The Best New Vehicles To Buy For Towing A Boat

 

Figuring out which vehicle to buy for towing your boat can be a headache. There a several factors to consider and not just the overall weight of you boat including trailer.

For most, a new large SUV / 4x4 vehicle will be the go-to option, you may also wish to consider a new large transit van which will likely be a considerably cheaper alternative, and a new pickup van can also be a good option. Strictly speaking something will 4-wheel drive is inherently a better choice for pulling something heavy. 

When you research towing figures of vehicles it can be a little confusing. Let’s take the gross train weight for any given vehicle, arguably the most important figure. 

Gross train weight is the combined weight of the vehicle, trailer, boat plus any additional weight inside the vehicles i.e., luggage and passengers. When doing your research this value should never be exceeded, so you’ll need to consider how many passengers and what additional luggage will be on board when towing your boat.

Other terms you will see are braked towing weight and unbraked towing weight. Braked weight is the maximum weight of your trailer/boat that has its own brakes, unbraked weight is the maximum weight if the trailer does NOT have its own brakes.

A good spacious SUV option that might be suitable for towing a small boat and won’t break the bank is the new Skoda Kodiaq. 

The two diesel Kodiaq models that include 4-wheel drive, are the 2.0 TDI 150ps SE L DSG SCR 4X4 and the 2.0 TDI 150ps Sport Line DSG SCR 4X4. There is also a single petrol option, the 2.0 TSI 190ps Sport Line DSG 4X4. 

The Kodiaq offers plenty of interior space and 7-seats (or extremely generous amounts of luggage space with the back seats all folded down).

Other good options that aren’t too pricey include the Nissan X-Trail and SEAT Ateca. If you have a bigger budget, then the VW Touareg is a good option. 

BMW, Volvo and Mercedes also offer quality large SUV options. And of course, Land Rover and Ranger Rover models are a quality option too.

A good pickup that won’t cost the earth is the new Ford Ranger, it comes as standard with 4-wheel drive and a handy braked towing weight max of 3,500kg.