To tow or not to tow

Do you take a car with you on a trailer or using an A frame.

  • Yes always.

    Votes: 5 5.5%

  • Sometimes, depends where we are going.

    Votes: 32 35.2%

  • Never.

    Votes: 54 59.3%
  • Total voters
    91
I voted middle cos that is what we used to do on our last van. We had a toad on an A frame that we sometimes used. No tow bar on this one but if we fit one we will take a scooter on a trailer.
 
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When we had the Moho we towed a Harley on a trailer, occasionally we drove a car as well as the Moho but only in England
 
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On current van we always A-frame our VW Up and comes with us. On our next van whenever that turns up we won’t so much.

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Don't see the point in towing a car behind a motorhome, if we want a car when away we just phone those lovely hire car companies and they bring one to you, when you've finished with it they come and pick it up, no faffing about with a trailer or toad, no little car sat on the driveway, no service, road fund licence or insurance plus the cost of everything that goes with it.
 
robnchris said:
Don't see the point in towing a car behind a motorhome, if we want a car when away we just phone those lovely hire car companies and they bring one to you, when you've finished with it they come and pick it up, no faffing about with a trailer or toad, no little car sat on the driveway, no service, road fund licence or insurance plus the cost of everything that goes with it.
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Our toad was used every day for transporting ourselves and grandchildren.
The costs of A framing it would have been covered by just a few hire charges.
Each to their own. Wish we had our toad in Spain right now. ( yes, realise it is illegal to A frame here)
 
How much is one of these illegal toads, plus the small car etc etc, I'm thinking you can hire a lot of cars for the equivalent amount. and not have the storage/towing hassle extra ferry costs etc etc.
 
We use our toad often in Britain but not in Europe since B****t.

Like David and Sally, we are in Spain at present and would love to have the toad with us. We have seen a couple of British motorhomes towing with A-frames since we arrived here. On face value they're illegal here, but we'd love to know how they've got on.

As regards car hire, it has to be borne in mind that for older motorhomers it can be pot luck finding a hire company willing to hire to over-70s or over-75s.

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offagen said:
We use our toad often in Britain but not in Europe since B****t.

Like David and Sally, we are in Spain at present and would love to have the toad with us. We have seen a couple of British motorhomes towing with A-frames since we arrived here. On face value they're illegal here, but we'd love to know how they've got on.

As regards car hire, it has to be borne in mind that for older motorhomers it can be pot luck finding a hire company willing to hire to over-70s or over-75s.
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Hey that's a fair point regards age and car hire, never been in question for us before but worth bearing in mind but if you have a licence and insurance for your own vehicle, from a legal point of view i'm certain in the current climate some sort of ism could be represented by a Human Rights lawyer:unsure:
 
Used to when the kids were young.

Now, never and dont miss it one bit. We have a scooter and electric bikes with a range of 80 plus miles so just dont see the point..

But remember.

Its up to you, its your choice entirely,
 
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Never found a need for a car... nor miss it

also, A frames are illegal in Spain and a trailer is just too much faff ,

they are all extra cost on the ferry, on the Autoroute, and some sites .. and many aires would be too tight for a car or trailer to park..

we use bikes or public transport ..
 
robnchris said:
Don't see the point in towing a car behind a motorhome, if we want a car when away we just phone those lovely hire car companies and they bring one to you, when you've finished with it they come and pick it up.
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Not a lot of good in the remote Scottish Highlands where we like to be. 🤔

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robnchris said:
Don't see the point in towing a car behind a motorhome, if we want a car when away we just phone those lovely hire car companies and they bring one to you, when you've finished with it they come and pick it up, no faffing about with a trailer or toad, no little car sat on the driveway, no service, road fund licence or insurance plus the cost of everything that goes with it.
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Totally agree. Buy a caravan is the other solution 🤣🤣
 
robnchris said:
How much is one of these illegal toads, plus the small car etc etc, I'm thinking you can hire a lot of cars for the equivalent amount. and not have the storage/towing hassle extra ferry costs etc etc.
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Before we had the Toad, we hired cars but we encountered a number of issues:-
  • many hire car companies do not allow dogs ( those that do wanted crates )
  • the faff and amount of time going to get/return ( or wait for drop off/pick up)
  • restrictions of times of pick up/ drop off.
  • the real cost of hiring ( collision damage wavers, fuel tops ups, extra days due to depot closures etc).

We paid £4k for a brilliant low mileage 5 door Skoda Citygo. Conversion cost £2.3k (4 years ago). The flexibility this has provided has been brilliant.. We stay at some fantastic little remote CL’s and can get out and about, no worries about finding parking spots in towns and cities for a 7.5m A Class - much less stress.

As the Citygo is an around town car, I got rid of my big BMW and use it as my day to day run around - great little car, £0 road tax, 60 mpg around town. Takes 2 Golden retrievers on the back seat and a tardis like boot.

I know many say get a caravan, but we still use our Moho in standalone mode and travel into France etc.
 
perhaps a tad extravagant but we bought a new Coachman caravan specifically to overwinter in Spain ( 70 nights max ) and the occasional uk trip
However we are finding that for uk holidays the caravan suits us more .
We still Motorhome in Europe usually 2-3 times a year being careful not to exceed our quota of days permitted
but TBH I can see 2024 being the last year as we're thinking of selling up buying a property in Spain .
We will keep the caravan however

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We found towing a car was more trouble than it was worth ,we did it for about 10 years but we done without for 22 years,travelling inthe UK I might go back but on the continent the Aires and stellplatze are easy walk into the towns.
 
Simon Meadwell said:
If you need a car pull a caravan job done seems the wrong way round towing a car.
Just my opinion.
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The difference is that the motorhome can be used without towing a car whereas a car/ caravan combo is inseperable for travelling.

In practice (having had caravans in the past) a motorhome generally gets you to your destination faster, is quicker to set up and no hassle to move on, which is very good for touring. Caravans IMO are more suited to longer campsite stays (no aire option) when, particularly abroad, the car is a definite benefit. In Britain I'd rather tow a car behind the motorhome than tow a caravan. A personal preference.

It depends which sort of holiday you prefer.
 
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Whilst still at work I wouldnt want to be running a tow car all year long just to get me to work n back so the wife's aygo goes on the a frame and I have a little dacia for work, a frame in the uk and e bikes for europe works for us
 
jdk62 said:
Before we had the Toad, we hired cars but we encountered a number of issues:-
  • many hire car companies do not allow dogs ( those that do wanted crates )
  • the faff and amount of time going to get/return ( or wait for drop off/pick up)
  • restrictions of times of pick up/ drop off.
  • the real cost of hiring ( collision damage wavers, fuel tops ups, extra days due to depot closures etc).

We paid £4k for a brilliant low mileage 5 door Skoda Citygo. Conversion cost £2.3k (4 years ago). The flexibility this has provided has been brilliant.. We stay at some fantastic little remote CL’s and can get out and about, no worries about finding parking spots in towns and cities for a 7.5m A Class - much less stress.

As the Citygo is an around town car, I got rid of my big BMW and use it as my day to day run around - great little car, £0 road tax, 60 mpg around town. Takes 2 Golden retrievers on the back seat and a tardis like boot.

I know many say get a caravan, but we still use our Moho in standalone mode and travel into France etc.
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Hey we never said one size fits all, clearly it doesn't we've never had a problem hiring a car re times etc and if you got a couple of dogs then you could always hire a small van to get you around, probably cheaper than a car.

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We tow our Peugeot Metropolis behind us on a trailer wherever we go - would not be without it!

Van & Trailer.jpg
 
robnchris said:
Don't see the point in towing a car behind a motorhome, if we want a car when away we just phone those lovely hire car companies and they bring one to you, when you've finished with it they come and pick it up, no faffing about with a trailer or toad, no little car sat on the driveway, no service, road fund licence or insurance plus the cost of everything that goes with it.
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Tried this many many times. Didn't work for us so bought the car and trailer, now no faffing :LOL: (y)
 
No dogs, don't use Aires/stells or the like unless we are forced to.
The convienance of have a car at your disposal suits us. Bit of a faff? trying to squeeze a 8mt mh through and parking in tiny villages that one wants to look at.
 
In the past we had A Class motorhomes and pulled an Aygo behind on an A Frame as the MoHo itself was too big to take out for the day. We didn't tow abroad because a trailer would be an additional faff. However, abroad you are dependent on local transport, and we occasionally hired a small car, but this was both expensive and a bit of a rip-off.

All of this encouraged us to slowly downsize, and we find that the PVC we have now is a genuine 'go out for the day' form of transport, for home and abroad. You have your own loo and can brew up when you want. We still have the Aygo, and may consider taking it to places with a load of narrower roads - North York Moors, Lake District etc - but at the moment we haven't even bothered to put a towbar on this van.

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