Family Cars to tow a Caravan

[ninjaturtlesmum]

Hi I'm sorry if this has been posted before but I'm just wandering what second hand cars are best to pull a 4/5 berth caravan. I have three children and a DH so 5 of us in total. Would want to fit three car seats across the back and if it had extra seats in the boot for occasional use around town (ie for when we have the kid's friends back after school) that would be a bonus. Currently have a Citroen c4 grand Picasso but it is an automatic, 1.6 litre engine and apparently does not tow very much!! Probable budget of around 5k - am I asking for the impossible?? Thanks

[Nodney]

We are a family of five, 3 kids 8, 4 and 2 and tow our five berth caravan with a Honda FRV. It's old now (06) but they make them up to 09. It's diesel (2.2 I think) and tows really well. It has three seats in the front and three in the back and we put our 8 yr old in the front and the 2 younger in the back.

[WhoTheFuckIsSimon]

You need to look at weights of caravans and then weights of cars. So go on caravan finder website and see some vans you like, look what the MLPTM weight is. Your car needs to be heavier. Ideally you shouldn't tow at more than an 85% ratio, so your van weighs 85% or less than the car weight. You can tow heavier but the nearer to 100% the more unstable the outfit may be. You also need to double check the legal towing weight of the car. Sometimes a 1700kg car may only legally be allowed to tow 1600kg for example. Hondas are popular tow cars and I think Kia got tow car of the year....but you see all sorts. I tow a 4 Berth van with a Ford Focus but I do get some funny looks!

[ninjaturtlesmum]

Thanks for your replies, thats great info. Excited that our dream
of getting a caravan will be finally coming true!!

[WhoTheFuckIsSimon]

I don't know anything about a Picasso btw but plenty of people tow with automatics. My focus is manual, but is a 1.6 ltr so neither of those things rule a car out as such. I must admit my car can be a bit underpowered at times, I may have to drop to 4th on a longincline own a motorway for example but it's not terrible. Weight is the most important thing IMO.

[Flappingandflying]

Nose weight is not enough on the Citroen. Skoda Octavia tows like a dream.

[midnightmoomoo]

We have a Renault Grande Scenic which has the hidden seats in the boot and can fit three car seats across the back.