Cheapest and most economical 4x4

iris24

Can anyone help me? I need to buy a 4x4 for towing a horse trailer and was wondering if anyone could advise me which is the best and cheapest to run.
At the moment I have an old horsebox, which I can’t afford to run.
[FONT=&quot]I really need it to be economical to run and low CO2 emission would be great.[/FONT]

Flying-High_2

Thing is with the small economical lowish emission 4wds is they'll often be plated at low towing weights which you'll more than likely exceed with a decent box and fair size horse.

10JH

Are you looking at new or used?

minibbb

Whatever you do, DO NOT be tempted with a jeep!! My 94 Grand Cherokee (£1500) has been nothing but trouble. Something like a diesel shogun would be my choice.

gilbert_and_sullivan

No 4x4 capable of towing a horse trailer competently will be cheap to own or run, for starters anything capable will weigh around 2 tons, will obviously be dragging all that transmission round even if it's selectable 4WD, so expect a maximum of 30mpg (not towing) if you're lucky, insurances for these as everything have gone up too.

If you don't go off road, then something like a Volvo estate or other large heavy car would manage well enough unless you take 2 horses, but you'll have to find a Diesel version or a previously LPG converted car to keep your fuel costs manageable, indeed many petrol 4x4's have been converted to LPG so that might be food for thought.

As above, a lot depends on your budget.

Hammyman

If your old horsebox is of the 7.5t variety and doing around 15MPG, you're not really going to find a 4x4 that'll be much cheaper to run.

Not only that but by the time you've bought a trailer and a 4x4 you'll have negated a large chunk of the money you would have saved.

Not only that but depending on when you passed your car test, you may need to take a test to tow the trailer, even if you have a CAT C1 or CAT C LGV licence for the horsebox.

forgotmyname

old tax exempt land rover... £300+ Free tax disc, Cheap classis insurance, Slow enough to not have to worry about
most speed camera's which saves you money and points.

Will tow your horse trailer up a mountain if needed, slowly but it will get there.

Finding one that doesnt need a chassis up rebuild is the fun bit.

Hintza

minibbb wrote: »

Whatever you do, DO NOT be tempted with a jeep!! My 94 Grand Cherokee (£1500) has been nothing but trouble. Something like a diesel shogun would be my choice.

But you bought an ancient car for buttons and it could have been any car. Just so happened to be a Jeep.

smitchy73

If you're looking for new try the Jeep Patriot or Compass(not sure if still available) as some of the other posters say you'll need to check towing limits, what car recommend no more than 75% of the towing weight advised by the manufacturer, makes it easier on yourself.
Patriot was a decent 2.0l diesel, decent comfort and mpg we got about 42mpg(as said my manufacturer, we actually achieved this on normal runs, more if on long motorway runs, good in 4x4 mode too, we go to many highland games and are on and off muddy fields, even(trying not to be sexist here) even my wife managed no problem.
If you have mroe money Land Rover Defender's are notoriously brilliant in off road and will tow most things.
Car wise, my mate loves his diesel Mondeo tows caravans etc no problem, dont know weight limits etc.

Reading your post again not many 4x4's are good for mpg/emissions, what about skoda yeti/suzuki jimny/vitara or hyundai santa fe/ix35.

iris24

Many thanks for the replies, plenty to think about

Iris

alastairq

Old Daihatsu Fourtrack.....preferably built last century...?

Isuzu Trooper? [recommended by a horsey acquaintance as good for boxes...it seems to have a lorry chassis [their words, not mine]]