please talk to me about landrovers....or other cars for towing

[froccamoccachocca]

I need to get a car that tows a horse box and is big enough to take associated 'stuff'....and to transport dogs to facilitate their social lives.

the obvious choice I think is a land rover. I don't have a big budget at all. and it looks like you there are alot for under £5k. but with high mileage. do they just go on and on or is it daft to buy high mileage? what is the insurance like?

any other vehicle suggestions?

I towed a caravan on hyundai tuscon, 2l diesel - was fantastic. Went all round the country and up some pretty steep hills which it handled no problem. The rear windscreen opened without having to open the whole boot which was really useful when packing some into it. Good on insurance and tax. Changed to Ford Kuga which is also good for towing but not as good as the Tuscon.

Tuscon was 4 wheel drive as well and had an injector which meant that setting off was easy on hills. I think we had the cdti model.

Volvo XC90. We tow an 8 metre caravan. Ours has done 140,000 miles. 2011. You can get so much in the boot and if you fold back seats down our model fits a full single divan bed and mattress in the back.

Only downside is repair can be expensive but so can landrovers. Tbh I think my Volvo is nicer and has better spec inside than most landrovers I've seen of similar age. I also think it's more car like on the road (less tractorish I would describe it!) while also being a great 4x4. We have used it to tow other cars in the snow. It has a winter mode for ice and we keep winter tyres on all year round for boggy campsites. Have driven in very snowy alps as well.

I've heard good things about the tucson but it definitely has a much smaller boot than our Volvo. What size caravan did you tow with it?

I used to tow for my business, nothing as heavy as a horse though. The car best at it was my old Discovery, when they work they are excellent, pretty unbeatable. However note the ‘when they work’ part, because mine often didn’t. When I didn’t need to tow anymore I went for a BMW and it’s lovely having a car that is reliable.

Also had a Kia Sorento, that was awful, excellent at towing but so set up for that that when you didn’t have anything on the back it drove very badly.

I would look at a Toyota Landcruiser, does what the Disco does but the reliability will be better. Just not as nice to look at as the Disco, but that’s not a big deal.

A caravan is a very different weight to a laden horsebox. I’d go for something a lot heavier on the car side, you don’t want the tail wagging the dog!

I have a friend who towed her horse box with a LR Defender for years. The number plates were stolen a few times! The car itself was stolen a couple of years ago. She replaced it with a Toyota pick up. Hilux?

We used to have a Landcruiser to tow an IFOR 510 and a 16.2hh horse.
It was more than capable of the job.

Depending what trailer you have, say a Cheval Liberté, which is lighter, you can get away with having a less hefty towing vehicle.

People at my yard use Kia Sportage to tow. One will only tow her own horse but the other will take 2. I think that is a bit of an ask for the vehicle 🙈

Can't advise about towing horseboxes, but my son is a mechanic and says never to buy a LR as they are really unreliable.