Help to decide whether to replace car or not

Hintza

I wouldn't be keen towing 3.5 tonnes on a regular basis or any distance with any of them. Fine for short or one off journeys but once the weight of the trailer and load starts go much above the weight of the towing vehicle life can become tricky.

Gloomendoom

andrew-the-cat wrote: »

As above. There are plenty of vehicles which can tow 3.5T

Including a 110 Land Rover. I can't see the problem

I'm pretty sure Land Rover do extended warranties. Most manufacturers do and they usually worth having... unlike the aftermarket rubbish.

Land Rover Extended Warranties

fivetide

does it tow all the time? I mean all those miles with a trailer on?

If not I'd be tempted to get an older Land Cruiser and have that as the load lugger when needed and get something frugal to run about in. It'd save a fortune in fuel.

Edit, the other option is keep the one you have for that task. Better the devil you know and all that... if this one has been reliable you might trade it in for a lemon!

5t.

Hintza

fivetide wrote: »

does it tow all the time? I mean all those miles with a trailer on?

If not I'd be tempted to get an older Land Cruiser and have that as the load lugger when needed and get something frugal to run about in. It'd save a fortune in fuel.

5t.

This is what annoys me about the current VED system we have to have a car to tow an for that privilege we pay £465/annum in VED and only get 24mpg or 17mpg (towing).

The sensible thing to do would be to have a smaller economical car and a towing vehicle but the economics just don't (quite) work. Why can't they just add it to fuel and then when I used the car I would pay via fuel.

tjak

Thanks for those points - on the rare occasions where DH is not towing, he often has to drive through muddy fields on farms, so needs the 4x4 capacity. The defender is also a more 'utility' vehicle than those mentioned, so less concern about bumpers being dinged or shiny paintwork scratched! He does borrow my prius for long journeys when he can, and is able to claim the HMRC mileage rate of 45p which does help offset the price of diesel.

We looked into the option of warranties, but once a car goes over 60,000 which it will do in about 6 months, you only receive around 60% of costs for something which is covered. The best price we could find was £450, Landrover direct was about £800, and had far more exclusions. In the end we decided against a warranty and we are putting money aside monthly for repairs.

The dealer doesn't need to bargain on Landrovers, there are so few coming into the market second hand, and there is an 8 month waiting list for the new engine version. There is no chance of servicing being included, or extra warranty ,...

At this stage, we are planning to keep the existing vehicle, and finish the HP as it doesn't have a balloon payment built in. SO by Dec 2013 we will own it outright. It will have about 90-100k on the clock, and judging by prices of equivalent vehicles it will be worth about £10k.

Gloomendoom

I'd keep what you have got.

I'm biased though, mine's lasted nearly sixty years and I can't see me replacing it any time soon.