Trailer/caravan towing

Iceweasel

A good friend of mine has just purchased a car with a max towing capacity of 1800kg - less than his previous vehicle, a Toyota Landcruiser.

He has a trailer which is plated at 2000kg, and is worried that he may be breaking the law towing it.

His licence dates from long before January 1997, so he has B+E on it.

The trailer has an unladen weight of 575kg.

My advice to him, based on my interpretation of the info on the gov.uk pages is that he should have no problem as long as he keeps the actual weight of the trailer to 1800kg - i.e. within his cars stated limit and not to the full 2000kg capability of the trailer.

My reading of the rules is that in his case the weight that matters is the actual weight - not the MAM or maximum permissible weight of the trailer.

He is also under 70 so is wondering if things will change when he renews his licence when he reaches 70 in a few years time.

I think he can carry on - health and eyesight permitting of course.

Hopefully I'm right - or can anyone refer me to any info which contradicts my views.

Herzlos

I've no idea if him being 70 will make a difference, but the rest is correct; pre-97 or with B+E the only requirements are that the vehicle and train weights are adhered to. So that gives him a total load of 1225kg (1800kg inc trailer).

One thing to watch out there is if the difference between the GTW (gross train weight) and GVW (gross vehicle weight) is under 1800kg - if so it means you'll potentially lose some towing capacity if the car is fully loaded.

For example, my Clio can tow 1200kg, but the difference between the GVW and GTW is 700kg - so if I load the car to the GVW, I lose 500kg of trailer load.

Stroller133

I think it's seems to be mainly French cars that have the transferable weights. I also think your right about the weights.
It can seem that towing limits can be confusing as the method differs depending on whether it vehicle or licence limited. The biggest problem seems to be lots of people quote the 85% "rule" as the legal towing capacity. A lot of vehicles appear to be able to tow way in excess of this rule, but more worryingly some cars can't even legally tow 85%. My 2009 Astra had a kerbweight of c1450kg but could only tow 1000kg.

Johnmcl7

I'd check on Pepipoo as there's been some recent discussions on this and it can be very confusing.

John

Gloomendoom

He could always replate the trailer with the lower weight.

Joe_Horner

The rules as written made it quite clear that it was the plated weight of a trailer that mattered. This caused a lot of grumbling in the Horsey Set because there's not much out there that can tow little Penelope's pony to shows in appropriate 2 berth style on that basis and a scraggy lightweight box just wasn't the right image.

So the DVLA (as was) issued a "clarification" (ie: unofficially re-wrote the rules) to the effect that it was what shows on a weighbridge that matters rather than the rated capacity of a suitably representational horsebox.

forgotmyname

As the trailer is 575kg i presume unbraked. So the bigger issue is what it the cars unladen kerbweight?

The max unbraked trailer weight is 750kg or 50% of the cars unladen kerbweight whichever is less.

Pre 1997 he can tow whatever the max tow is of the vehicle. So a 3 ton landrover can tow a 3.5 ton trailer.
No need to worry about having a man with a red flag, because even if that man is a 90 year old ex coal miner that smoked 100 fags a day you wont catch him but its legal.

Iceweasel

Thanks for the replies so far.

It's not a horse-trailer, but a lightweight two-axle car transporter, which I'm sure has brakes on both axles.

But I'm not sure of the car's kerb weight.

Looks like I need to get some more info.

The other thing I forgot to put in the original first post is that he is hoping to take the trailer to Germany to fetch back a vintage Mercedes sportscar, which he intends to restore now he is retired.

I have no idea of the weight of the car he intends carrying - but that also needs to be found out.

If he gets it wrong the German police are unlikely to be very happy with him.

onomatopoeia99

As some others have correctly stated, it is actual weight towed that matters for those with a pre-1997 licence, not the theoretical maximum weight of the trailer if fully loaded. Those who passed their test more recently have additional rules to contend with imposed by their driving licence (one of the things that makes me glad I'm old, since I get to drive a 7.5 tonner if I want to as well). My trailer weighs 880kg and is plated to 2500kg, so 1620kg max load, but my tow vehicle can only tow 2300kg meaning I can't fully load it (not that I need to, the competition car only weighs 500kg).

However all of this applies to the UK, your friend will need to check what the law is in all the countries he will drive through. If any operate based on the plated weight of the trailer rather than the actual weight, one solution is to get the plate on the trailer changed.

Joe_Horner

The point with the horse trailer was that, having "clarified" things they have to apply the same rule to all trailers. In practice, a car trailer in reasonable nick with a sensible tow car isn't going to raise any eyebrows in this country.

The Germans, on the other hand, might not take the same view. Bear in mind that the revisions on towing were part of standardising things across Europe and it's unlikely their version of DVSA have given the same relaxing of the official rules - especially on UK plates that will tend to stand out from the start!

iolanthe07

I have just had a new driving licence as my 70th birthday approaches. All my previous 'grandfather' rights have been removed. I could have kept them, but it would have needed a visit to a doctor and a long involved application. Since my towing days are long over and I can't afford a large motorcaravan I don't really mind losing all the categories, but it is something your friend might want to look into as he approaches 70.