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Towing car - another two options


locodave

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Hey Guys,

Just have a couple more questions. While looking around at the $30k mark. There is the Subaru Forester Diesel and the Nissan Pathfinder Diesel available around the same price.

Do any of you guys own and tow with any of these? Just want to see if there are any problems?

Thank you :)

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Dave

Don't know the Forester but two mates have Pathfinder's - both consider them generally good vehicles - both manual and both had premature clutch failure. One was replaced under warranty easily but one dealer, other an absolute fight to get anywhere. Do some research on the auto and see if they are trouble free.

C.

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Hey Guys,

Just have a couple more questions. While looking around at the $30k mark. There is the Subaru Forester Diesel and the Nissan Pathfinder Diesel available around the same price.

Do any of you guys own and tow with any of these? Just want to see if there are any problems?

Thank you :)

No idea about the Pathfinder and can only say I have not had any issues with a Forester (petrol) version

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A friend has a 2010 Forester Turbo Diesel in manual. He is a travelling sales rep and absolutely loves driving it on the road and his boss loves it as it is very thrifty on the company fuel card.

However he hates it for towing. He has a pop up camper trailer which I believe is around 800-1300kg. He doesn’t like strength of the clutch and bottom end torque when doing hill starts or manoeuvring in tight locations, particularly if there is a slope. He had to reverse up a tight driveway one day and he said the clutch smelt like it was about to catch fire and it stayed smelly for the next 20km of driving after disconnecting the trailer.

(PS : He said that he had correctly flipped down the reversing flap for the trailer brakes)

Overall, he much prefers towing with his wife’s Suzuki Vitara V6 auto.

I used to tow 1600kg (a Allison 189 on dual axles) behind a 2005 manual VZ V6 Commodore Ute. It was great on the road. Good power, stopping and stability but I always felt the clutch in that car was a weak point. It was just OK on the launch ramps.

I currently tow the Allison 189 with a 2003 auto R50 V6 Pathfinder 4x4. It is a fair bit slower than the Commodore on the road, but does a OK job overall. Having 4x4 is good confidence on the launch ramp.

cheers

Rod

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Mate I have a Suzuki grand vitara in the diesel. It's great for towing and haven't had any probs at all with it. It pretty much runs on the smell of an oily rag and it only goes up slightly when towing. It's not the fastest vehicle around, which is good for me as it will keep my licence in check.

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Thanks for all your replies!

Pathfinder does have a clutch problem. Believe its because most people ride them when they take off. The car almost stalls unless you perfected your take off.

Forester. Well im sure it had no problems but i have heard a couple times now about the towing. Its not the best whether its the rev range, the gears not engaging properly etc.

I will look into the pajero.

As for towing. Currently tow in a vy wagon. No issues but its not my car. So i always borrow it. Is it better having an auto for towing?

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Generally an auto will have a higher tow capacity than its manual counterpart - eg I think the Commodores are 2100kg max for auto, 1600kg for manual. As for better - depends how you like to drive really.

The Pathfinder clutch issue is basically because it is a clutch from a Nissan car (Maxima I think) - there is a heavy duty clutch kit apparently but you have to pay for that to be replaced - warranty will only replace lightweight clutch with the same.

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If you're looking at new, the clutch problems have been fixed in the new model nissans. I was at a dealer last week looking at a Navara and raised this with them. They admitted the issues but assured me they changed design/components in the new models (if you can trust what they say!!!)

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Mate with that money you can get a great Navara!!! that thing will move a HOUSE..... plus great room for the fam and the mother inlaw can ride in the tray!!

Edited by The Battler
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