Afternoon all, hope someone can help or at least point me in the right direction. I am a camper and have been for a good few years, however, my husband and I have now decided to upgrade to a caravan. We have a Citroen Xsara Picasso 1.6 Petrol 2000 model. It states on the Parker website that towing weight is 900kg..... there are lots of facts and figures, kerbweight, braked weight etc etc.
What I need to know, in simple lay person terms is what is the maximum weight caravan I can tow with my Picasso....all the facts and figures are screwing my mind up!!
We are only looking at old cheapies, around the 1994 - 1998 mark and under £1000.
Hi there, sorry to say it but the car you mentioned is not a very good tow car .The figure you quoted is set by citroen as the maximum that can be towed by your vehicle without damaging the vehicle. The car is 90 bhp not very powerful .Some of the lighter freedom models may ma come into the figures, but would struggle on hills.A friend of mine complained of lack of power with the above mentioned car towing a folding camper weighing 750 kg max
900kg is max tow weight so caravan needs to be lighter than this. Best bet is to go for late 80s/early 90s basic spec 2berth like ABI Monza or Marauder. Around 12ft long body & these normally weigh under 750kg fully loaded. Plenty on ebay & usually at this time of yr go for half your budget or less.
Check for bad damp in caravan, some work will be no doubt needed & also it will need at least a chassis service on the running gear & also new tyres to be on safe side as tyres should be changed at 5-6yrs old regardless of wear but you will have a useable caravan for a few yrs. this sort of thing
Thanks for all replies :) I've spoken to my husband and he thinks the only option we may have is getting another car, we need a 4 berth even if only a basic smallish one but are now thinking of looking at a mondeo or something similar so if anyone has any hints and tips it would be much appreciated :)
Quote: Originally posted by Grampian91 on 19/11/2014
Beware sellers that give you the unladen weight when buying. So you buy the van thinking its 900kg max but actually maybe well over that figure.
We have the same car but a 2ltr HDI with a max tow weight of 1300kg, we saw a van we liked but the MTPLM was 1400kg, the dealer said we would be ok if we didn't fully load it, we ignored him and got sorted with a 1200kg Elddis from a private seller, we love the van, some dealers will tell you anything to sell a van.
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The Mondeo would be a good choice, as would most other cars of this size, Cit C5, Peu 406 or 407, VW Passat etc, but make sure its a diesel! You could also look at Ford C Max, Vaux Zafira or similar, or a 2ltr HDi Picasso, like josey60!
whatever you get it needs to be diesel for towing.Bettermpg,more power and normally go forever if looked after.I would not even entertain a petrol.Give you more scope on the van you can have aswell
------------- i dont sell cheap tat.I sell tat cheap
Quote: Originally posted by Jimff5 on 19/11/2014
The Mondeo would be a good choice, as would most other cars of this size, Cit C5, Peu 406 or 407, VW Passat etc, but make sure its a diesel! You could also look at Ford C Max, Vaux Zafira or similar, or a 2ltr HDi Picasso, like josey60!
Not forgetting, Skoda Octavia, Yeti, Superb; some estate variants also have 4x4 which is very useful on muddy fields!
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Topic: Please help me re towing!
