Smart Tow
What am I talking about?
You may well ask.
Well, this story is about the Smart car (Mercedes) that I recently bought and took to France for our holidays.
The story starts when we bought a secondhand Auto-Trail Mercedes campervan. It was 18 months old and had the grand total of 250 miles on the clock when it was sold. So it was 'as new' and in excellent condition. This was our third motorhome in less than a year. Why so many changes? Well that's another story!
The intention was to have another vehicle when we arrived on site - to travel around in. Our first vehicle on tow was a Gold Wing 1500cc motorcycle on a single axle trailer. This we took to the Isle of Wight over the May Bank Holiday to test it out. The trip was great, the bike did hat we expected, but we had problems with the bike on the trailer and how I tied it down.
"Any fool knows that"
It appears you do not tie a motorbike down using the side stand for support. 'Any fool knows that' I heard many people say after this holiday {including members from my Gold Wing club). anyway, thanks to Bob, a friend of mine in the ACC, we did tie it down for the trip home but travelled at the very sedate speed of 40mph.
So the bike was not the answer to our dream of a second vehicle whilst on holiday.
The Smart decision
I had seen several vehicles being towed in France and Spain, both on trailers and on A-frames. Being a regular reader of MMM, I knew that I'd need a trailer to carry a Smart car if I wanted to go to Spain for our holidays. France didn't seem to have the same concerns. Well, in the normal Sanders tradition - act before you put your brain in gear - I bought a Smart car in excellent condition (left hand drive, lady owner, full service history, 30k on the clock).
I then needed a trailer, so in MMM I found a company called Towtal from Stoke on Trent. Over the phone I gave my precise details: I wanted a trailer to carry a Smart car, it must be well made, have a detachable loading ramp, spare wheel, braking system, etc, I also needed it in 4 weeks. After a few comments about what I wanted, the price was quoted. 'How much?' well if that is the price for a proper trailer, I had to pay it. I then agreed on a delivery date. Just before the delivery date I was told the company had to get a different trailer to what was agreed. It was much better specification but at no extra cost to me.
On the agreed date, we travelled to Stoke on Trent (over 400 miles round trip) and stayed in a local hotel overnight - not recommended.
The following morning at 9:15 we arrived at the factory to pick up our new toy and there it was, all gleaming and new in the corner of the yard. That was when our faces dropped; it was huge. Well it looked huge - and very well made (a Brian James trailer) with separate loading ramp, corner steadies, spare wheel, winch and 15" wheels (designed to safely carry a Smart car anywhere around the world).
Oops! the trailer's too big
My wife and I looked at each other and could not believe the size of it. It was just too big for our driveway and for use on a camping site. I am sure I would have had to hire an extra pitch just to store it while on holiday. After we put our mouths back in place, a nice man came up to us and said "Come to pick up your trailer? Nice innit?" We then had to explain our predicament about the size of the trailer - it was just too big.
Our man Bill then said, "Why did you not have an A-frame for the Smart car?".
I, the expert, as I had read all about A-frames on cars on the Continent, replied, "No can do, I must have a trailer".
"No" said Bill, " Have you read our website on A-frames?".
"No", said I.
"Well" said Bill, "read our website, take a copy of the information and you can tow a car and it is quite legal".
If the car is less than 750kg in weight it can be un-braked when towed, if over 750kg a braking system needs to be added to the car.
The A-frame solution
Well, the end of the story was that Towtal, with no problem at all, agreed to take back the trailer (well, it never left the factory yard) and all I had to pay was £99 carriage. They also agreed to fix an A-frame on my Smart car the following week (another 400 mile round trip but this time no overnight hotel!).
No problems with the French police
We have now returned from our holiday in France with the Smart car in tow. we took a copy of the regulations in seven languages (if we were stopped we had the relevant papers to explain the law on towing). On several occasions we had the French police pull up alongside us during our journey and look at the Smart car but at no time did they pull us over (more curiosity than anything else).
Can you imagine a 24ft motorhome with a Smart car on tow on an A-frame? We had a Frenchman at a petrol station ask about it. He said he sold Smart cars in Lyon and had heard of Smart cars being towed but had never seen how it was done. we had Dutch campers on site ask about the car. German campers also asked about the "strange vehicle". All were very friendly and quite amazed at the rig we had. We had an even bigger audience when we set about hooking it up to come home from the campsite. A task that should have taken 10 minutes, took nearly an hour as I explained how the towing worked - sign language seems to get the point across when asked a question. The most frequent question in all languages was 'How do the wheels turn and follow the main vehicle, don't they twist away from the towing vehicle?'. I also had the same concerns but it works - where the motorhome went , so did the car.
The moral of the story
So what is the moral of this story? Think before you buy! We were lucky we got our money back.
The holiday was great, the Smart car travelled well. Oh, by the way, the mileage did not increase on the Smart car, so I assume if the engine is not running, the speedometer does not work - you learn something new every day!
Well, I hope you have a simple chuckle at our experiences. People who know me will probably say - typical of Richard, only he would buy a trailer without first checking all the facts!
I hope my experience will help other campers if they decide to tow another vehicle. And if you want to know more about the rules of towing with an A-frame, contact Towtal or look at their website.
Happy Camping!
©Richard Saunders
