Rayjsj Posted March 18, 2019 Share Posted March 18, 2019 Hi , We towed our Toyota Yaris behind our Autotrail Savannah on an A Frame for 3 years without any problems at all. A Frame was a Car-a-tow which i bought 2nd hand on E Bay for £250 , it was nearly new, more expensive was getting our everyday car....the Yaris converted for being towed. It towed perfectly behind the van, was no problem reversing. Needed a twin reversing camera though, for peace of mind. Now have a PVC and the Yaris is still our everyday runabout.But not now towed. Only used the A Frame in the UK, made more sense and was far far cheaper than a trailer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted March 19, 2019 Share Posted March 19, 2019 TheEscapist - 2019-03-18 10:57 PM TheEscapist - 2019-03-18 11:28 PM I’m unclear what vehicle that actually is on La Bissonnette? Is it proprietary? P Found the Aixam details. Interesting small car/quad. The “La Bissonnette” concept is uniquely French. It’s raison d’être involves the combination of peculiarly French motoring regulations that permiit a ‘micro-car’ to be driven without the driver having a driving-licence and the ability for someone with just a basic “B” driving-licence to legally tow a lightweight trailer. The ‘logic’ is explained here https://translate.google.co.uk/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://www.labissonnette.fr/presentation-entreprise-bissonnette&prev=search Carthago apparently does offer a tow-bar as a factory-fit option for the Fiat Ducato-based Liner-For-Two model. It’s either Option Number 311400 "Trailer coupling” or 311430 "Trailer coupling in conjunction with Pedelec garage” and shown on Page 72 of this link https://www.carthago.com/fileadmin/user_upload/download/2019/EN_PL_Integriert_2019_1.pdf It’s been said several times already, but it would be wise for you to take delivery of your motorhome, make sure that any teething troubles are resolved and then use the vehicle for the purpose you had in mind when you chose to buy it to establish what drawbacks there might be. A wish-list of possible ‘improvements’ is all very well, but you need to be bear in mind potential negative implications. For example, I believe the Liner-For-Two comes as standard with two 80Ah gel leisure-batteries and a 22A battery-charger. I noticed that, in another forum thread, you said that you were going to buy three gel leisure-batteries (which I took to mean you planned to add a 3rd 80Ah battery to the standand two). However, the Carthago option 510040 that provides a 3rd 80Ah gel battry replaces the 22A battery-charger with two 16A chargers (ie. 32A total). So if you augment leisure-battery capacity, you may also want to augment the motorhome’s charging capability. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adiebt Posted March 19, 2019 Share Posted March 19, 2019 The thought of towing a car and all the associated palaver of car ownership filled me with dread so we went down the electric bike route , Wisper for my wife and CUBE 160 for me ( I love boys toys) and it’s proved to be a great success for us . Fitness and fresh air , panniers for shopping ( added bonus is that you don’t buy extra rubbish whilst patrolling the aisles ) and the sounds of nature . We invested in the electric bike rack that lowers to the floor and raises to the stored position ( uses a cordless drill ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted March 19, 2019 Share Posted March 19, 2019 TheEscapist - 2019-03-18 10:57 PM.........……….Found the Aixam details. Interesting small car/quad. But do try before you buy! All those I have seen are noisy, and interminably slow (which is part of the reason they can be driven on public roads without a licence) This means that those who have lost their driving licences due to, ahem, "alcohol related infringements" can (I understand) also legally drive them. Consequently, they have a certain reputation in France! :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidmac Posted March 19, 2019 Share Posted March 19, 2019 Hi,have you looked at a Renault Twizzy? Regards David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adiebt Posted March 19, 2019 Share Posted March 19, 2019 davidmac - 2019-03-19 10:21 AM Hi,have you looked at a Renault Twizzy? Regards David I drove one in France ( belonged to the site owner near Saumur ) , was absolutely great fun but not much room for shopping if you carry two ! Would fit nice on a small trailer . I think u rent the batteries for a monthly fee . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monique.hubrechtsgm Posted March 19, 2019 Share Posted March 19, 2019 Should not be legal in Belgium. Being the A- frame. I left the technical out of the tow-bar fitted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monique.hubrechtsgm Posted March 19, 2019 Share Posted March 19, 2019 But you can drive whit it in the EG. Being a potential danger. Even not possible after the brexit. And much more in the pipeline. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matrix Meanderer Posted March 19, 2019 Share Posted March 19, 2019 Adiebt - 2019-03-19 9:13 AM The thought of towing a car and all the associated palaver of car ownership filled me with dread so we went down the electric bike route , Wisper for my wife and CUBE 160 for me ( I love boys toys) and it’s proved to be a great success for us . Fitness and fresh air , panniers for shopping ( added bonus is that you don’t buy extra rubbish whilst patrolling the aisles ) and the sounds of nature . We invested in the electric bike rack that lowers to the floor and raises to the stored position ( uses a cordless drill ) That's our solution too. We have a Thule Lift V16 Electric fitted as a replacement for the Fiamma E Bike carrier and two electric bikes both with big panniers. It works for us :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flicka Posted March 19, 2019 Share Posted March 19, 2019 I decided I couldn't justify the outlay. Car purchase, tax, insurance, maintenance, combined with A frame, towbar & electrics. When considering the actual amount of use, I envisage the costs would cover lots of short term car hire or taxi fares. Paired with an e-bike for shorter trips from sites.v Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crocs Posted March 19, 2019 Share Posted March 19, 2019 TheEscapist - 2019-03-18 10:32 PM crocs - 2019-03-18 11:26 PM A dolly is for recovery only. An A-frame is legal in the UK and should be legal in Europe but there have been a. number of instances, especially in Spain, of Police issuing penalties. A-frames are difficult to reverse. I towed a Smart on a trailer for over 6 years and found it very useful although it is a faff every time it’s loaded/unloaded due to the straps. We don’t tow a car with our current MH and find that we can go most places and park, even in the centre of places like Bordeaux and Reims. It makes life simpler. I guess you hit the nail on the head. How easy is it to park up in a 7.8m motorhome in centres? I’m not worried about the 2,27m width as that’s only marginally wider than my Range Rover but 7.8m long and 3.1m high seem a challenge! P I guess the length might seem an issue at first (height is irrelevant unless for low bridges) but you’ll soon get used to it. Just take left hand corners a little wider and practice using wing mirrors to reverse. I drove HGV horse boxes for years, so did’t have an issue. You can make an argument that a long vehicle is actually easier to reverse than a short one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monique.hubrechtsgm Posted March 23, 2019 Share Posted March 23, 2019 For women the width. And have good mirrors . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billggski Posted March 23, 2019 Share Posted March 23, 2019 "For women the width. And have good mirrors ." Sorry, is this about motorhomes? Or something else? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayjsj Posted March 26, 2019 Share Posted March 26, 2019 TheEscapist - 2019-03-18 8:13 AM colin - 2019-03-18 12:25 AM TheEscapist - 2019-03-17 10:53 PM colin - 2019-03-17 11:22 PM Do you want to use it in UK or on mainland Europe? Both. Having read around some more, it seems that to be fully safe and legally complaint it’s worth fitting a system like this: http://www.unibrake.co.uk/why-unibrake/ P Here is the guidance on GOV.UK. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/a-frames-and-dollies/a-frames-and-dollies As you can see it is allowed in UK, but may not be on mainland Europe, it appears that some countries may turn a blind eye, but in others such as Spain it is defiantly illegal. Thanks. I guess that leaves a dolly for the front wheels or trailer for all 4 wheels. Any idea if these are legal or not abroad? I assume they are as it’s not towing, at least the latter. I will be traveling across all of Europe. Cheers Paul get a trailer then Paul. Its the only known legal and safe way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geeco Posted March 27, 2019 Share Posted March 27, 2019 Sorry Derek. Shouldn't use colloquialisms, should I? :-D I thought "the ditch", colloquially, was the Channel, while the Atlantic, colloquially, was "the pond"? Sorry guys I must correct you both - the Tasman Sea that body of water between NZ & AU has always been referred to as "the pond". In fact anyone sending freight between the two countries referred to it as "the golden pond" due to the high cost of freight. The Kiwis tell us that "the pond" separates the NZ North & South Islands from the NZ "West" Island!! On the topic of MH towing a small car it is an increasingly more common sight here. Maybe too much American TV influencing us! Cheers, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColinM50 Posted March 28, 2019 Share Posted March 28, 2019 Late 17 we thought of buying a trailer, swapping our Jag XF for something smaller, fitting a towbar and electrics and towing the car on holiday esp round Cornwall and France. Got as far as swapping the car, bought a hateful little Toyota POSh oops I mean Aygo. Then looked at the costs. Towbar and trailer was coming out at c£3500, the POS fuel consumption was not much better than the Jag, so no real saving there, and the extra ferry cost for the trailer would have added another c£300 per cross channel trip. So we went with plan B. Hiring a small car. In Cornwall we found a Rentawreck hire company that rented us a 10 year old Rover 214 I think for £9 per day all in. So left the m/h on site and used that for a week. Not the best car in the world but safe and cheap and they weren't concerned at minor damage. In France we did likewise, hiring from SuperU supermarket. Got a baby Renault, that might have been a Twingo for €12 a day inc insurance. I took out an annual CDW insurance in UK so no problems with any added costs. In fact SuperU worked really hard to upsell me to a BMW 3 series for not much more but I resisted *-) Last week we took our m/h in for service in Gloucester and since it was in for the whole day I hired a Hyundia from Enterprise and we went to Ross on Wye. It cost a whopping £32 for the day. (lol) If I hired it for the week their sales guy said they might come down as low as £15 if I was really really nice to them. Jusrt a tip, he said if I went into a branch with say a small packet of choccy biscuis to give away it might help. Again, they tried to upsell and I'd have taken the Jag E Pace down from an extra £90 for the day to £20 but SWMBO said no. She knows me too well and said I'd spend the whole day convincing her that we needed to buy one *-) Of course being Enterprise they came to the m/h dealer, picked us up and delivered uis back at the end of the day. BTW, I didn't realise it but this delivery thing is unique to them and the other companies like Avis, Hertz etc aren't allowed to offer it, it's sort of trademarted to only Enterprise My point is there are some good deals to be done on hiring cars exp out of high season. The hire companies have all these cars lying around unused and will take almost anything for them if you're not overly fussy. Tourist information offices in UK and France will point you to local dealers who might do a deal with you esp for "cash" - don't know why though :-D :-D So the hateful Toyots POS has been traded in and the idea of towing is right out of the window. For us anyway. I can't see any plus points esp from a cost POV for doing it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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