Decent Caravan for approx £2000?

F1F93

As mentioned, if going for a Mondeo, try and get a newer shape one (07 on) as they're heavier. When towing, low end torque is more useful than top end power, so generally diesels are better.

However if you don't drive on motorways much, modern diesels can go wrong a lot (just google DPF failure!) so if you generally drive around town, a petrol is better.

In this case, look for an "Ecoboost" engine if you can, as these are turbo-powered petrol engines that generate more torque at low RPM than a non-turbo petrol.



In regards to what you can/can't pull, there are four key weights:

A) The Kerbweight of the car,
The Towing weight of the car,
C) The Gross weight of the car,
D) The MTPLM (fully loaded weight) of the caravan.

By law:

D must be less than both A and B.
D+C must be less than 3500kg.

It is also recommended that D is no more than 85% of A. This is to allow the car and caravan to be stable when driving. You can go over this if you want (in fact, my Dad used to regularly tow at 100% for years before he got a heavier car) however it is not recommended.

For a mondeo, you are unlikely to find a car and caravan combination that exceeds 3500kg while sticking to the "85% rule".

Look for a caravan thats around 1200kg or less and you'll be fine. You shouldn't exceed approx 1500kg (depending on the car).


The reason for these rules is that the caravan will act like a pendulum - sometimes the caravan can sway from left to right (snaking) and can pull the car off the road. Also, if the caravan is heavy relative to the car, when going downhill or braking the caravan can tend to push the car forwards - not ideal. A heavier car in both cases will help.


Useful sites:
http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/reviews/facts-and-figures/ford/mondeo/hatchback-2007/dimensions/
http://www.towcar.info/index.php


Hope this is useful, post again if you need any more info! .

Anoneemoose

Thanks again everyone!! We will be getting a newer model. Probs 10/60 plate and it will be diesel. Hubby uses the car regularly for work on motorways and we go for drives at the weekend. Currently we use the galaxy for that (also diesel).

If he was to do this test, could we then tow most things as opposed to being restricted?

AdrianC

Anoneemoose wrote: »

If he was to do this test, could we then tow most things as opposed to being restricted?

Yep, all the way up to the maximum weight the car's rated for. That might be up to 3.5t with a big 4x4 or van.

F1F93

As said above, the maximum weight of the caravan could then theoretically be the towing weight of the car (which can be as much as 2000kg depending on the model), however as said above it is not recommended that the MTPLM of the caravan is more than 85% of the kerbweight of the car.

Taking the test wouldn't benefit much tbh. The gross weight of the Mondeo is around 2200kg, depending on the model.
If your OH takes the test, he is restricted to a caravan of around 1800kg (the towing weight of the car), but it wouldn't be advisable to tow more than about 1300kg to comply with the unofficial 85% rule.
Without the test, he is restricted to 1300kg (3500-gross weight).

So, as you can see, there is no real benefit with a mondeo unless you are planning on breaking the 85% rule (which is perfectly legal, but not advised).

I also have heard that the test is quite hard, and fairly expensive tbh. He'd probably need lessons to pass it, and I've seen courses for beginners that are in excess of £1000. I'd leave it tbh.