Tow Car of the year 2024 - up market?
I was reading a post on a Facebook group today, and there was mention of the TCotY awards having landed, and causing quite a stir on the CAMC Facebook posting. I thought I would take a look.
The winners seem to have gone (very) up market this year! (all prices below as tested).
https://www.caravanclub.co.uk/whats-on/awards/towcar-of-the-year/2024-winners/
Overall winner a Porsche hybrid at £78k. The luxury winner a Bentley at £220k.
The lowest priced option, a Ford Puma at £27k, then Skoda Octavia at £35k.
The Polestar 2 - next cheapest at £46K
Four full EVs in the winners, from 46K (Polestar), 55K (Skoda), 61K(Nissan) and 64K (The VW BUZZ).
Three more Hybrids and regular diesels at 53k (pickup), 62k (XC60 PHEV) and 63k (VW Transporter).
Thats a lot of expensive hardware...
Comments
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It's ridiculous, who's realistically going to be towing with a Bentley or even a Porsche - very few of the club membership.. I realise we are moving towards EV's but the cost most of this years line up will out of the reach for many. A little out of touch one feels!
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Every time I venture out the roads are overun with Bentleys and Porsches all tugging twin axle Bucccanneers and the like .
I fear that this year's TCOY results are simply indicative of how the management of OUR club want things to evolve .
After all, if you can shell out £220 k for a tow car you won;t be worried about the cost of a pitch, will you ?
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Two things I would say about the Bentley is firstly was it included as a bit of humour? Secondly I am surprised that Bentley made one available for testing?
With regard to the Porsche Cayenne E-Hybrid Platinum Edition. There was a guy many years ago who used to contribute to a few forums and he had a Cayenne when they first come out so there people out there willing and able to pay that sort of money. The Club have always claimed that they will become good secondhand buys in the future as the reason for testing cars in that price range.
With regard to people being able to afford such cars I can relate a little observation from one of my neighbours. For years they have had two cars, probably, both, ten years old. They were never used a lot so perhaps he was not particularly interested in cars or their age. All of a sudden a 73 reg Kia EV6 arrives on their drive circa £62500! Have they won the lottery? It seems not, but talking to him he mentioned that it was through a salary sacrifice from work. Perhaps this sort of scheme is more common than we think which puts the price of some cars within reach of more people?
David
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Salary sacrifice is a huge benefit if you are working and a higher tax payer. Essentially you “sacrifice” some of your pay (gross) and the company leases you a car using that money. As the company lease it (if they are VAT registered), they can do so ex VAT and get any tax breaks associated with the CO2 emissions of the car.
As an employee, you loose the gross salary, but as a tax payer your take home pay is not so affected. However, you do pay tax on the car as though it’s a company car (which effectively it is). But with an EV, that’s at an extremely low rate (tax year 23-24 it’s taxable value is just 2% of the cars list price) and you pay tax on that at your marginal rate.If you want a new car on your drive, it’s generally a cheap way to get one..
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Surely the TcofTY is so that those who do the judging can have a jolly good time running around in as many expensive cars as they can get their hands on and all at the members expense.
They certainly don't live in the real world, just like many politicians.6 -
We once met a couple who towed with a Bentley. They drove it to the site bar each evening where the lady of the pair put away copious amounts of gin and their dog was left in the car where it took great delight in chewing the steering wheel 😄
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Morning
Just out of interest, we've had this year a Concord motorhome with a Bentley as a run around! Two of our seasonal pitch holders tow with Porsches, both cars less than 3 years old and one who tows with a Mercedes G Wagon. Then there's the new caravanner with a brand new Range Rover Velar towing a brand new Coachman twin axle. All that on a £20 per night site, so maybe the TCOY are only slightly not in the real world.
JK
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Like the idea of a Bentley as a 'runaround' JK - but the Velar is a very much 'cut-down' Range Rover and not that expensive by large new car standards.
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I think you'd be surprised at the amount of people who think nothing at that amount for a motor GT, it's easy to do on lease or pcp. Personally I wouldn't entertain that sort of money for a Landrover of any kind, so many people you meet on site with reliability problems. We had a new Evoque here last year that had to have a complete new engine and drive train after only 3k miles! Irrespective who foots that sort of bill I'd have a Merc or Porsche for similar cash all day long.
JK
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Double post sorry
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Correct.
My dad's just ordered his second Velar, the Petrol Hybrid one, his 15th Land Rover/Range Rover.
He did have a dickie fuel pump on one of them, replaced under warranty, but not bad for nearly 40 years of LR/RR ownership. (Obviously he's been lucky JK....
)....0 -
Looks like we both 'mis spoke'
https://www.landrover.co.uk/range-rover/range-rover-velar/index.html
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To include EVs in the Tow of the year test in the latest CMC magazine was disappointing to point of being irrelevant .and meaningless to including them against ICE cars ,even in 12/15 years’ time after the production of ICE cars stop, they will still be in use for a considerable number of years .
Perhaps a completely different competition pitting EVs against each other , then include the important performance figure of range when towing.
It was a very poor analysis of EVs for two important reason which were ignored/glossed over
1, Solo range on a full charge was quoted , what about towing range, from what I have read elsewhere ,this could be as much as 50%, less , so could be as low as 125 miles before recharge .
2 , Where do car/caravan combinations park whilst the car is being recharged ? as yet I have not seen one drive through charging bay , will that mean the caravan will hang out of the charging bay whilst the car is being charged ? or otherwise the caravan have to be uncoupled and parked elsewhere.? Who in their mind would leave an uncoupled caravan in a service station ?
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Moderators please note I have been a member for 43 years , an admin error by the membership dept meant I had to be registered as a new member, I have made a number of posts prior to this , and should not be subject to the restriction .
This can be Deleted User once noted
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I have just seen the Tow car awards, what a load of rubbish.
1. The price of these vehicles is out side must peoples range.
2. I can not see any mention of range while towing, or mention of great reduction in mileage in cold weather.
If this is the best that the club can cum up with, there will not be a club by 2035.
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Parking the Bentley and Porsche; unlikely ever on my driveway with two Rolls Royce on there ...
....Do these tests ever include Endurance when towing: ml/km on a tank of fuel and/or battery charge ?
It would be helpful to know this information.
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I wonder if any of the judges who thought EV tow cars were a good idea actually considered the true range of the vehicle whist towing (50% reduction seems to be the norm) or tried to find somewhere to recharge whist hitched. On motorways unhitching seems to be the only solution but not all service areas have access between caravan parking and charging bays.
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I think it would be hugely beneficial for the club to give guidance on range or economy while towing with an EV, though I can (partially) understand why they don't. The reason being, it's so dependent on what you tow.
For me (for what it's worth) I get between 130 and 140 miles from 100% to 0% while towing our 1550kg Bailey Unicorn S3 Vigo. Thats a drop from the normal 190-210 solo. The new version of the Polestar (82kWh) could probably achieve closer to 160-170 on a single charge.
I am not sure that the TCotY awards are the right place to judge locations for charging while towing, but its a topic I would want and expect the club to take a view on. For example - to start and maintain a list of locations where tow through charging is possible, and at least for MCAs, where unhitch towing is possible and where unhitch towing is not possible. It would also be great if they could engage with MCAs on members behalf to improve charging wile towing facilities - I feel a letter to the magazine coming on...
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Its all a bit of nonsense anyway, dominated over past years by VAG group cars. Just depends which manufacturer chooses to enter a vehicle. Also mostly now devoid of the useful information needed to make a decision like realistic towing range or technical stats which used to be included. Its not like the past when some cars were very iffy on power and torque and some stability / safety margins were questionable. But is does look like a fun day out for all concerned.
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Whilst I believe such reviews or awards should have an aspirational element to them, they should also have a strong element of realism or relevance to the majority of the readership.
Unfortunately the works in question fall far short of what the normal club member find relevant or useful.
They are also sadly lacking in the technical content they should hold contain, that would make them of any real use to members when it comes to choosing there next vehicle.
In short the reviews are a useless waste of time, space and expense. It is a disgrace that the club should associate itself with such a farce.
Colin
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I spoke with 3 club representatives at the NEC Stand last week and asked about their Tow Car of The Year published results, and the lack of detail about the cars in practical terms regarding their endurance whilst towing and their through-life costs with respect to battery-life and replacement costs. None had anything of value to offer, and two simply shrugged their shoulders.
Albeit disappointed I was not really that surprised. Looking forward to the magazine containing the test results to be come through the letter-box... but then again, maybe not.
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