Towcar suggestions

It is more the length of your journeys than the annual mileage. I ran a 2014 2L diesel Yeti for 7K a year but avoided short runs. The VAG diesel range do suffer dpf issues, as do other makes, but the later Euro 6 models running on adblue are I believe far better. The last Yetis produced would be worth looking at, as would the VW Touran. I owned one of these before the Yeti and it was a nice car, huge inside for such a small footprint.

I have moved to a 1.5L petrol Audi A3 to tow my low profile 1200kg van and I'm very impressed, but with a normal van and the aerodynamics of towing a brick I think you are on the limit unless you went for a larger engine you would subsequently pay heavily for it regarding mpg. 

If you do go VAG get the auto box, they are far stronger than the manuals.

Colin

Hi Colin 

Thanks for the response, I  think that's my dilemma re distances. For example today from Wakefield I went to Menston nr ilkley and a mix of motorway, A roads and country roads. On Monday I'm in Leeds City centre which is stop start drag all the way. There's no real pattern to my driving distances. Maybe I'm over thinking it too much?

I will have a look at the Yeti and I'm also fancying a auto anyway so that's good. All I  need now is for garages to reopen so I can actually go look at some cars!

Damien 

I'd not worry too much about the DPF issues. As long as you’re doing some higher speed/higher revving runs, it'll be fine. I've run diesels for years, including a fair bit of commuting and town use at one time, and never had a problem.

If getting an auto, I would be wary of the VAG dry plate DSG auto boxes. I don’t know if the Yeti has a dry or wet box. I suggest you research problems via the internet.

We're just about to swap our old Santa Fe for a Mazda CX-5, 2.2D.  Apart from much better mpg it has the latest ULEZ spec so it can be driven in cities with ultra-low emission zones (hence £30 road tax) and still has the capacity to pull our Coachman. We are a one-car retired couple and very much hope this will be both great tug and shopper for the rest of our motoring days. 

If you are thinking of a diesel auto Yeti it is only available as a 4wd. This would have the wet clutch DSG auto box. A 2017 Yeti would be due some quite major service work:

Cambelt and water pump change (5yrs) £600, DSG oil change (40000mls) £215, Haldex 4x4 oil change 20-40000mls) £85, Brake fluid change (2yrs) £60.

Vehicles are often sold on with so called full service records without this work having  been carried out. 

I have always found towcars to be a compromise of amongst other things Budget performance/economy, space/carrying capacity, kerbweight. Are you a minimalist or taking all things plus. dogs, bikes etc? Do you want to visit larger sites or out of the way CL sites where 4wd/AWD can be handy?

Your budget gives you a wide range of choice, in addition to the estate cars you mention maybe BMW 3 Touring, X1 or 2 series tourer which can be had with xdrive if needed. Kia/ Hyundai have good warranty7/5 yrs. Mitsubishi and Honda some capable SUV style cars. Then there's Subaru, Infinity, Jeep and Ssangyong a bit more left field but can be good value. 

I would avoid small capacity turbo petrol engines. Probably a 1.8ltr petrol or 1.6ltr diesel is minimum for your van. If you go for auto Imo Torque converter autos are still best as they amplify starting torque unlike dual clutch or CVT box's. 

Good luck with your search, let us know the winner!

I think we're quite minimalist when we travel. There's 2 of us plus the dog, a air porch awning, couple of lightweight chairs and a  small BBQ (table top style) as well as the usual (gas bottle, waste, water etc). 

Lots of good suggestions and things for us to think about. I was looking online last night and really liked the look of the Mazda 6 2.2 D SPORT NAV 5d AUTO. Obviously when I'm able I will test drive a few but there seems to be plenty of choice out there.

Damien 

Looks like a good choice for towing plus a nice looking car. The auto on Mazda is a torque converter combined with a multi plate clutch which should give a good pull away and economy.

Bit off topic but i see that Coachman is now wholly owened by a big Swedish? company

Will it come flat packed?!!

Re tow cars, and the comment re compromise-my view is that whilst this may be true, and I suppose for many of us price will be a limiting factor, we choose the car that we want based on our preferences and not what will tow the van we have at that time.

Now, as we like cars that will almost always be capable tow cars that is not an issue but its the car first and the van second.

Up till the last year I do about 22000 miles a year and of that there would be a max of about 3000 miles towing and, to me, it makes no sense to buy a car that you may feel is a compromise just because its a 'good' tow car..