Hello Ger,

Some simple rules for trailer-towing excellence: you want a large turbodiesel engine, a big body and genuine four-wheel drive, which rules out most ‘crossovers’ these days as they can be front-wheel drive and often have small engines, sometimes petrol. Get the first three in combination and you should be able to haul 3,500kg of braked trailer, which is the maximum weight most civilian 4x4s/SUVs can lug. A lot of the one-tonne pick-up trucks are particularly good towers, like the Nissan Navara, Volkswagen Amarok, Ford Ranger, Toyota Hilux and Mitsubishi L200 and, as all of them are derived from commercial vehicles – where reliability is a key factor – then they’re all worth a look. However, some of them (the Amarok especially) may be hard to find in your budget. Failing that, you want something like a Toyota Land Cruiser, or either of Nissan’s Patrol or X-Trail models, which are decent towing machines. Lots of people who need to tow rave about the SsangYong Rexton, as it has proper low-range differentials and can usually lug up to 3.5 tonnes, but they’re harder to find on the used market in your price bracket.