A Towing Shed Suggestion

[Russet Grange]

Hello all.

I'm thinking of a possible bit of car juggling, and one option is a third vehicle for nothing more than towing duties. Those duties will involve trips to the tip and trips to the builders merchants, always towing my trailer (1000kg max total weight).

This needs to be a cheap old thing, £2k ideally. It will need to cover no more than 500 miles in a year, VED must be low. Fuel economy is utterly irrelevant.

Smaller is better, simple is better, reliable would be nice.

The fact it can be a gas guzzler gives me hope, but gas guzzlers also tend to cost a lot in VED. I'd buy another RAV4 in an instant, but VED is high.

Cheers

[Billy_Whizzzz]

At that price just get what comes up and isn’t on its last legs.

[HiAsAKite]

Define "low" VeD.. for 2k there are a lot of RAV4s out there, and one "maintenance" bill would easily wipe out the difference between high and low VED..



But as the previous poster said.. buy on condition.

[Russet Grange]

Thanks.

I'd like to be a in the £195 VED bracket (or lower), which means no RAV4 of that age as far as I can tell.

I see that you can specify VED on Autotrader, so that's helpful.

[paul_c123]

Is there a strong reason why you can't tow with your existing car? Most cars can manage 1000kg, if they can tow. And a towbar is going to be way cheaper than having a whole another car, complete with tax, insurance, MoT, servicing etc of its own. And of course, in that price range.....repairing things that break or are worn out.

[A500leroy]

Something like a diesel A4 estate or a petrol V6 Omega is where I'd go.

[Russet Grange]

paul_c123 said:

Is there a strong reason why you can't tow with your existing car? Most cars can manage 1000kg, if they can tow. And a towbar is going to be way cheaper than having a whole another car, complete with tax, insurance, MoT, servicing etc of its own. And of course, in that price range.....repairing things that break or are worn out.

Yes my 2017 RAV4 can tow it easily, but I'd like to replace with an EV. We already have one EV but it's an old Leaf with limited range. I'd like an Ioniq or 64kwh Leaf to replace the RAV and neither of those is really suitable for towing.

It's just something I'm considering, but I'm sure there are simple/bullet-proof sheds out there for a couple of thousand that will not cost too much in VED, with the only cost being insurance and MOT. (The thing will only cover 500-1000 miles/year so it will get an oil change once every couple of years, a bit of fuel, and that's it - hoping for zero repairs at such low use).

[stevemcs]

Mk3 Mondeo estate, it will take a full size pallet in the back, if not a Freelander 2

[ZX10R NIN]

1.4T Insignisa:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202509196...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202507114...

Mazda6:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202508255...

Mazda3:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202509086...

Giulietta Veloce:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202508125...

[Snow and Rocks]

I appreciate it's not really what you asked but could be a viable option. Especially if you like your Rav4.

I went through the same thought process for my wife and ended up buying a Rav4 PHEV.

45 miles or so as a decent EV for day to day use and then becomes a (300+ bhp) hybrid with the usual 500+ mile range.

Will happily tow 1500kg too - best of both worlds with more flexibility for long trips than a pure EV. Will pull 60 in 5.5s so way more fun to blast around in than a dreary Leaf too!

[InitialDave]

Spend a bit more and buy an old Land Rover? No VED or MOT, very cheap classic insurance, will be fine with local towing like that, and unless you make a really bad choice in your purchase, they don't go down in value.

Only issue is they're no longer cheap even for rough ones. But in terms of net overall spend, I think the maths can work.

[Russet Grange]

InitialDave said:

Spend a bit more and buy an old Land Rover? No VED or MOT, very cheap classic insurance, will be fine with local towing like that, and unless you make a really bad choice in your purchase, they don't go down in value.

Only issue is they're no longer cheap even for rough ones. But in terms of net overall spend, I think the maths can work.

Very interesting suggestion.

[Snow and Rocks]

"hoping for zero repairs"

From personal experience of old (and even new) Land Rovers this won't be the case haha.

It might be a viable option if you want a hobby but go in with your eyes open.

[paddy1970]

For the brief, the simplest answer is a pre-2001 Honda Civic 1.4 or Toyota Corolla 1.3/1.4: tiny, reliable, 1,000 kg braked, and £220 VED. If you want rock-bottom tax, pick a Peugeot 206 1.4 HDi, VW Polo 1.4 TDI, or Škoda Fabia 1.4 TDI with Band B/C VED (£20–£35) and ≥1,000 kg braked.

[OutInTheShed]

paddy1970 said:

For the brief, the simplest answer is a pre-2001 Honda Civic 1.4 or Toyota Corolla 1.3/1.4: tiny, reliable, 1,000 kg braked, and £220 VED. If you want rock-bottom tax, pick a Peugeot 206 1.4 HDi, VW Polo 1.4 TDI, or Škoda Fabia 1.4 TDI with Band B/C VED (£20 £35) and ?1,000 kg braked.

Any of these bought for £2k could be scrapped with rust in two years.
Used infrequently, any car can have a lot of small annoying problems.

Land Rover is an option, but everyone realises that, so they are priced high.
Several of my mates have gone this route, it's a hobby, it's not super cheap, but nothing is impossible.
It's easy to spend a grand a year and a lot of hours keeping one on the road, which counters the lack of depreciation and tax.

Insurance on an 'extra' car could be significant?

One option might be to buy something that's priced cheap because the seller's only other option is to get a near-zero trade in.
Above 150k miles a lot of cars are almost nil value on WBAC.
If you can buy cheap enpugh, over the time you keep the car, VED can be lived with.
£400 a year is minor in the scheme of things, even for having a shed on the road and not using it much.

[the cueball]

I have a C3 Picasso dump run/dog mobile/towing car..

Cheap to run and spacious for when my motorbike trailer isn't quite enough..

Decent enough and can handle up to 1200kg braked.