[Eddy]

To those who know stuff ... a question ...

What are we towing with the four door wagons, Auto, 4 cyl petrol?

TYB offered me a very tempting deal on his, and I'd need it to be able to do a little towing, but no towbar as yet to test.

[shep]

I towed my boat a few times. About 1300kg all up. Towing at 100kph, it stopped and drove pretty well except dropped back to 2nd gear pretty readily.

[Eddy]

I know it's been a few weeks but ... anyone else?

If I could be reasonably certain it could tow our 1250kg (loaded) van without too much fuss I'd be able to consider options with a touch of clarity, might even just find a towbar and fit it to give it a try.
I have towed the van with the ol'94 vit a couple times and didn't find it very inspiring, but it still did the job, and would probably do it better on better sized tyres rather than the 265/70s.

SWMBO seems a bit keen, and TYB is thinking about listing on marketplace etc.

[Zook_Fan]

If it's a good deal then buy it, put a tow bar on it and you'll be able to recover your costs if it doesn't work out for you.

I towed a trailer infrequently (probably up to 1200kg) with an '08 GV with the 2.7 V6. It worked hard on the hills but it wasn't an issue on the chassis or brakes. It probably depends how much of a hurry you're in when towing as to whether it will do the job or not.

[Boatbeard]

I was pretty shocked at how low the rating is on the Vitara Estate I'm currently wrestling with, way less than I thought anyway. The book says 550kg unbraked for the 1.6, 1600kg braked - but I didn't find I felt at all comfortable with a tandem full of firewood... I won't pull anything weighing close to or more than the car again myself, because these things really don't play well when the trailer decides to direct matters on a skatey surface... They are pretty marginal pulling bigger loads but then they were never made for that sort of thing either. I find pulling a 14' tinny about right, more than that and I'm looking for a bigger tow car.