My father in law is looking at buying his first caravan. He is looking at getting a 1.6 diesel Picasso. Anyone who drives this type of car can you tell us which caravan you pull. We would be wanting a 4/5 berth no more than 10 years old. We have been looking at weights but are completely baffled . The caravans we have been looking at are at the top end of the max laden weight which we know not to do.
I think the tow limit for the pic is 1300kg ? not enturely sure tho ?
You can get some caravans under that weight - Adria are well respected lightweight vans But have heard form people who have towed with a Pic and dont reccoment it ,you have to really work the gears :(
We have a TT at the moment which we tow with our C3 no problem. In laws actually own the TT but we tend to use it more . We normally go away together but now he has retired they want to be able to go off on their own more. They went away a few weeks ago and really struggled (bad knees ect) putting it up and down on their own.
We have been told the Picasso isn't great for towing as well so are trying to think of alternatives for him. At the moment he drives a Toyota Corolla 1.4 (04).
We are open to suggestions on both car and caravan. He would be PXing the car and selling the TT .
We have an 02 pic 2.0hdi we had & still have for sale a 89 Swift Challenger 470/2SE it towed the Challenger ok but not much use in 5th gear, we now have a 92 Swift Corvette Diamond 4 berth and it tows like a dream inluding 5th gear I feel more comfortable towing the Corvette max wt 1000kgs. hope this helps, all the best with you search, Len
Hi there...we have a 1600 diesel picasso, we have been towing Luner clubman400/2 (think the unladen weight was 750)! it towed it fine no problems, managed to achieve approx 28-32 mpg, obviously was bit slower going up steep hills but really not sure how it would cope with 4/5 birth van behind it!
------------- Some days you are the fly!
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My Xsara 2.0 hdi towed my 5 berth Avondale Ulysses (MTPLM 1100 Kgs), but if your FIL is only looking at getting a 1.6 then I think you would have problems with anything that heavy. The car simply doesn't have the power.
You could look at much older 4 berth vans which were shorter and ligher, or instead go for a 2 berth and use an awning with annex to get the extra berths.
Or go for a car with a bigger engine.
------------- Caz
If you can't see the light at the end of the tunnel, just keep going till you go round the bend.
As caz has said go for a 2ltr hdi picaso more power and more economical over the miles you can get a good 550 miles to a tank full on it.I've now got a bailey ranger 550/5 mtplm 1300kgs.I canaverage around 35mpg towing it but do drop back in to fourth for hills just to give you that bit more power.
it is a 4 berth (2007) mtplm 1100kg, unladen 905kg.
------------- 2013
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Topic: Xsara Picasso - which caravan?
. The caravans we have been looking at are at the top end of the max laden weight which we know not to do.
. We normally go away together but now he has retired they want to be able to go off on their own more. They went away a few weeks ago and really struggled (bad knees ect) putting it up and down on their own.
. 
