravan I have never come across a situation where I need more power or torque. I travel at 55mph on the motorway in 5th gear ( top ) with the cruise set and never have to touch it unless traffic conditions change or I need to slow down for intersections. I average 35mpg whilst towing and 49mpg when not towing. The best towing figure I have had was 39mpg and the worst was 31mpg, the best not towing was 62mpg and the worst was 46mpg. The 115 is i the £125 tax bracket so overall I am pleased with it.
People will tell that they are not reliable, and yes there are issues with Dual mass Flywheels, and injectors but the same can be said of all the other manufacturers small diesel enginesd cars. I have had no problems and I no of a lot of other people who have hadno problems, in fact nobody that I know personally has had any of these problems with their Mondeo. However My son has had two Skoda Octavias and both had DMF issues, my brothers A4 had injector issues that nobody seemed able to cure, and the Octavia he has now is starting to show DMF issues.
------------- Bill
For a licence dated 1997 or later you must add together the plated max weight of the caravan and trailer, if the total is 3500 or less you can tow it. You may even tow a caravan with a MAM greater than the cars unladen mass the restriction was removed in 2013
When we had a blow out on our single axle caravan this year at 55ish mph on a motorway I was thankful to own a 4x4, it probably saved a seroius accident or worse and proved its worth, £2000 Range Rover, with your budget you should be able to find something decent.
Just a thought for today, good luck with your search.
A Volvo V70 TDI diesel estate with the Volkswagen engine in it, ours has now covered 185,000 miles and is still on the original engine, gear box etc. It averages 45 mpg for normal driving, 25 mpg when towing. Pulls like a train as lots of torque low down. Very reliable and solid built cars and will last a lifetime if looked after. Insurance group 12, max towing weight of 1600kg and ours has lots of toys, heated seats etc.
TDCi Mondeo, & don't be put off by the scare mongering. Your no more likely to have a problem from a Mondeo than any other car, its just that there are 2-3 times as many Mondeo's & that's why you hear of the problems. Try canvassing Vectra owners!!!
At least they are cheaper to fix if you do get a problem. DMF's are in most cars nowadays, & sure they can fail, but the fixing them means a new clutch goes in so your unlikely to ever have to put another clutch in the car unless your planning on 250k plus. Injectors likewise, yes they sometimes fail, but the original ones can be re-conditioned for about £500. Again, a new set of injectors will set you back but the car will likely then go on for another 100k plus.
115 vs 130...not much in it. We have a 52' TDCi Ghia hatch. We paid £1800, but it has done 140k. Drives like a car of half its miles, & pulls our 1500kg Challenger brilliantly.
If you can track down a TDDi from Y reg to 52 reg, yes they are less problematic but our mini-cab friends found this out a long time ago so finding a good one is very very difficult, we looked for 2 months, seen loads but all were tat. Nice chap at a dealers told us to pay as little as possible for a high mile TDCi but make sure it has full set of service stamps. I dont get to drive ours very often, I'm usually in the Verso ferrying the children around, but I love driving the Mondeo, Recently took 3 mates & 4 mountain bikes to Wales for the weekend & it was brilliant. Mates couldnt believe what a lovely car it was considering we'd spent so little.
Failing that go for a Galaxy / Alhambra / Sharran. Yes, quite large but they will tow a big caravan easily & still return 40mpg driven sensibly.
love the way the people suggesting the Mondeos are following it up with "dont listen to the scaremongers"..lol. and I'm not sure a 2 grand Range Rover will be very economical?.. hmmm ...I'd go with a well looked after diesel V70, of possibly an older 5 series touring?...
Quote: Originally posted by TammyCampers on 23/10/2009
love the way the people suggesting the Mondeos are following it up with "dont listen to the scaremongers"..lol. and I'm not sure a 2 grand Range Rover will be very economical?.. hmmm ...I'd go with a well looked after diesel V70, of possibly an older 5 series touring?...
I think I would rather take my chances with a Mondeo than the vehicles you mention, where repair costs would inevitably be much greater.
I have a 3.9 discovery LPG converted very economical when on gas which is most of the time. dont agree with the above greater expense we look after our disco and has not as yet ever let us down and repair wise we have found it to be the same as our other non towing car Citreon picasso. We paid 2500 for the disco some 5 yrs ago and its yearly service/mot/gas check, is the same price as any car in that engine bracket. And it is so easy to work on compared to most nowadays
------------- when only the best will do.
omegawomen
We now have a Passat 1.9TDCi estate. We have an auto as hubby has had two knee ops. We have also towed with a Mondeo 03 reg, a Kia Sedona and a Pajero.
Loved the towing abilities of the Sedona and Pajero but couldn't justify the diesel consumption on everyday small journeys, and sorry to say didn't listen to the scaremongers on the Mondeo and hit the usual injector problems (not DMF as it was an auto). Repairs on these DO cost a lot of money.
The Passat is great. Copes with 2 adults, 3 teenagers, 65 kg of dogs, loaded caravan and bikes for a fortnight holiday and just keeps going. Ours has high mileage but doesn't feel like it, and still gets very acceptable mpg on my daily commute.
We knew nothing about these cars, never owned German before, but we are more than happy.
If you have been reading the Credit Crunch Caravan article the last few months in the Caravan Club magazine, you would be looking for a used Mercedes 320cdi. Having had a Mercedes for towing before (190E 2 litre petrol/LPG), I would have an other. The only downside is that it tended to bog down in mud, but any non 4x4 will do that from time to time.
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Topic: what NON 4x4 towcar
