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Choosing the right car to tow your caravan or trailer can be tricky. It’s not necessarily a case of ‘biggest is best’ and there are many sizes and types of car that could be suitable for you. Here’s our pick of the top 10 used tow cars:
Updated: 27 July 2023
From caravans to boats, horseboxes to trailers, the best cars for towing will cope with even the weightiest load, but it can be tricky to choose the right model to suit your needs.
That’s where our guide comes in. Here’s what we recommend as the best used cars for towing, with an eye not just on outright towing capacity but on cars that fit a range of budgets and needs.
The Skoda Superb is a great tow car because it’s so comfortable and relaxing to travel in. Journeys can feel longer and more stressful if you’re towing and the Superb is the perfect antidote to that – it gives you a really smooth ride, even over the bumpiest of roads, and the seats feel like comfy armchairs.
The Superb is available as a hatchback or as an estate and both give you a huge amount of interior space and an enormous boot. You can choose from a wide range of models, with petrol or diesel engines, manual or automatic gearboxes and front- or four-wheel drive. Each one gives you good pulling power, with an official maximum towing capacity of between 1,800kg and 2,200kg, depending on the model.
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The BMW 5 Series is a great alternative to the Skoda Superb. It’s just as comfortable as the Skoda but it’s more enjoyable to drive when you’re not towing and its interior feels even more upmarket. It costs more to buy but every version is powerful and very well equipped.
Every 5 Series gives you lots of passenger space and a big boot. You get more load space with the estate version, which BMW calls ‘Touring’, along with clever ‘self-levelling’ rear suspension that keeps the car balanced when you’re towing.
There are many petrol and diesel engines to choose from, with rear– or four-wheel drive, and most versions have an automatic gearbox as standard. BMW quotes a maximum towing capacity of 1,800kg to 2,000kg.
The Seat Ateca is one of the best mid-size SUVs – big enough to have lots of passenger and boot space, but compact enough to fit into most parking spaces. It feels safe and stable on the motorway and when you’re not towing you can enjoy its responsive steering and nimble feel through corners.
There’s a wide range of models to choose from – all are well-equipped and very reasonably priced. The least-powerful options are only really suitable for towing small trailers, but the most-powerful engines can easily handle a medium-size caravan. Some engines are available with an automatic gearbox and four-wheel drive. Seat quotes a maximum towing capacity of 1,500kg to 2,100kg.
The Dacia Duster is one of the least expensive family-size SUVs you can buy and while it doesn’t feel as luxurious as its more expensive rivals, it’s comfy and quiet enough for long journeys. It’s also extremely sturdy and practical, and high-spec models are well-equipped. It's impressive that Dacia manages to make such a good car for so little money.
The Duster is available with petrol or diesel engines, and with front- or four-wheel-drive models, which are surprisingly capable when heading off-road. You can only buy a Duster with a manual gearbox and Dacia quotes a maximum towing capacity of 1,300kg to 1,500kg, so it’s best suited to smaller caravans or trailers.
When it comes to SUV all-rounders, the seven-seat Land Rover Discovery is one of the best. It’s hugely spacious – you’ll get adults in all seven seats and the boot is gigantic.
You’ll also find the luxurious interior to be extremely comfortable and it feels good to drive. It’s pretty much unbeatable when driving off-road, thanks to sophisticated electronics that keep the wheels turning no matter how tough the terrain. On the flip side, its size means it’s not the most cost-effective to buy or run.
There’s a choice of powerful petrol and diesel engines, all of which have an automatic gearbox and four-wheel drive. Land Rover quotes a maximum towing capacity of 3,000kg to 3,500kg.
The Volvo XC40 is a stylish mid-size SUV that has a high-tech, user-friendly interior. It’s comfortable and quiet and feels very upmarket. You’ve got space inside for a family of four and the boot will accommodate a couple of weeks’ worth of holiday gear. It’s easy to drive around town and solid as a rock on the motorway.
There are petrol, diesel and plug-in hybrid options available, as are manual or automatic gearboxes and front- or four-wheel drive. There’s even an electric version that can tow up to 1,500kg, though doing so will reduce its battery range. The non-electric versions can pull 1,500kg to 2,100kg, depending on the engine.
The Skoda Octavia shares many of the qualities of the Skoda Superb that’s also in this list – it’s quiet, comfortable, spacious and well-equipped. Skodas are full of clever, useful features, like a parking-receipt clip in the windscreen, a detachable torchlight in the boot and an ice scraper under the fuel filler flap.
The Octavia is available as a hatchback or estate, each with the biggest boot in its class. There’s a selection of petrol and diesel engines, most of which are available with an automatic gearbox. Some of the more powerful models have four-wheel drive. Skoda quotes a towing capacity of 1,300kg to 1,600kg for the ‘regular’ Octavia models and up to 2,000kg for the Octavia Scout, which has a higher ride height and more of an SUV-style design.
The Peugeot 5008 is a family-friendly seven-seater that gives you the practicality of an MPV with SUV looks. If you regularly take day trips with the whole family and have a horsebox or boat in tow, this is a great car to consider.
Central to the Peugeot 5008’s appeal as a tow car is the fact it’s available with a clever electronic system called Grip Control, which helps it to get going on slippery surfaces. The system makes it ideal for towing your horse trailer along muddy tracks or your boat across wet sand.
The 5008 has loads of space for even the tallest passengers, and it comes with Isofix points for child seats in all three seats in the middle row. You can fold away the seats in the second and third row to create a van-like load space if you need to, while the interior has a futuristic, premium feel and the suspension gives a very smooth ride. Peugeot quotes a maximum towing capacity of 1,200kg to 1,800kg.
Yes, it’s another Volvo – the Swedish carmaker has long produced cars that haul heavy loads with ease, and the XC90 is another great example. It’s a large, seven-seat SUV that can pull up to 2,700kg.
All models have four-wheel drive and an automatic gearbox and you can choose from hybrid power, petrols or diesels. Towing aside, the XC90 will give you the full premium driving experience, with a beautiful interior and some easy-to-use tech.
The Audi Q5 is a fantastic all-round performer, with a great-quality interior and lots of space for the gear of family life. But it’s also a great tow car, with a capacity of 2,000kg across most models and up to 2,400kg on the powerful, four-wheel-drive diesel models.
Just about every model has an automatic gearbox and the Q5 can cope with light off-road duties, too – muddy fields should present no problem. The car is quiet and comfortable, so you should find the journey to your campsite relaxing, too.
There are lots of used electric cars for sale at Cazoo. Simply use the search function to find one you love then buy or finance it online. You can choose to have it delivered to your door, or you can collect it from your nearest Cazoo Customer Centre.
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