Good evening all, i'm looking for some advice on a suitable towcar but I need to get the car first before I can buy a suitable van.
I'm looking at vans with double dinettes (not side dinettes) and rear washrooms, so any caravans where there is a rear dinette in place of a Fixed bed. Something like a Bailey Orion 440, Lunar Lexon 520 or Bailey Olympus 504. Other than the Orion, the other 2 are 1420kg and 1440kg mtplm with 180/220kg payload respectively.
I'm after something for about £6-7k, reasonable on fuel as I have a fairly big motorway commute also and i'm also on a 3500kg licence limit so it rules out big 4x4s.
I was looking at Octavia's but these seem to be fairly lightweight so I dont think they'll be suitable, despite some models having a 1600kg towing limit.
Could anyone point me in the right direction for a suitable vehicle?
Finding a suitable match on a 'B' license for a van that size may be difficult. Remember it is the max weights of car and van added together (regardless of how heavily loaded they are) that matters.
In round terms;
3500kg - 1500kg (Caravan) leaves 2000kg available for the car
Knock off a payload of say 500kg gives a kerbweight of 1500kg for the car and you're therefore towing at a 100% ratio
Appreciate that this is very approximate, but certainly highlights the issue that you need to be very careful in your selection... or take the B+E test.
Review here on the Octavia - their 85% match though highlights the point I've made above...
https://www.practicalcaravan.com/reviews/tow-car/31865-skoda-octavia-scout
Hence looking for a vehicle with an all up mass of lower than 2000kg and the Octavia has GVW around 1950kg (Depending on model).
If our caravanning exploits continue, then I would probably look to get the b&e to buy a bigger van if I needed it. I'd get something really lightweight but theyre generally out of budget as theyre new vans with lighter materials.
Thanks for all the replies. I think the honest answer is look for a lightweight van under 1400kg and then it'll give me a few more options of tow car. It was such a tight match trying to get a kerb weight of at least the van weight yet keeping it under the limit for GVW
We towed a Swift two berth caravan with an end washroom with a Vauxhall Meriva . It towed well. Not sure what engine size, I think it was a 1.7 Cdti.Just check towing weight. We now tow with a Vauxhall Antara 2.2 Cdti but we have a heavier caravan,
Quote: Originally posted by dixon72 on 13/7/2017
Ssangyong Korando worth a look as you get alot for your money
Agreed - great tow car, but with a GVW or around 2200kg it is too heavy to keep within the 3500kg of a 'B' license with a 1450kg caravan that the OP was asking about
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Topic: Towcar for a 1450kg van
