ashneedham replied on 02/09/2016 12:51
Posted on 02/09/2016 12:51
hi all,
I am looking at joining the many in the hobby of caravaning but due to only having a B driving licence I am curious at the possibility of down plating either my car or the caravan to give me more options.
let me explain a little about my situation. I am looking to buy my first tourer within the next year to begin my adventure in caravan holidays. There would be myself, my wife and my baby daughter so we were looking at a 4 birth.
I have recently changed my car to a Toyota RAV4. It has a GVW of 2190kg meaning (as far as I understand) on my current licence I could tow a caravan up to 1310kg MTPLM. Looking at that weight limit I have noticed that there are not a great deal of options for a 4 birth.
I know many people would suggest taking the B+E test but at a cost of around £700 for lessons + test, it's something I want to try and avoid. Especially as I would like my wife to be able to tow too so that would effectively cost us £1400.
added to that the cars curb weight is 1700kg so the max ideal weight to stay with in the 85% ratio would be 1450kg. So my thinking is that going for B+E is only going to allow me about another 140kg on the MTPLM of a caravan.
I have seen many caravans between 1310-1350kg MTPLM and so I wondered if it's possible to get either the caravan or the car down plated to make them within my 3500kg combined outfit limit?
if anyone has any knowledge or experience of this it would be appreciated. Especially who I would need to contact and how much it is likely to cost.
Thanks for your time
Ash
ashneedham
Caravanner