Still on the lookout for a new tow car with slightly more room than my volvo s60, and the kia sorento 4x4 seems to fit the bill. A 2.5 td around 2006 with <70k can be had for under £5k which is simar to a toyota rav 4 or similar which are a fair bit smaller!

They perform well but some had issues with the fuel tank lining coming adrift causing the engine to cut out, turbos can fail but no worse than similar cars

I've owned two from new, a 2003XS manual and a 2005XS Automatic, very impressed with both. Alloys go scabby relatively quickly. I had injectors replaced under warranty on the first one, not an issue on the second. Interior plastics a bit cheap. Towing and performance agood or a large car (2200kg) Tow car of the year when it came out. I towed a twin axle caravan without too much bother, though dulled the performance a touch as you would expect. Economy late twenties early thirties cruising (not towing!!) I'd recommend one.

I've had a few Cee'ds as rental cars, loved every one of them. They just seem to tick every box and the diesel engines are brilliant. The only bad thing was the Sportage I had for a trip, I've never seen such a big car with such a small boot!

A 2006 is just coming out of warranty (I think) so make sure it's been looked after.

Neighbour has a 7 seater nor sure if its the Sorrento, he tows his 4 berth twin wheeler says he has never had a better motor, his alloys blistered but they changed them unde the 7 year warranty. This is his second Kia he says he wont find a better towing care the spec is huge too. Air con electricly operated rear and back door, video parking camera etc. Engine is a 200bhp 2.2 litre it goes like billyo

Have a few come in work (infrequently) and they're pretty good. Only common issue I've seen is the drive -haft ABS rings splitting. Easy enough to replace.

A lot of car for the money.

Thanks guys. About what I thought really. Cheap ish interior trim but fairly robust and cheap to buy! Performance is not an issue and mpg is not critical. Other than towing it will probably only do 3-4k per year

I also imagine they tow well due to size but as an all round car would it be a better option than a rav 4 d4d or similar sized honda hrv 2.0 vtec?