Tow Vehicle, on the cheap..

[Dweezle]

I am seriously looking to get a Tow Vehicle and Trailer and end the driving the car to and from the track.

I live in an apartment, only real option for me as i have to work in Sydney.
I can easily park the tow vehicle and trailer on the street.
The MX5 will stay in the garage.

With this in mind the Tow vehicle can not be anything too special.
The Tow Vehicle also needs to be a daily driver and i would love a little comfort and mod cons.

I have been looking though Car Sales and online and have found a few different Models that appear to fit the bill.
I have never really towed before and would really appreciate the input from those of you who have.

It will never need to tow anything heavier than the MX5 with some wheels and a few odd tools.


Examples of the vehicles i have shortlisted are
-Hyundai Santa Fe
-Kia Sorento
-Nissan X Trail
-Nissan Pathfinder
-Mitsubishi Challenger

These are all Petrol, i would have prefered a Diesel but that is not going to happen in the 5-7k Range

My current plan is to get a Tow vehicle and trailer which will do the job nicely and then if i do keep at it all and enjoy it i will upgrade in a couple of years to a much more current Tow Vehicle, more in the Turbo Diesel BT50 dealeo.


Is there anything that really shows me as being WAY OFF??
Are these vehicles bad news?

I will be taking a good look around at next weekends Track Day.

Any opinions much appreciated.

[Dan]

I'd buy a good condition <150km BA Falcon and fit it with a suitable tow Kit as well as a transmission cooler.

Will tow an MX5 with ease (4L V6), every mechanic can repair it and cheap parts.

[hks_kansei]

Any particular reason for the seeming preference for a softroader?

For value and towing ability, you cant go past an old Falcon.
They tow great, heavy weight towbars are readily available, and if you get one on LPG it's fairly cheap to run.

I towed a car in a borrowed EL falcon with a 2500kg tow pack and it did the job brilliantly.

make sure to get an Auto, they can tow more, and if it were me I'd be looking at either a ute or wagon version (they both had leaf spring rears, better suited for towing heavy loads)

Ideally keep an eye out for one owned by a grey nomad, since it will generally have all the tow gear already included from caravanning.

[Dan]

^ Great minds

[NMX516]

http://www.carsales.com.au/private/deta ... 410/?Cr=11

or

http://www.carsales.com.au/dealer/detai ... 3136/?Cr=2

Built for towing and serious load carrying, unlike the SUV's you've listed. Also handle high mileage without any dramas. They will tow much more easily than any of the ones you've listed, with much more power and torque, and designed from the start to be towing heavy loads, so will last much longer... The others just aren't up to it. Rear springs are also easily uprated if necessary.

You could even get an AUII XR8 or maybe an early BA XR8 for that budget. The BA MKII's have an excellent auto gearbox.

Edit: Doh!! Beaten to it! ...Like the others have said!

[lizard]

Dont laugh but a Magna 380 isnt a bad tow vehicle and not too shabby for comfort
Seen them sell at auction 60000k for $6000

[zossy1]

I couldn't imagine anything worse than an old Santa Fe, Sorrento or IX35. My place of work uses Hyundai/Kia fleet vehicles. The soft roader models were universally terrible up to the most recent generations of these vehicles. They were constantly in for warranty repairs.

[Dweezle]

Thanks for all the input guys.
I initially thought about a falcon wagon but was told by everyone I spoke to (mainly caravan types) that the falcon is a dinosaur and besides heavy fuel useage and constant mechanical issues such as wheel bearings etc they just suck at towing.
The gearboxes sh*t themselves along a other issues.

This is the reason I started looking at the mid sized 4WD.

I've seen plenty of Kia Sorrentos towing and spoke to one guy about his and he said the 3.5L auto is a dream compared to his AU Falcon.
Using around 15L/100 towing his 1100kg van on the highway compared to over 20.

I know the Santa fe 2.2 diesel is raved about as a tow vehicle so I assumed that the petrol would be alright but with a hit to fuel economy.
Also I have tried but failed to find a bad review about the Santa Fe.
I think evil-Weevil uses one as his tow vehicle on here.
I might contact him.

Again really appreciating the input.
Maybe I have to revist the Falcon wagon idea.
I really didn't want a Falcon or Commodore.
Especially as a daily driver.
Just pure rubbish with fuel economy as of there is a leak on the tank.

What do we all think of a early to mid 2000s Rodeo or similar??

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[hks_kansei]

Maybe I have to revist the Falcon wagon idea.
I really didn't want a Falcon or Commodore.
Especially as a daily driver.
Just pure rubbish with fuel economy as of there is a leak on the tank.

True, the economy is pretty meh on them, but remember a lot of them are also on LPG, so even though you're getting 20l/100, you're also paying only 70c a litre for it. Also depends on what you're towing, a car on a tandem is much less widn drag than a caravan, which is like trying to run into the wind while carrying a door.

Reliability on them I've always found is fine, no better or worse than any other car (apart from cosmetic stuff, like trim pieces coming unglued)
Remember a lot of people who say "oh the wheel bearings wore out not long after I got it" have also bought them secondhand with 200,000km on the clock.

That, and towing heavy stuff does ƒü¢k cars.

[david_syd_au]

Another aspect to consider, but I would be cautious about leaving a car trailer on the street. Even with locks and chains, if it is in a high visibility location in Sydney, it would only be a matter of time until it goes walkies.

[mazmad]

'Celluloid retina' went through the exact same analysis recently, also inner city dweller. Not sure what exact vehicle punched out of the algorithmic analysis, check with him.

[sailaholic]

I had a VY wagon as a company car. Had it from about 170k to about 240. Had 2 services and one oil change in that time. Longest stretch was about 40k km with out an oil change. Oil generally still looked clean till about 10k km!

It got punished. I went with the theory they didn't care about the car, so why should I.

pre existing problems were
Front bushes were stuffed
Had some minor engine oil leak issues like valley gaskets.

Other problems that came up....
Radiator tank split.

Looking back it was a great car apart from being neglected.
I slept in it a number of times. (Stretched out I didn't touch the front seats or the back door.
Put a washing machine in the back with the rear seats up.
Took myself and 2 others and a boot full of tool on a 12 hr 850km car inspection round trip in comfort in just over one tank of fuel.

The people talking about the falcon being a dino, which model are they talking about. The later ones did get better if still dull interior.

Grandparent in law had the petrol Kia 4wd thing which they really like and said towed well but then got gearbox issues that were essentially terminal.


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[Apu]

If you are looking for a trailer, I've got a great one for MX5s for sale!

[RS2000]

Another vote for a Falcon - my BF (4L auto) tows great even with heavy trailer

Cheers

[Jeo]

Falcon wagon.

Our AU3 install car at work just ticked over 300,000 and it gets treated like a red-headed stepchild. Often tows 1000-1500kgs + a few hundred in tools and kit in the car itself, but occasional will be up to 2000kgs on the trailer. Has never missed a beat.