Yes Pam, unfortunately some dealers/sellers are less than honest "oh you can tow it with a 4 x 4" blah blah blah is a common thing and sadly on the net you will find 4 X 4 forums where people laugh in the face of the law.
If I see one more thread that says "I tow my oversize hobby with my blah blah 4 X 4 and it is perfectly ok" I think I will go mad! The law is the law and gawd help them if they have an accident is all I can say.
Yes the law may be an ass and it may not be the same on the continent but that is immaterial so Pam if I was in your shoes I would stick to the legal ones or upgrade your tow vehicle.
See Idgy's thread about a dubious Hobby dealer and steer well clear of them!
thankfully the Hobby dealer here in Ireland is a family owned business trading for over 40 years (they also do Elddis as well as running a large camping store). we have been going to them for supplies since our camping days (ahem0 years ago) so we know they are trustworthy. There is no problem with the car insurance - our Trooper has a commercial plate (we used it to tow our 3 tonne, 28 ft boat), the Traffic Branch department of the police have confirmed it is legal to tow up to 3metres trailer width, The Caravan and Camping Club are happy to insure a 560 with a premium weighting, Chris regristration, and tow hitch lock, however the quote was still only a few pounds more than for a new Elddis 544. so many many phonecalls later we have decided to take the plunge. I reckon most of the problems and disastors here on the internet have been experienced by people in England and things hopefully sound different here. Our only problem will be when we get off the ferry in Holyhead we will then be breaking the law until we reach France? With all the relevant documentation kept with us in the vehicle though we should be safe. Thank you for all your advice Ali and Idgy
Pam
------------- Sometimes You're the windscreen; sometimes the fly
By Ireland I take it you mean Eire, not Northern Ireland?
In that case you will be OK. The police here will not look twice at a foreign car towing a wider van. If the combination is legal in the home country it is tolerated here even though it may not conform with UK regulations, in the same way that longer foreign vans are tolerated in Italy while an Italian car can only tow a 6 metre van.
I think providing what you are doing is legal in your own country then you are legal abroad, it is illegal for a UK person to tow under our legislation but if, say, a Dutch person comes here with a large unit it is legal if it is legal in their own country.
Under EU law anything that is legal in its own country is legal to drive in any other EU country. You do see plenty of overwidth caravans being towed by 4X4s & Transit vans under 3.5 tonnes in the UK on UK plates. You aint got to worry about the coppers, they dont appear interested in enforcing the law & probabley aint even aware of it.
In the event of an accident however you would find the insurance assesor was aware of the law & your claim would be rejected I guess.
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Topic: hobby 560 ufe
