Old enough for engine to be a proper torquey diesel. Should be a reasonably capable tow car. In fact I think one of my co students on the Caravan Club towing course had something of similar type/age. Aslong as you follow the weight rules discussed previously you should be fine.

A decent towbar and electrics will be £500+ at a guess though. I assume a decent approved fitter such as a Witter agent would be able to source necessary parts.

www.towequipe.co.uk/towbars/skoda/octavia

Have bought from the above several times, they also fit on their premises for a fair price, there's also Towsure who make some solid well priced towbars, you don't need the Gucci of towbars...unless they happen to be at a bargain price..:-)

My thoughts are yes, it might make sense to do this but you might end up needing a new clutch after a while.

The thing about towing isn't just stability, it's the increasing problem of cars, especially turbo versions, with gutless engines below spool speed, leading to frustrating pull away, almost impossible hill starts without clutch abuse, and difficult junction negotiation, and thats not even thinking about the too high reverse gears many cars are saddled with.

This is where Bromp's Berlie wins, basically a van with ideal engine mapping and lower than the usual car first and reverse gears.

By using your present car, the engine of which does have some low speed grunt, it should give you a yardstick to judge your next car by re towability.

Some people don't use their normal cars for towing, instead keep an old Landcruiser or similar (often petrol engined, can be bought cheaply and usually much lower mileage too) and use those for their towing needs and the obvious winter and bad weather duties, handy for tip runs and shifting stuff cos they are huge inside....not saying this is for you just floating it past you, LC's are rated between 2.8 and 3.5 tons towing dependent on model, forget loading and stability worries.

Edited by gordonbennet on 05/09/2015 at 19:20