Towcar of the Year winner announced
Comments
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I'm not envious of any of the tow cars I see see on site. My tow car was 5 yrs old when I bought it about 5 yrs ago. I believe it was £45/50k new ..... no way would I pay that for a car, but I'm quite happy to let others take the hit on depreciation & buy my cars 2nd hand.
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As MollysMummy says eloquently very often brand new ain't the best way forward...it's not just the obvious depreciation...often newer models have essential towing kit missing.....several makers new models have dropped self levelling for an extra 20bhp for instance and also modern diesels are hamstrung by dpfs and ad blu nonsense ...as the old Tunes adverts says diesels breath easier without all that b*****ks....
Tj
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Where do you find all these vast, most and the majority "statistics" from ?
Or are they made up to put your point across ?
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I can confirm the 5 seat version of the 2.0 tdi 190 has a nose weight limit of 100kgs, and a towing mass of 2500kg.
Correct, you can't have a spare wheel from the Skoda factory on some but you can buy them elsewhere for £160. I have, and will keep it under the bed in the caravan when towing.
https://www.thewheelshop.co.uk/skoda-kodiaq-18-space-saver-spare-wheel-tool-kit.html
It is a great tow car with the right specification.
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I may be late to the topic but this is my first posting.
I have a Discovery 4 3.0ltr diesel HSE and have been over the moon with the towing performance of this car. My assumption was that I would naturally progress to the 5 when it came along but the diesel haters have got me thinking. I live within the M25 and fall within the LEZ as was. I'm reliably informed that the actual LEZ for which cars are being charged is the same as the congestion charge zone, known as the ULEZ (Ultra Low Emission Zone). Beyond that any EU4 diesel vehicles are being phased out.
Now being a tow car I need it to be able to tow my not inconsiderate 2500kg caravan all over Europe every year without the inconvenience of having to charge a battery every 200 miles. Petrol is way too expensive to provide the required power without needing a following tanker to keep it fed. PHEV looked to be the answer. I was interested to see the XC90 T8 win the heavyweight class as I had already looked at the Volvo some months ago and the interior of the posh one is an absolute delight. BUT how can they show it to be top of it's class when no one has tried it with a dead battery. A 2.0ltr petrol (even a 345bhp one) is not going to pull my van up a mountain in Austria without blowing a gasket. I can't think of anywhere where I can charge the car whilst touring. Sites are generally low amperage affairs in Italy and France without the required ooomph to get the car sorted if the van's plugged in. I just can't see the award going to a car which just hasn't been tested to work once the charge has depleted. I think for my own case, I'll stick to diesel until a more thought out remedy is found to replace my current type of motivation.
Disco 5 is actually really good at all it has to do.
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And with the factory fit tow bar, no pin 10-11 wired up, so no fridge
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That's strange, I own one and pins 10-11 aren't wired up, when I contacted Skoda they said that's the way they do it
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The standard that you are referring to is not a regulation, so compliance is not mandatory. Besides, the standard only says which pin is reserved for what purpose, but that doesn't mean that all pins necessarily have to be connected.
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That's very strange, I contacted Skoda helpline and after a conversation with the technical dept, they confirmed that pins 10-11 are NOT connected on the Kodiaq, I then spoke to the dealer who spoke to Skoda again through the dealer network and again it was confirmed that the two pins are not connected.
The way to check if they are wired up is to connect the car and turn on the interior lights with the ignition off, the lights and fridge light should work, then start the car, the interior lights and fridge light should then go out, if they don't pin 10-11 and associated relay are not present or at least not working
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My tow car of the year when we bought the caravan in 2015 was a Mercedes Benz W221 S350L with an aftermarket OEM tow bar and electrics. Correctly wired so as everything worked as it should on a 13 pin socket, with a 7 pin adaptor for non caravan items that connected i.e. a small trailer and bike carrier, and back up box and rack. Did wot it said on the tin.
In 2016 it was my tow car of the year again.
In 2017 my tow car of the year is a Mercedes Benz W166 GLE350 AMG Line with factory fitted electric deployed tow bar with 13 pin socket correctly wired to power the caravan, or with adaptor a small trailer and Thule Velo Compact 3 bike carrier work.
How bizarre a CAMC TCOTY would give concerns to prospective buyers about the ability to power or not an attached caravan.
A quick question of just how many pins are connected should give a prospective buyer the confidence to know it is truly a TCOTY. BTW it ain't all 13 pins!!
Must get around to changing the avatar pic to the current TCOTY in our case.
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My towcar of the year involves a very muddy field, leaves boot free for carrying three dogs and reliably tows out others with vehicles that get stuck!
Do like Skodas though, but not for towing.
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Only cars entered by the manufacturers are considered in the competition. It’s industry driven.
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Anyone know how to edit my comment, as i am told no advertising allowed. I did not realise, otherwise would not have posted.
Cheers
Moderator Comment - Mark whilst I have edited your original post to remove the detail you asked re advertising unfortunately due to the quirks of the forum it still remains in the quoted post!!! We will have to live with that.
David
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Took the plunge and part ex my Antara for a Pre Reg Jeep Grand Cherokee which i pick up this Saturday, so whilst its not a contender for Tow Car of the year, i am sure it will be more than upto the job, so ill keep you all posted.
Shame its not on the list as a contender, but looks more then adequate for the money.
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Surprised that they had an issue with the DSG box We have the same box on our Audi and tow a Delta Ri twin axle. I've not had the issues they experienced but perhaps the box has some slight differences when installed in the Kodiak. The Audi is fitted with drive select which adapts the gearbox and throttle response dependent on your chosen setting. We always run it in dynamic mode (comfort is awful). I also find it much better with the box is S rather than D when towing.
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There several models with 100k tow limit plus the spare wheel is an extra at £105
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Strange indeed, having been told by Skoda and confirmed by a dealer who spoke to Skoda in front of me that the pins weren't wired, and by caravaners on here that they were, I took the car to a tow bar fitter and had it put on his test rig, = all wired up correctly, seems Skoda don't know their own product
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I'll just add this .. Towcar of the year .. a great club site sunset .. ( and a motorhome in the background for inclusiveness ) !
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My Towcar of the Year 2018 is my Land Rover Discovery. It will probably also be my Towcar of the Year in 2019 and 2020 as well !
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I often wonder what effect being named towcar of the year actually has? Does sales of that car actually increase and if so, by how much? or will people consider it when changing their car?
When I choose my tow car it is based on weight first then (in no particular order), reputation, what it looks like inside and out, boot space, power, warranty, toys and of course the best deal I can find.
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Yes, I've asked myself the same question, too. Because towing performance is just as much dependent on the caravan being towed as the car towing it, I can't quite see the point of a Towcar of the Year. To my mind it would be more appropriate to select an Outfit of the Year.
My criteria for choosing a towcar are much the same as yours except that I wouldn't put as much emphasis on weight so long as the max. allowable towload is adequate that's good enough for me. However, at my age I need a car that I can get into and out of easily, so that inevitably that means an SUV. Another bonus that comes with the SUV is 4 wheel drive (I'd never by a 2 wheel drive SUV but I could be tempted to a 4 wheel drive saloon so long as it doesn't sit low down).
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Thanks for the reply, and yes we are alike. Like you I love the higher driving position and ease of getting in, and yes I have become a real fan of 4x4, ours is 'on demand' (but can be locked in as well) so not a 'real' 4x4. It proved itself this last winter during the beast from the east where it gave fantastic performance, certainly noticeable when going out in the smaller runabout non 4x4. It is now certainly on my list on things to have on a tow car.
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I drive a Passat Alltrack as a compromise between SUV (which I am not a fan of) and normal car, best of both worlds having on demand 4wd, raised ride height but relatively normal driving and handling. There are plenty of 4wd estates now on the market including from Ford and Vauxhall albeit I think only Audi and BMW have a 4wd saloon and they come with normal ride height. Volvo tried marketing a 4wd S60 with raised ride height but it didn’t sell (in the UK) and Subaru no longer sell saloons.
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