Good Car for towing? under $1000...

[VjamesY]

Hey guys,

So here's the story...

Me and a cousin have just invested in a new boat (tinny) for fishing and both of us really hate the thought of tow bars on our cars (for many reasons).

So a solution we thought of was to buy a tow pig, some cheap reliable car capable of pulling a boat along. I'm just looking at some opinions on a model of car that would best fit this criteria, even if its not a Holden... And if so, any that would be under $1000 (hopefully lower).

Must have would be: reliable, cheap, auto, towing capability, rego and maybe even aircondish

[peninsulabands]

EF/ EL Falcon.

[BENJAMUM]

He asked for somthing reliable lol should b somthing out there man

[VjamesY]

thanks for replies

I was thinking something like this,
Holden Commodore 95 Executive Auto P/S A/C Drives Great - eBay, Passenger Vehicles, Cars, Cars, Bikes, Boats. (end time 21-Apr-10 14:17:38 AEST)

also I may go an old vn exec, My dad had one a few years ago, I can remember it was such a beaten up car with many k's on it (i think the speedo stopped at 360000) but damn it never broke down.

[dirt drifter]

apparently the xg/xh falcon utes are rated to tow a decent weight. admittedly anything u get for around a grand wont be flash but they are damn near bulletproof

[Rusty]

hi mate,
I had this issue a while ago, sold my 4WD and had nothing to tow the tinny. One problem i came across with buying a cheap tow pig is that you most probably need a 4WD if ever launching off a boat ramp. Remember boat ramps are dam slippery with crap growin on it making it hard for a vehicle that isnt a 4WD to get out of it. Even a V8 rear wheel drive (rear wheels closest to slippery ramp) is just going to lose traction quicker.

Moral is i never tried it (could very well be wrong myself). I was far too scared to lose both a car and boat to the creek or river!

If your dont use a boat ramp then chances are you have to go a fair bit offroad to get to the spot as well. Not good for cheap rear or front wheel drive.

Hope that helps, just my opinion and could very well be wrong!

[TVR-190]

vn v6 with lsd, fwd's arent that great on a slippery boat ramp.

what size tinny, anything under 5m id say vn.

[acarmody]

My old EB falcon had towed many a very heavy trailer, uphills, etc, without even breaking a sweat. If there is one thing those big inline sixes were good for it was towing stuff.

[v6lux]

A small tinny can be towed by anything, including a Smart car (or Honda Civic for the Financially Challenged)!

Q - What's the problem here?
A - Since you had to ask the question, the answer is - Your inexperience!

Unless your towing more than 500 Kg (a small tinny, on an appropriate trailer, would be lucky to be 100 Kg), anything will do. Think about it - get 3 fat chicks in your car and that's 300 Kg of extra weight! Does it still move and do the brakes still stop you - YES!

As for the suggestion of buying a ute for towing heavy loads! That's all "well and good", until you find that legally, a ute has the smallest towing capacity of 75%, compared to a wagon or sedan 100% of towing vehicle weight, IIRC (unless thing have changed)!

[Lumps of cheese]

Falcon ute is what i'd go for. My old xf was excellent in the towing area and pretty good to drive, they're hard to beat.

[v6lux]

Falcon ute is what i'd go for. My old xf was excellent in the towing area and pretty good to drive, they're hard to beat.

Watch for rust in XF ute, (it beats them), as you will note, not many left on the road!

[Tom_1569]

I tow my tinny which is all wooden floors etc so quite a bit of weight no worriesd with my ute.
The other week we worked out that between towing and crap in the back I would have had an extra 2-2.5 ton on board. It managed fine even up dirt tracks, obviously didnt launch the boat with it that loaded up. Its not a speed demon but it hauls quite well and at 11.5L/1ookm's loaded up Im not complaing.

As for needing a 4wd in boat ramps, lol. One of the common boat ramps I launch is slimmy, then sand, I dont have a problem at all. Occasionaly on concrete ramps I get a bees dick of wheel spin coming out with the boat loaded, nothing to worry about though.

Any car with a towbar will pull a tiny out of a boat ramp.
EDIT: Except an EB Falcon I seen one day on full throttle spinning the wheels slowly going further into the water, was quite hilarious as he just kept trying until a 4wd whinched him out.

[VjamesY]

thanks for replies guys

As for the tinny, don't know of exact size but it ain't small... lets just say its a medium sized tinny (until I can get measurements)

Ok so from what some of you have said, I shouldn't have many dramas, most v6's etc will do.

In that case, things are easier as now theirs less to worry about. Ill probably just pick up a cheap v6 vn.

This is probably just a case of me over thinking situations lol

[v6lux]

its a medium sized tinny

Yeah, sorry. I assumed a 12 footer, like I used to tow with my Honda Civic!

This was the last I ever saw of it;



Here was my tinny;

Ill probably just pick up a cheap v6 vn.

VN Wagons are good for towing.

[TVR-190]

a vn would be good for just going down to the local boat ramp, but they fall down a bit if you gonna be doing highway drives while towing. the overtaking isnt great, but the low down torque will be good on the ramps.

[VjamesY]

Yeah, sorry. I assumed a 12 footer, like I used to tow with my Honda Civic!

This was the last I ever saw of it;



Here was my tinny;





VN Wagons are good for towing.

No need to be sorry buddy! yeh but its definitely bigger then your tinny, Ive only seen some low quality photos of the new tinny but I can kind of tell the size...

Ill also keep wagons in mind to

TVR-161
It will be used for 1-2 hour trips to the boat ramp and some half hour trips if we just go freshwater fishing, so shouldn't be to bad just cruising along. Only exception would be If we go up to Forster (4 hours) but Im sure we could deal with the highway driving.

[Deneo]

Falcon ute is what i'd go for. My old xf was excellent in the towing area and pretty good to drive, they're hard to beat.

I'll vouch for that, Old man towed a decent sized fibreglass boat every weekend without fail, Was on gas too. And i'll vouch for the rust too as i got the ute when he was done with it, But the suspect was the sea water for all his rust. Still a fantastic car!

[2DIE]

subaru brumby ute - eBay, Passenger Vehicles, Cars, Cars, Bikes, Boats. (end time 21-Apr-10 21:04:43 AEST)

Should be good on the ramp in 4x4

[v6lux]

And i'll vouch for the rust too as i got the ute when he was done with it, But the suspect was the sea water for all his rust. Still a fantastic car!

I'll vouch they left the factory new, with rust inside the rear quarters!

[Lumps of cheese]

I'll vouch they left the factory new, with rust inside the rear quarters!

lol, he wants to spend under $1k, i doubt a bit of rust will be of much concern for what he wants it for. After all, look what it's going to be doing.

[v6lux]

Good point, and they should also be able to float with so much plastic filler in the body!

[DannyboyDS]

im on the old falcon ute bandwagon too, cheap and reliable, look for one with a big bullbar and put a winch on it just incase you get stuck on the boat ramp.

[Haydz]

why dont you just put a removable towbar on one of the cars.

is it really worth paying


* for another car
* the rego on another car
* the greenslip on another car
* the insurance on another car

just to tow the boat around. when you have your own car which is plenty capable enough?

[Deneo]

Good point, and they should also be able to float with so much plastic filler in the body!

Lmfao!! Pretty much, Mine had about 70% filler haha.