Towing a broken down vehicle
 

Looking to recover a vehicle from london done to kent, however i have a few questions:

does the vehicle your towing have to have tax? i know it sounds a daft question, but when its getting towed is it still a car or now a trailer?

can you tow on the motorway using a tow pole?

Im most likely going to get a trailer, but just thought i would look at other options.

thanks.

Not gospel, but...
 

I had always believed that the towing vehicle's tax sufficed. Logically that would follow, since towing (separate from breakdown recovery) might well involve a vehicle that has been derelict for a while.

I guess the DVLA could advise, and they are bound to have a good web presence.

It's probably worth checking your insurers, too, but I think that generally, if you have a tow hitch fitted, then your towed caravan or horse box or whatever has the same third party cover as your statutary insurance cover for your car.

As long as you're not using frayed washing line, have the towed vehicle's reg no displayed, and have working brake lights and indicators (and are not beating it up in the outside lane like a sales rep on amphetamine), I don't think they can hang you. But you could send a PM to the Highways Authority Traffic Officer who posted here a day or two ago.

remember, you just heard this from a bloke in a pub: it's not gospel truth.

Thanks steve, so if i get stopped i'll give em your details!!!

yeah, might give the dvla\highways a bell tomorrow and just check the exact details. The other option is to get a trailer that will cost about £45 for the day.

If you are towing a broken down vehicle by means of a rope, pole or A Frame the vehicle must be taxed MOTed and insured. If towing anything more than a short distance use a pole, it is safer and easier than a rope. Remember to display the towing vehicles reg on the towed vehicle. If you are towing using an A frame it comes into one of those areas of is it an unbraked trailer (limiting you to 750kg).
My advice would be use a pole if vehicle is road legal - if not the only legal way is on a trailer or transporter. If on a trailer you are likely to be exceeding the tow cars towing weight if it is a Volvo.
In the past I have towed vehciles that were not road legal and used trailers that exceeded the tow cars towing weight. I would not consider doing it now though as it is just too great a risk and you are more likely to be stopped nowadays without the possibility of being warned.

Mike

thanks mike, looks like its gonna be a trailer jobbie then. I will have to see about borrowing my mums disco then!!

tbh, car trailers are quite cheap to hire if you look around, and a safer option overall. May be worth checking out prices in your area.

true. I think it cost griz £30 to hire a 17ft trailer for the weekend.

The short answer is that although the towing vehicle must be taxed, the towed vehicle does not need tax. This is because the add-on number plate (trailer board) has to have the same number as the towing vehicle. The most satisfactory method of towing a vehicle is to use an "A-frame" such as the type used by AA, RAC, Police, Armed Forces, etc. This can be obtained for around £250 new, or cheaper on e-Bay which is where mine came from. An A-frame or pole would be advisable for the distance you envisage although the A-frame does not need a driver in the towed vehicle (solo towing).

All the best, Peter. :car-smiley-031:

This is such a grey area. Im told that the A frames are only legal for breakdown recovery on cars that weigh over 500kg, under that its ok to transport them long distance. This is to do with the weight that a trailer has to be before it has its own brakes, apparently a car being towed becomes a trailer.

I knew of someone that had a car with no TAX or MOT that was parked outside his house. He tied a tow rope from it onto a car that was TAXED and MOT'd and the police were unable to do him as the "tow" car was legal. They did him in the end though when local kids ripped the number plates off! Ive recently heard through reliable sources law has changed and the car being towed has to be MOT'd and TAXED but after that someone said the law hadnt changed. Ive asked a policeman and he had no idea what I was talking about.

Its an absolute minefield but whatever you do you are 99% sure of being fine as the traffic police are as bamboozled as us mere mortals are!

Hi,

The best/safest option would be to hire a car transporter trailer.
Designed to do the job. Also make sure you have enough straps to secure the vehicle onto the trailer.

Using an "A" frame type, as mentioned brings you into the unbraked trailer catagory and most cars limit on this is 750Kg.
Most Volvos are well beyond that!! :)

Anything else (Pole, rope, string etc!) is more of a temporary measure to be use over short distances or in an emergiency.
I would not like to rely on the poles over longer distances, although they are pretty good.
But you have the requirement for another "driver" and you need to rely on their attentiveness .. .. :)

Des. . . ;)