Damsel in distress. Soft Roader advice please.

[WideOpenBottle]

Hi all,

I'm a long time reader of PIstonHeads, but never posted, so please be gentle.

The Mr and I are needing a car that can tow approx 2000kg and have better traction all round as we are in the countryside and we will be towing a medium to large box trailer on gravel/grass/uneven surfaces. Trips to the snow in France will also be on the cards this winter.

I have about £4000 to spend and am looking at Nissan X Trails, VW Touareg and perhaps the Volvo XC70. Mpg is important as we do a fair bit of driving and we have four dogs (3 medium to large and one Border Terrier) so a decent sized interior would be good, too.

What are your thoughts?

Thanks very much,

Michelle.

[Shotaro]

I have a 2003 CRV which fits my German Shepherd and Border Collie with plenty of spare room, the seats can slide forwards to expand the boot

Other than the CRV there is a Rav4 and a Forester, however none really seem to have great MPG, they're big, heavy and pretty unrefined but get the job done

Sorry if that's not a huge amount of help, but any of those 3 should be pretty reliable

[WideOpenBottle]

Thanks. I hadn't thought of a CRV.

[GreatGranny]

VW Touareg and the Volvo XC70 won't be good on fuel.

The D5 Volvo engine is a great engine but when mated to the 4WD system it does become pretty juicy and also the 4WD system is known to have problems.

I would go for X Trail size. Still big enough for the dogs and can tow 2000kgs but economical when solo.