Subaru Forrester - tow car for Katie L - any opinions

dylanwinter

dylanwinter

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www.keepturningleft.co.uk
sorry to raise this subject again

finding a hire van with a tow bar is getting harder - I used to be able to get one for £40 a day but the local outfit has changed hands and say that they will be dropping vans with tow bars when the current ones wear out and will no longer be offering them

if I hire a pick-up/tipper/Range rover with a tow bar they cost £100 a day

so the economics are starting to shift back towards buying a tow car


the lovely little £400 one litre Micra auto still only has 28,000 on the clock - so that will be our main milage car for going to Devon and to the boat

and as the car we can afford to insure for the kids to drive (it will soon pick up some new dents)

the Polo has 150,00 on it and is slowly coming to the end of its life

my plan is to get shot of the polo - buying a Subaru as a last resort for local trips if the Micra is away being used by one of the four of us


I can buy a petrol 2.0 litre Subaru Forrester for £1,000 with between 110,000 and 140,000 on the clock and a rated towing capacity of 2,200kg braked

does anyone have any first hand experience with these?

when are they worn out - how can I tell? Is the drive train prone to any common faults?

does anyone know how thirsty they are when not towing?

As I say, I hope to try to avoid using it for long trips unless it is tied up with moving Katie L

Dylan
 
Dylan,

I haven't towed with one, but have owned Subaru's for some time. The reason the Foresters are cheap is that the eat petrol at an alarming rate, they are expensive to insure and they are expensive to repair. That said, I think they are great cars, they hold the road very well, are a lot faster than they look and are great in snow and mud.

I currently have a Legacy Estate, diesel, which is quite economical, I'm getting 45mpg generally running around and can get 50mpg if I stick to the speed limits!

I have friends in the states (Boulder, Colorado where they get serious snow) with a 1998 Forester with 250k miles on the clock and still going strong.

Hope this helps
 
Ian_Edwards said:
Dylan,

I haven't towed with one, but have owned Subaru's for some time. The reason the Foresters are cheap is that the eat petrol at an alarming rate, they are expensive to insure and they are expensive to repair. That said, I think they are great cars, they hold the road very well, are a lot faster than they look and are great in snow and mud.

I currently have a Legacy Estate, diesel, which is quite economical, I'm getting 45mpg generally running around and can get 50mpg if I stick to the speed limits!

I have friends in the states (Boulder, Colorado where they get serious snow) with a 1998 Forester with 250k miles on the clock and still going strong.

Hope this helps
Click to expand...


very useful indeed

good news on the miles on the clock

I am ready for thirsty...

hate walking into massive repair bills though

D
 
Forester may have a rated towing capacity of 2,200kg braked but it is not a heavy car. Remember that now there is a legal limit on the Gross Train Weight - ie the weight of car + trailer + any load in both the car & trailer. That must not exceed a stated figure for the car.

If you look at the Forester's VIN plate it will look something like this:

VIN No (This is sometimes called the chassis number and it is unique to that specific vehicle)

XXXX KG (The maximum vehicle weight, e.g. the total weight, it does not include any trailer weight)

XXXX KG (The maximum train weight, vehicle plus trailer)

It the last one you need to know.

Just looked up the Subaru website and the GTW for the current range is either 3515kg (auto) or 4015kg (manual)l.

See here:

http://subaru.co.uk/vehicles/forest...aru forester&gclid=CLnhgObzn7YCFcrHtAod-AoAOg

and click on "Dimensions"

The kerbside weight of the car is around 1500kg and max payload 500kg. So you are looking at the all up weight of boat on trailer at something around max 2000kg.

Hope this helps

Dave
 
davewarburton said:
Forester may have a rated towing capacity of 2,200kg braked but it is not a heavy car. Remember that now there is a legal limit on the Gross Train Weight - ie the weight of car + trailer + any load in both the car & trailer. That must not exceed a stated figure for the car.

If you look at the Forester's VIN plate it will look something like this:

VIN No (This is sometimes called the chassis number and it is unique to that specific vehicle)

XXXX KG (The maximum vehicle weight, e.g. the total weight, it does not include any trailer weight)

XXXX KG (The maximum train weight, vehicle plus trailer)

It the last one you need to know.

Just looked up the Subaru website and the GTW for the current range is either 3515kg (auto) or 4015kg (manual)l.

See here:

http://subaru.co.uk/vehicles/forest...aru forester&gclid=CLnhgObzn7YCFcrHtAod-AoAOg

and click on "Dimensions"

The kerbside weight of the car is around 1500kg and max payload 500kg. So you are looking at the all up weight of boat on trailer at something around max 2000kg.

Hope this helps

Dave
Click to expand...

yes it does

the legacy is a bit lower at 17ookg

2,000kg is good enough for katie L

she weighs 1087kg so I believe so that gives me a bit of headroom for the weight of the trailer, outboard etc etc

I think I am going to keep my eyes open for one

this winter I am going to need to bring Katie L back from Edinburgh to home, then to the solent to film there during winter 2013/14 , then to home, then back to edinburgh for spring 2014

if I have to rent a four wheel drive at £100 a day then owning my own vehicle is starting to make sense - unless I can find a van hire place that does tow bar transits for £40 a day

D
 
dylanwinter said:
I am ready for thirsty...
Click to expand...

Fuel is by far your biggest cost, especially as you get up toward Scotland.

Don't see what the Forester offers over the Legacy aside from a shorter, taller boot and less MPG friendly aerodynamics. They both weigh and can tow more or less the same but the 2.0 Forester has worse fuel consumption than the 2.5 Legacy purely because of its body shape. Go Legacy. Plenty out there to choose from around £1000... that kind of money buys you a hell of a lot of car these days IMHO.

As an aside, a friend of mine used to have a Shogun for towing his race car about. Last year he swapped it for a diesel Alfa 159 and can't believe the difference. Tows beautifully, has ridiculous amounts of torque and is utterly refined while getting at least an extra 50% miles to the gallon. He can't fault it. Slightly different price range though, granted.
 
I still have a Volvo 960 3.O litre fuel injected 24v (NON TURBO) with self levelling rear suspension 175,000 miles on clock. One of the last of the proper rear wheel drive Volvos.

Brother has identical model now with 315,000 on the clock. Ideal motorway cruiser. Fuel consumption doesnt vary much from 20mpg towing up to 28 cruising at maximum motorway speeds.

Interested?

It is not a hearse!

I was going to use it to Tow Tamsin until I found a Shogun with 75,000 on the clock. Currently in storage You are welcome to have a gander..

I am reluctant to scrap it but may be forced to as free storage may not be possible later this year.
It has all the comfort goodies and they are all still working.
 
TSB240 said:
I still have a Volvo 960 3.O litre fuel injected 24v (NON TURBO) with self levelling rear suspension 175,000 miles on clock. One of the last of the proper rear wheel drive Volvos.

Brother has identical model now with 315,000 on the clock. Ideal motorway cruiser. Fuel consumption doesnt vary much from 20mpg towing up to 28 cruising at maximum motorway speeds.

Interested?

It is not a hearse!

I was going to use it to Tow Tamsin until I found a Shogun with 75,000 on the clock. Currently in storage You are welcome to have a gander..

I am reluctant to scrap it but may be forced to as free storage may not be possible later this year.
It has all the comfort goodies and they are all still working.
Click to expand...

get behind me satan....

my builder neighbour has just given up on his big fat volvo - his reason.... the price of parts

it also has to be a car that Jill will be prepared to drive

D
 
Best towing vehicle for your requirements would be a 2L diesel ford mondeo estate, useful for work and pleasure. Economical to run and maintain. I towed an Achilles 24 from Portsmouth to Liverpool with one, no problems at all.
 
josephmoore said:
Fuel is by far your biggest cost, especially as you get up toward Scotland.

Don't see what the Forester offers over the Legacy aside from a shorter, taller boot and less MPG friendly aerodynamics. They both weigh and can tow more or less the same but the 2.0 Forester has worse fuel consumption than the 2.5 Legacy purely because of its body shape. Go Legacy. Plenty out there to choose from around £1000... that kind of money buys you a hell of a lot of car these days IMHO.

As an aside, a friend of mine used to have a Shogun for towing his race car about. Last year he swapped it for a diesel Alfa 159 and can't believe the difference. Tows beautifully, has ridiculous amounts of torque and is utterly refined while getting at least an extra 50% miles to the gallon. He can't fault it. Slightly different price range though, granted.
Click to expand...

I run a 2.5 litre legacy. I don't tow but it is often loaded to the brim. It doesn't slow down with weight in it. Lots of torque and easy to overtake. It does about 28 mpg on petrol but I converted to LPG so it gets 24 mpg on gas but gas is only 73p/ litre. Have done 45,000 miles in it in 2.5 years trouble free. Now got 104,000 miles on it and runs great. Great car for traveling to boat as I always seem to have lots to take there and back. It does the trip at speed, comfort and economy, doing equivalent to over 40 mpg compared to diesel costs.
 
Dylan, I mentioned this last time have you thought about a Landrover Discover?
http://www.preloved.co.uk/adverts/show/605456872/land-rover-discovery-300-tdi-gs-5dr-12-months-mot-4x4.html

Keep them below 70 and they will do 30 to gallon, round town on motorway etc, mine towed 2 ton of caravan at about 25mpg maybe a touch more.

Not maintenance free but not expensive to fix, I recon 500 a year to keep on the road doing 15k miles a year.

We have a defender now and a little Peugeot 106 diesel, perfect car combination little and large...
 
Which model Forrester are you looking at?

My 2004 2.0X (the basic one) is only rated to tow 1500Kg braked. That's enough for my boat and personally I feel it would tow a lot more, but that's what the manufacturer states.

I think they are great cars. Mine has 140000 on the clock and still running sweet and sailed through it's MOT (well actually it "failed" but they replaced the blown number plate light on the spot)

If you can find one that's rated to tow your boat, then go for it.
 
Thought about LPG?

I used to tow/launch/recover a Dawncraft Dandy with a non turbo Legacy Auto on gas.

It was one of the best drives I ever had, but 19mpg on petrol but a do-able 45 on gas.

Pulling up the ramp was so uneventful (exactly as it should be!), like going up in a lift...

eg (Searched 'Subaru LPG') set yourself a 'saved search'

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2004-SUBA...4882501?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item4171f6ee45

Nick
 
NickRobinson said:
Thought about LPG?

I used to tow/launch/recover a Dawncraft Dandy with a non turbo Legacy Auto on gas.

It was one of the best drives I ever had, but 19mpg on petrol but a do-able 45 on gas.

Pulling up the ramp was so uneventful (exactly as it should be!), like going up in a lift...

eg (Searched 'Subaru LPG') set yourself a 'saved search'

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2004-SUBA...4882501?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item4171f6ee45

Nick
Click to expand...


hmm

no tow bar and £1,000 buys me ten tanks of petrol

although gas is a good idea
 
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