Towing a car
We have and Elddis 196 Autoquest motorhome and are looking to purchase a small car to tow behind. Would a Fiat 500 be okay. Any recommendations please.
Comments
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First of all you need to know what you are allowed to tow. To the best of my knowledge it is 2000kg but have a look at the Elddis weight plate on the motorhome to be absolutely sure. It will tell you what the gross train weight is. Subtract its permissible gross vehicle weight and that will give you the maximum towload. I am assuming that you have a driving licence that allows you to tow in the first place.
The next question that needs to be asked is how do you intend to tow the car, by A-frame or on a trailer? If A-frame then you will virtually be limiting yourself to towing within the UK only as A-frames are tolerated in the UK, but you can run into difficulty with them on the Continent where they are, strictly speaking, illegal. However, a max. towload of 2000kg should allow you to go either way, A-frame or trailer.
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If you intend to use an A frame and it being “tolerated” in the UK can I take Lutz reply one stage further. The advice (and that’s what it is advice) from the Department for Transport is:
“.......... it is clear that we believe the use of A-frames to tow cars behind other vehicles is legal provided the braking and lighting requirements are met. However, while this is our understanding of the regulations, it is only the courts which can reach a definitive interpretation of the law.”
All it needs is for you to come across a Roads Policing Officer or DVSA Vehicle Examiner who wants to show an interest.
The full article is here.
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I tow a Fiat 500 on an A-frame behind my 130bhp Bolero with no problems. I have a "Tow bars to Tow cars" A-frame with electronic braking on the car which I find easier to use than my previous over run system. The company also sells cars already converted.
Lutz is correct, don't A-frame abroard as you may be stopped and fined.
Putting a car on a trailer comes with a different set of problems and, for me, is not viable. The most serious one being the overloading of the rear axle and a large lump of payload used up.
I have been towing for around 20 years and never had any problems with any of the cars that I have towed. The current car has probably been towed about 15000 miles.0 -
Been towing with an A-Frame in the UK for 16 years now without any problems whatsoever. I had a Car-A-Tow frame for 14 of the years, its a bit on the heavy side but very reliable. Changed to an electronic frame from Towbars-2-Tow Cars 2 years ago. Its lighter and altogether a much neater and better solution but a bit more expensive. They also sell cars already fitted out. I would never have a trailer, too much trouble.
peedee
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yep we have towed with an a-frame for many years its a brilliant way of towing.we now have a roadmaster frame by LNB from Bristol which electronically brakes the car ,it works in conjunction with the servo .when you brake in the motorhome a red light comes on the dashboard to tell you the the brakes on the car are also working.brilliant piece of kit.and it only weighs 9kg so you can hook it up alone in 3/4 minutes.
Brian & Jo
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Hi
Sorry this is slightly off topic and more out of curiosity but just wondering what advantage does a motorhome and tow car have? Is it just preferred or are there benefits to the combination compared to a car and caravan?
Towing a car with motorhome omitts any benefit I can see with a motorhome plus a lot more cost compared to caravan and caravan.
Cheers
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It’s better to tow a small vehicle/trailer with a large one rather than the other way around. Stability is vastly better and the performance of the larger towing vehicle will hardly be affected.
People will always have their own personal reasons for doing it, of which, the above is only one.
As for cost, I don’t think you’ll find there’s much in it if you compare a decent sized tow car plus caravan with a MH plus small car and trailer/A-frame.
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All a matter of how someone approaches their hobby.
Personaly I feel safer driving a 3.5 ton motor home pulling a trailer, than I did having a Discovery of 1.75 tons pulling a tandem axle caravan weighing a ton plus.
cost is relative to what people can, or want to, spend.
loading a mhome is a lot easier, than a caravan. Unfortunately some caravaners make no effort to check the nosewight or axle load which could affect handling and safety.
Likewise, loading a car onto trailer is easy once the stops have been setup on the trailer to provide the correct balance.
i am not a fan of A frames, for a number of reasons, but for some just coupling up and driving off is easy option.
Motor homes can be used for days out, where upon a caravan generally has to be sited.
Having a small car which is easy to park when visiting areas, has its advantages over having a larger car.
For some reason insuring a Motorhome, is not much more than insuring a caravan.
rgds
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Suppose where I'm coming is cost we have a VW tigaun family car and tow car in one, like everyone we have budget so a slightly bigger car and caravan works for us.
We tour exclusively in Scotland so stability is never really an issue as we are nearly always travelling at a max speed of 50mph and 150miles to morvich is about our limit.
One advantage to the motorhome camp is next year we are off to the Scottish islands and a motorhome is considerably cheaper to take on the ferry.
Thanks for the insight in to the motorhome side of the club and sorry to the OP for going off topic😀
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Which proves we're all different as a MH seems unlikely to suit you at present - apart from ferry fares as long as you don't tow a car.
We tend to change our views as we age and ability alters but you've got years yet.
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The weight of a Fiat 500 is about the same as the weight of my caravan - not much point me changing what I tow.
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That’s not been my experience, Lutz. Servicing costs for our Sprinter were far less than our Shogun whereas road tax and insurance were the same.
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If you are using your MH for everyday transport and it replaces another vehicle that may, as for you, cut the costs but if you have to have another vehicle then you are looking at increased 'standing' costs.
If the use of the A frame is for UK only it seems a good option if you need transport when on site and the MH is not suitable.
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Road tax is very much cheaper if the motorhome is over 3.5 tons. You then pay HGV rates (£185p.a). Service costs about the same as a tow vehicle and habitation service same as a caravan. Insurance not much difference if not less when comparing like values but i digrees the thread is about towed cars behind a motorhome.
My towed car, a very roomy Suzuki Celerio semi automatic, kerbside weight 815Kgms, is zero rated for VED. I really don't know it is there when pulled by my 170h.p. motorhome.
peedee
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Hi Lutz, It would actually for me be maintenance and depreciation for three motor vehicles, not just two.
I am not going to drive to my daughter in London for Christmas in a little toy car for 250 miles up the Motorway, or try to park a 4 tonne Motorhome in a street of terraced houses in Ealing - loaded with presents and the railway shut down I need a real car as well.
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Probaly true for me because I used to do all my own maintenance on the caravan. However if you don't then I doubt there is much difference. I never kept track of the cost of ownership of a caravan but my motorhome costs about £1 a mile or £60 per night to own, use and maintain. The towed car would be nowhere near that, I'd guess at 20p per mile. Added together they would still be nowhere near the per night cost of a good hotel.
peedee
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although i dont tow a car behind my MH, i could easily do so as we have a 'toy car', a Fiat 500.
i used to have a large Audi Avant, too, but my darling OH gave it away to my darling son, stating (the obvious) that we didnt need two cars and a MH.
She hated taking the 'real car' to the supermarket or to our daughter's, and we both love the easy driving/parking, cheap costs and utterly reliability of the 'toy car'.
as we do 95% of our driving (when not in the MH) doing 2-20 mile trips, the odd 200 miler now and again is the pain i have to suffer.
however, IMHO, its far better than driving a needlessly large car for tiny trips to the paper shop, which i see folk doing on a daily basis.....when im walking or cycling....
to have a large caravan requires a large and thirsty (and a pain to park) large vehicle, often a very large one....4x4?
funnily enough, i often see the largest people getting out of the largest vehicles after the shortest trips....any correlation, i wonder?
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Prior to owning a m/h we had a large caravan, large tow car and my small car. So 3 lots of insurance and maintenance and 2 lots of tax. The m/h costs less to insure and tax than the tow car, service about the same. Habitation service around the same as the caravan.
We do tow my small car on an A frame and at home use it for everyday use, its just big enough for the suitcases when going to the airport. We did have a second car for a shirt time (sons) but it didn't get much use. As we are away for half the year in the m/h having the small car is just fine.
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The original "Smart4/2" Pure is a lightweight !!.Towed one behind my 'Autocruise Sunningdale for years !!0
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I guess it's al down to individual wants and needs. There are areas/sites / destination your cant reach in a car and caravan. We have had some wonderful holidays on remote and tranquil sites where only smaller motorhomes and campervans could go. Yes one could visit in a car but if you wanted to stay over night or a few nights you would need to use a tent or at best a camping pod which on a couple of these sites are available to you.
Our friends with the motorhome and tiny towed car can also uncouple and drive those difficult miles separately. They are then free to use this car at will for the duration of that stay. For them it works very well and opens up more opportunities for overnighting in beautiful, remote places. Waking up in stunning surroundings and, in my case going off for an early morning fish ijust as the sun is rising is pure heaven.
It's all about choice and widening choices with a towed car may be the answer for some.
I'm sure our fiat 500, if weights agree, would have been just the ticket but other makes are available.
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