Towing car recommendations (horse trailer)

[FurryPie]

Putting this here as more traffic, I’m after a towing car for my horse trailer. It needs to have a 2000kg minimum towing capacity.

My budget is £10k and I don’t want any older cars so no old style Sorrento recommendations please. The ones I’m looking at are the Tiguan, Mazda CX-5 and Kuga. I don’t want any bigger than that.

Any other recommendations? I’m a bit picky with my cars and won’t buy some based on style but happy to look at any others that may be recommended. My friend has a Ssangyong Korando but that’s too small as I have 3 DC and a large dog also.

Thanks!

Thank you Praying.

I will not be towing until I’ve done my trailer test, so don’t need to worry there.

I will not be towing anywhere near the 2000kg limit, I just want it to tow that so I know I’m safe and within the limits. I could opt for a car that has a 1800kg limit, but even that’s too tight for me. Trailer is a single trailer, so I’ll never be towing 2 horses. And 500kg is his summer weight, so the max he ever is during the year.

I’m fully up to date with all the laws and what I can and cannot tow, I know some people are clueless when it comes to this stuff, but I’m not! I’ve done extensive research when it comes to towing limits, weights etc (and yes I know it’s not about what a car can tow, it’s about the braking) and taken lots of advice in real life too. If I had more disposable income I’d push to a car that could tow 3.5t, but I can’t as I like to have spare money for emergencies and don’t want to plough all my spare cash into running a car if I don’t need to. I also will probably only be towing once or twice a month, to local shows/hacking etc and never more than half an hour to an hour away. So it won’t be going out every day or towing for hours on end.

I’m going to view a Korando next week for a test drive, so will see how that goes. I’m in no rush, I just wanted to see if anyone had any first hand experience with the cars I listed (and if anyone had any recommendations on similar size cars that don’t cost the earth to run or tax).

Thank you all for your input, much appreciated.

I grew up in a an area full of cattle farmers and they all drove isuzu troopers. Which they don’t make anymore but are absolute warriors if you can find one with low mileage.

Yes I’ve heard they’re great towing cars as I know a few people with them, but they’re too old for what I’m looking for. I’ll be looking at something from 2012 onwards.

I tow with a Jeep Cherokee, can pull max 2.5T.

Ooh yes, a Jeep. That’s a good call. Will have a look at those. What size engine do you have?

Before you buy, check the road tax on Jeeps... or in fact any 4x4.

Mine costs me over £500 a year.

I had a look as the newer Jeeps and the 2.0 litre was £160 a year. Although I don’t know what that tows as I didn’t check. I wish autotrader would list the towing capacity, would make life much easier!

I think most of the newer ones with a decent towing capacity are just over £300 .

The one to watch is the Wrangler as older diesel autos are over £500 tax and they can't tow very much without the heavy duty axle option.

We sail not ride, and currently roof-top so we are not towing. However, we do have a lot of kit so I can comment on the Tiguan from that point of view.

I find it a nice car to drive. Copes very well with a full load of kit including a boat on the roof. However, the boot really isn't that big. I only have one DC, so if it's just him and I going to an event it's fine. The back seats lay completely flat and then loads of gear fits in. If I had more DC and needed the back seats, it really wouldn't take much. It's also sometimes annoying that it isn't a very long car- anything that doesn't break down really short has to go on the roof.

Next time we are having a vehicle change we are going to have a van.

Hi OP, no idea why I clicked on this thread as I can't at all help re. towing, but for some reason I did! But I do have a Tiguan, and I absolutely love it. It's a great car. BUT, it's not that big, which is one of the reasons I love it, as for a 'bigger' car, it still fits easily in parking spaces etc.

Not trying to put you off, but I'd advise you definitely get one for a test drive and get all of your DC to get in, plus the dog, and check it would still be ok.

Thank you phone I did think that maybe those ones weren’t the best towers.

That’s great, thank you reef and HJ. Nice to hear actual reviews . Size wise I think it’ll be ok, I currently have a Focus which we all fit in surprisingly well . Even when we go camping we have plenty of room, that’s minus the dog though! I’ll definitely take one for a test drive though, thank you.