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Eddie Cunningham and Aidan Timmons run the rule over the best motoring options for farmers
FARMING makes unique demands on cars. No other occupation requires such a mix-and-match of attributes.
One minute the car is dropping the children to school, the next it’s bringing back a few bags of calf nuts, then it’s pulling a cattle trailer to a mart or factory... the chores go on and on.
We get a lot of queries from farm families about the best choice of car for them.
It is a big, broad question and one that is impossible in full to answer due to the multitude of individual scenarios that arise.
But here we try, as best we can, to give you an idea of what is out there and what we think of the options if you’re changing your car this year.
We’ve decided the best way to do so is to separate the SUVs from the saloons/hatches/estates.
And yes, we can deal with the diesel v petrol question quite easily. If you are putting up 15,000km a year — it is only 300km a week — diesel is your best choice for now.
We keep repeating: 20,000km upwards is firm diesel territory, though hybrids can compete in some circumstances. Anything under 15,000km makes a strong case for petrol or hybrid.
We’re going to work on the basis that you’ll be buying either brand new or fairly fresh secondhand. For the many considering buying secondhand in the UK, a word of caution: have the car’s history checked.