Choice of 4 x4 - probably daft question

GAILEY

Just to say...the caravan isn't 2000kg.....the caravan is only 1200kg....we just want to give ourselves lots of room on the weight/tow ratio..as the main purpose of the vehicle will be to tow it, and we don't want to be watching what we chuck inside the caravan all the time, and like the higher more stable position of a heavy 4x4..
we looked at the honda...but read lots of unhappy reader reveiws - and the hyundai seems to be more expensive than the kia (not many deals about) and ending up the the same residually..so being more expensive.

LandyAndy

I think you will find plenty of sites will turn you away if you turn up towing with a van.

Premier_2

GAILEY wrote: »

Hi,
We are going to be towing a decent sized 5 berth caravan - so looking for 2000kg plus braked towing capacity - mondeo's etc aren't really heavy enough to feature. ...

GAILEY wrote: »

Just to say...the caravan isn't 2000kg.....the caravan is only 1200kg....we just want to give ourselves lots of room on the weight/tow ratio..as the main purpose of the vehicle will be to tow it, and we don't want to be watching what we chuck inside the caravan all the time, and like the higher more stable position of a heavy 4x4....

Any 2 litre plus Mondeo should be able to tow up to 1800kg

I think you'll find the Mondeo far more stable than most high 4x4 vehicles due to it's lower centre of gravity.

Rallydriver

Big, heavy cars are going to be heavy on the wallet, theres no getting away from that. Especially when its a tow vehicle as that puts an extra strain on components.

If its only ever used for towing, the cost of the van and a big tow car wouldn't be far off a motorhome.

GAILEY

Oh I agree...and we have looked at motorhomes.

Thing is, it will be a second vehicle too, and the 4x4 is more flexible in that regard (I work odd hours and OH will need to use it to transport our 13 year old daughter to and from her hefty social commitments when my car isn't there etc). Plus, we already have the caravan - which is quite old but I love and am not prepared to part with.

Wouldn't be interested in anything under 2000kg towing capacity, for the reasons I gave earlier - so the mondeo is out of the question...and it's the offers on the volvos that are causing me so much turmoil...

Basically, it's an extra 10K on the cost of the vehicle (against the kia) but a saving on tax of £200 a year and on mpg etc...cost of ownership ie. depreciation..is remarkably similar over a 3 year period and I expect if I needed to sell in 3 years the volvo might be easier to sell..but I also expect we would have to sell it after the 3 years to keep the money in it...whereas the kia we could run into the ground and it would cost us less the longer we kept it...but it would still keep costing us heavy tax, mpg and of course as it got older if we kept it beyond warranty would cost more to maintain...
I am still undecided...

bungle4x4

buy whatever you like, you obviously know about weight ratios etc.. so buy whatever takes your fancy. european stuff is prettier and made of better components. korean stuff is built to a lower price but is cheaper and comes with a good warrenty.

NigeWick

GAILEY wrote: »

I'd be really interested to hear your thoughts..thanks in advance:D

A friend of mine used to be a mechanic in a garage. He owns a Kia and swears by them. I'm a Toyota man myself but own a VW.

gilbert_and_sullivan

Don't forget to get servicing costs from the service desk of the cars you are interested in.

Don't just take the salesman's word for it, and that means for the whole term of your intended ownership, Volvo's servicing might be a bit of an eye opener especially when cam belts come round, the right badge does cost.

Inactive

bungle4x4 wrote: »

buy whatever you like, you obviously know about weight ratios etc.. so buy whatever takes your fancy. european stuff is prettier and made of better components. korean stuff is built to a lower price but is cheaper and comes with a good warrenty.

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Thanks, best laugh I've had today..

jeannieblue

master_of_nothing wrote: »

So its actually a case of keeping up with the Jonses when running Tarquin and Jamima about on the school run

What do the other mums use?

I would've taken your heavily sarcastic post more seriously if the spelling had been better - or even correct.

OP should buy what they want for whatever they want. Who are you or I to judge?