Financing a tow vehicle upgrade
Commonly two loans, arranged in one conversation.
When the van's ATM (Aggregate Trailer Mass) is above your car's braked towing capacity, the van purchase becomes a car purchase as well.
A car and a caravan are different security for a lender, so each loan usually sits on its own asset.
Updated . 7 min read • Buying Guide
Yes, brokers arrange finance for tow vehicles as well as caravans, and one conversation can cover the car and the van.
The trigger is the van's ATM against the car's braked capacity, or the loaded pair against the car's GCM (Gross Combination Mass).
- The trigger - the van's ATM is above the car's rating (braked capacity or GCM, off the plates not the brochure)
- One conversation - can cover car and van (commonly two loans, one secured on each asset)
The layout you want sets the van's loaded weight. If that weight sits above your car's rating, you are shopping for a car as well as a van.
This page covers the money side. The sequencing question, which to buy first, has its own guide.
When a van purchase becomes a car purchase
Two numbers decide it, and both come off compliance plates rather than brochures.
- The van's ATM against the car's braked towing capacity. ATM is the most the loaded van is allowed to weigh, and the car's rating has to cover it. Tare, the empty weight, is not the number that matters, because nobody tows an empty van.
- The GCM across the pair. The cap on the loaded car and loaded van together. A car can clear the first check and still fail this one.
Our can-i-tow pages run the check for a named car and a named van, and the tow calculator takes your own figures. When the answer comes back no, the two ways forward are a lighter van or a stronger car. The rest of this page covers the stronger car.
Shortlisting the stronger car
The van sets the number: the next car, new or used, has to be rated to tow the van's ATM. Start the shortlist from that rating rather than from a model you already like, because the rating is the one filter that cannot bend.
These pages list the cars whose published braked capacity reaches each ceiling. Pick the band at or above the van's ATM.
One caution carries over from the trigger section: the same model name can hold different ratings between variants. Engine, gearbox and model year each move the braked capacity and the GCM, so check the handbook of the exact car in front of you rather than trusting the badge.
Working from the other end, with a car already in mind? Its caravans-for page lists the caravans it can legally tow.
Financing the car and the van
A car and a caravan are different security for a lender, so the pair is commonly financed as two loans, one secured on each asset.
That does not mean arranging them twice. The same broker conversation can cover the vehicle and the van, and the figure to plan around is the combined repayment across the pair.
The quotes can also come before either purchase. A quote is priced against your circumstances and the amount rather than one exact car at one exact yard, which means you can walk into both negotiations already knowing your ceiling. The order you then buy in is a separate question, covered in car first or caravan first.
One quote conversation for the pair
A quote is not a loan application.Free, no obligation, no credit check to get a quote, about 2 minutes.If you want to go further, Jade handles the next step.
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Costs beyond the loan
Several costs sit outside the loan and arrive at the same time as it. Budget for them before the yard.
- Stamp duty. Set by your state and scaled to the car's price. Check your state's revenue office for the current schedule before you budget.
- Insurance. A different car means a different premium, and the policy should record that the car tows.
- Towing hardware. If the next car does not carry them: a towbar rated for the job, an electric brake controller for any van over 750kg, and weight-distribution gear where the setup calls for it.
- The changeover gap. You need a tow car on the van's handover day. A car sold early leaves a gap, and a van collected before the car is sorted has to sit somewhere.
For what the van side of the budget looks like over a year of ownership, see caravan running costs.
Common questions
Can you finance a tow vehicle and a caravan together?
They are commonly financed as two separate loans, one secured on each asset, because a car and a caravan are different security for a lender. A broker can still take both purchases to their lender panel in one conversation, and the figure to plan around is the combined repayment across the pair rather than either loan on its own. How yours ends up structured is worked out between you, the broker and the lender against your circumstances.
When does a caravan purchase turn into a car purchase as well?
When the van's ATM, its maximum loaded weight, sits above the car's braked towing capacity, or when the loaded pair together would breach the car's GCM. The van's ATM is stamped on its compliance plate; the car's braked capacity and GCM are in its handbook. Our can-i-tow pages and tow calculator run the arithmetic for a named car and a named van, and if the answer is no, a stronger tow vehicle is one of the two ways forward. The other is a lighter van.
Should the car loan or the caravan loan come first?
The purchases have an order, and the quotes can come before either of them. A finance quote is priced against your circumstances and the amount, so you can hold a figure for the car side and the van side before committing to an exact vehicle at an exact yard. Which asset you hand over first is the sequencing question, and our car-first-or-caravan-first guide walks through how each order plays out.
What costs ride along with a tow vehicle changeover?
Beyond the price of the car itself: stamp duty on the transfer, which is set by your state and scales with the price, a change in your insurance premium, and the towing hardware if the next car does not carry it - towbar, electric brake controller, and weight-distribution gear where the setup calls for it. None of those are loan costs, but they arrive at the same time as the loan, so budget for them together.