Pulling power

Volkswagen Caravelle £45,540/£52,606

Ihave a twin-axle trailer. It’s a hugely useful bit of kit for everything from garden clearance to, well, house clearance. Behind any normal car it looks huge, behind the Caravelle, you ask yourself why you’re bothering. Well, chiefy because I don’t want to be picking leaves and mulch out of the trim for the rest of eternity.

It tows very ably, although being front-drive I wouldn’t want to be pulling speedboats up wet slipways with it. If that’s your criterion, then go for the 4Motion version. One word of warning for towing, though: you won’t be able to open the tailgate because it swings out over such a wide arc. But 6,700 litres of bootspace with all the seats removed means you rarely need the £606 towbar. Take that, Skoda Superb (1,950 litres) or Merc E-Class (1,820 litres).