Ask an expert

Hi, I travel 45 min to work each day, half that on windy country roads. My vehicle needs are two fold. I need a vehicle that's ecomomical for work travel but I also need a 4x4 for towing horse float. Someone has told me bigger cc rating vehicles are more ecomomical for distance travel. My thoughts were to get a small say 1500cc for work travel and then a purpose vehicle for towing horses and float, which means two rego's maint etc. Owning one vehicle would be more ideal but would it be better and more economical in the long run having two? Would prefer petrol and manual over diesil and auto. Any suggestions/advice greatly appreciated. Cheers

In the long run, it is much cheaper to run/maintain/register/insure one vehicle, so I agree with your suggestion. I'm assuming the horse float with horses would be around 1,800kg, so the tow vehicle would need to have a decent towing capacity. Large petrol SUVs can be very thirsty and lack the torque of diesels, so I'm not sure that would be the best option for either of your needs. Your daily fuel bill will be high and it may struggle a little with the float on.
However, making some recommendations really depends on your budget. If you're looking for a low cost vehicle, perhaps petrol may be a compromise you'll need to make, as generally speaking large petrol SUVs suffer higher depreciation than diesel ones, so can be bought cheaper.