Hi ozbargainers.
I am looking at buying a used car for towing a caravan that weighs 1490 kg.
I was wondering if a 2007 Suzuki Grand Vitara would be OK?
Specifications on Gumtree are:
Gross Vehicle Mass:
2070 kg
Kerb Weight:
1653 kg
Vehicle's Payload Capacity:
420 kg
Towing Capacity:
1850 kg
Towing Capacity Braked:
1850 kg
Towing Capacity Unbraked:
750 kg
Cheers.
At the moment only $5000-$7000. Might have to keep saving to get something better.
Yikes. That discussion is all over the shop.
You 'can'.
Are you looking to tow it long distances? I assume as its a caravan you would be looking at touring with it. The questions you should be looking at are how comfortable will it be to drive.
The other factors you will have to take into consideration are that that is the empty weight of the caravan (I assume). Add in weight for anything you put into it, clothing, utensils (bbq etc?), water, gas, etc etc etc and it quickly adds up. This could easily put you over the weight limit. Especially with adding more weight into the vehicle too - 2+ people, lots of gear.
Whats your budget? You should really be pushing for a larger car to tow something like that IMO
At the moment only $5000-$7000. Might have to keep saving to get something better.
Lol. I typically see people towing Vitaras with free wheel hubs not the other way around.
80 series land cruiser or
Holden adventra 4wd or any commodore/ falcon if not heading off-road
You really need to look at your weights as k-rokfm said as you'll be close to the limits. If you want something smallish, have a look at the Kia Sorento around 06 / 07 diesel as they had a towing capacity of 2800kg. We had a Jeep KJ diesel that had a 2800 towing capacity and, surprisingly, was a great car. Generally diesels have higher towing capacity and the fuel usage doesn't go through the roof when towing like it does with petrol.
I’m here because of a 2070 saved search alert ha
But the Grand Vitara is a serious 4WD with ladder chassis and low range transfer case. As such it’s pretty heavy. So I think it would be fine for towing that load, just be sensible of course.
Might not be amazing on power, do you have the 4cyl or V6?
Gross Vehicle Mass:
2070 kg
Hahaha
Towing capacity is one thing. You should also be looking at the ball weight capacity. Many of the SUV style cars these days advertise a huge towing capacity but not a 100kg ball weight limit …. So basically makes it terrible for towing. Worth looking into as it would void your insurance and equally make your car unsafe should you exceed the limit.
What he said. Ball weight is also important to consider. Ball weight will reduce your vehicle capacity by that amount. Eg a 120kg ball weight will mean 120kg less in the car. Then you add two adults, two kids for say 220kg and you can cart 80kg of luggage.
You also need to consider the GCM, gross combined mass. That includes both empty vehicles and the lid in each of them.
As a point in case, many dual cab utes advertise 3.5t towing capacity, but to actually keep the GCM under control you virtually can’t carry anything in the ute. Ie it is almost impossible to take a family on holiday with a 3.5t (loaded) caravan.
Personally I prefer a larger tow vehicle so it’s further off the limit.
Many caravanners recommend no more than 80% of the weight of the vehicle.
Also is the caravan 1450 gross (loaded) or tare (empty)?
Nope.
Payload = GVM - Kerb Weight = 417kg.
a tank of of fuel (~50kg)
2x people (~200kg)
ball weight of trailer (10% of weight is a reasonable guess, so ~150 kg unloaded)
= 17kg left.
That's one large suitcase. No payload for water, back up fuel, hobby items, comfort items.
Yes, you could store stuff in the caravan, but what is it's payload? Can you store it while keeping the caravan balanced?
And what's the ball weight of a '07 GV, 85kg? So you will destroy your rear shocks if you do.
What's the GCM of a GV? That is also important.
https://www.redbook.com.au/cars/details/2007-suzuki-grand-vi…
https://www.redbook.com.au/cars/details/2007-suzuki-grand-vi…
Seems there's 2 main models, a 2.7L and a 2.0L.
GCM = 3920kg for both
Kerb weight (1535-1640kg) + caravan (1490kg) = 3025 - 3130kg, leaving 895-790kg remaining, before down-ball weight, etc etc
Thanks.
GVM or Gross Vehicle Mass is the most a vehicle is rated to weigh fully loaded.
GCM or Gross Combined Mass includes and trailers.
GCM - GVM = Towing Capacity
You can't exceed GVM (weight on your tyres) or GVM (the combined wight of the vehicle and anything towed by it) unless you want to risk significant fines.
The Grand Vitara has a Towing Capacity of 1850kg and a Payload of 430kg for the 2.7L according to Redbook.
Payload is weight on the vehicle, include fuel, luggage, occupants, food, drinks, water for consumption, accessories, modifications and ball weight
Tow kits are usually ~20kg. Roof racks are ~5kg, front bars can be 10kg to more than 50kg. Electric brake controllers are ~3 kg. Light bars w/ harness are ~3kg. These are all part of the GVM that are not given in the kerb weight unless the vehicle has been weigh bridged for rego.
BUT
Ball weight is limited to 85kg according to the thread OP linked, limiting towing to ~850kg, assuming 10% ball weight. Making 2009 and earlier Grand Vitara's not legal for towing a 1500kg caravan (other brands do this to with their 'soft roaders'). This is usually an issue with the rear suspension system discovered a few years into a model life (by warranty claims on tow vehicles).
I am currently doing research on what are the most economical vehicles for towing our caravan. Our caravan has a tare weight of 1100 kg and a GVM of 1460 kg. We are towing it with a 2004 kia Sorrento which has a braked towing capacity of 2300 kg. Whilst towing it we are averaging around 19l/100 km fuel consumption.
This is what I would like to know. Firstly, what is the most economical vehicle available to tow the caravan with the lowest fuel consumption? Secondly, what is the most economical ute for towing it? Thirdly I would like to know the prices of the vehicles recommended right across the board.
Thanks everyone.
What is your budget? Do you know the towball mass of the caravan?
Budget at the moment is under 20k. Not sure of the towball mass of the caravan. How do I find out?
Usually written on compliance plate
No such thing as Economical when paired with i need to tow this huge Caravan basically the weight of another car.
The remotely closest thing you are going to get while towing anything with less fuel consumption is operating a diesel powered car/ute with appropriate towing capability and ensuring proper tyre pressures on both the caravan and the car towing it.
Unfortunately i cannot recommend any worthwhile diesels as they are not my field of expertise but i am you are bound to get lots of replies.
Good Luck
Thanks. Do you have any idea about tyre pressure? Is it different when towing?
Will be higher, car user manual should specify
My 2013 Kia grand carnival 2.2L diesel has a fuel economy of about 14l per 100km of highway driving towing a 1700kg caravan.
What speed do you normally sit on while towing?
Just be careful of diesels with a DPF. Diesel Particulate Filter. Read up on them..
If your normal everyday driving is short, stop/start driving, it will clog the filter as it wont have the opportunity to burn off.
Yep I've been burnt by purchasing a Ford Kuga Diesel. The engine light went on for Dpf issue and ended up selling before it cost too much to fix.
How often do you tow it?
Diesel is the obvious choice but servicing and repair bills can be astronomical on some modern diesels.if you don't tow it that often you might be better off with petrol.
Just a couple of trips between QLD and VIC each year.
Have you done any research whatsoever or are you outsourcing it to us entirely?
You must be new here. Of course he is offloading all his research onto us.
I find those consumption figures interesting… they seem quite high, but maybe that's because it's an older car
My 2017 subaru liberty hits 13 to 14l /100kms, towing our 1150kg GVM van. Sure the trailer is a decent bit lighter, but it's only a 2.5l petrol engine.
I'd recommend looking at some mid sized petrol suvs for that kind of towing. Current models Mazda cx-5 or Hyundai Santa Fe (with towing upgrade pack) might be good starting points
RAV4 hybrid awd will tow 1.5T
Kluger hybrid will tow 2T
Starting at around $42k and $52k respectively
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/567876
Of course this isn't your first post on the issue…
Kluger hybrid will tow 2T
Starting at around $52k
More like around 60k for gx hybrid Kluger
Ah yes that one!
@spackbace: :)
come on, you need to know the prices if you're going to start taking orders for them.
Kluger GX AWD hybrid – $54,150, + on road costs
but if you want to sell one for 52k drive-away I'd be tempted to fly over :)
petrol 2wd is about 52k, still 2t towing capacity
Bi-Turbo 2.0 VW or 3.0tdi VW/AUDI.
Nissan xtrail hybrid is about to be launched, 1.5 ton towing
Heaps of cars with up to 1.8T towing, but when I was looking into this recently I found the towball mass was often the limiting factor as it is often only 100kg or 120kg
How do you find out the towball mass?
Have a look at the dMax or MUX
https://www.isuzuute.com.au
My in-laws get great economy towing their full size van with their MUX.
new MUX looks pretty good, if it ever gets here
The best choice for a van that size and weight woud be a MUX or the ute equivalent.
I have towed a 14ft van with a 2wd Kluger and got 14lt/100km. Did the job easily.
When looking at economy dont just focus on fuel economy, look at servicing costs and durability of the vehicle. Some have component failures more than others.
Get onto the caravaner's forums for more info from people who actually tow vans. There's some on facebook too.
Was the kluger petrol or diesel?
They only come in petrol
Is it a petrol Sorrento? Or do you drive at normal highway speed when towing?
Any diesel should do much better than that. Our 10yo 2.5TD does around 10l/100 around town and did 12-13 towing a 1500kg pop top caravan (not full height) at 100km/h. Bigger van just cost us 15l/100.
Don’t focus on economy, get the other features right and pick a vehicle that can tow a higher load if you want better economy. All the utes will be much the same.
The economy between comparable tow vehicles won’t make much difference, but towing at the limit of a vehicle will be asking it to use much more fuel than usual.
Yes a petrol one. Did 100 km/hr on the good road. A lot less in flood damaged areas.
Nissan Y62 Patrol..
Will tow it like theres nothing there up any hill all day long…. and plenty of space and comfort.and get better than 19/ltr
Most Economical Vehicle for Towing Caravan
Someone else’s car.
How much driving are you planning on doing?
Yes, the current fuel usage is quite high BUT spending $50k+ on a depreciating asset to save a few bucks on fuel isn’t really that economical. As above, a diesel is probably a good option but again it’s a big outlay that you may never recover from fuel savings alone.
And I would love to be averaging less than 19l/100km in my daily driver… (long term average is currently 26L/100km which includes a fair bit of freeway driving)
What do you drive, a rubbish truck???
Maybe old LandCruiser from their post history
10,000 km a year. Maybe a bit more.
Firstly, what is the most economical vehicle available to tow the caravan with the lowest fuel consumption?
Simple. Tesla Model X. It use 0 fuel.
Battery life while towing? What is the towing capacity?
FYI make sure you consider GCM - Total weight of the vehicle + payload + towing weight.
Plenty of cars can tow x amount, but by the time you put in a tank of fuel, some passengers, and a bit of extra stuff you're at that limit.
On a 79 series (assuming max weight) of 2312 + 3500kg towing = 5812. That leaves 500kg before its at GCM weight. Pretty easy to hit that. Pretty hard to find this info sometimes, but if you crash (which is already going to be more likely if you're overloading your vehicle), you will have zero insurance.
http://ozhitch.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/towingmassguid…
Redbook is the best resource but yes, you should never tow on the limit of the cars rated capacity
I went through this about six months ago with same budget and ended up buying a Ford territory. l was looking at diesels but ended up buying a petrol version because a particularly well-priced one came up and I do more around town driving and no very long trips. I get 13L/100km around town not towing and same economy on long trips towing (1400kg wind up camper). For you the diesel would probably be better.
I chose the territory because of price, towing capacity (1600kg with standard towbar, 2300kg with heavy duty towbar), towball weight (160kg standard towbar, 230kg heavy duty towbar) and lots of space for kids and luggage. I looked at Santa Fes and Sorrentos but towbar weight was too low (in general - can get some with tow packs that boost the towball weight but hard to find second hand). Nissan x-trail/Renault koleos would also have worked. You could also consider a falcon or commodore given the weight you’re towing
Do you reckon my towball weight might be too low on the 2004 Kia Sorrento? The guy who sold me the caravan towed with a Hyundai Terracan which has the same engine as the Kia Sorento.
The engine size has little to do with it. It’s about the suspension set up.
The car’s/towbar’s specifications will tell you what towball weight you can carry. Unfortunately it’s a little harder to find the what weight you can tow.
Budget?