Guide
How to find your car's towing capacity: VIN plate, handbook, by reg
Updated
The number that decides what you can tow is stamped on the car. Here's where it is and how to read it.
The VIN plate method
Open the driver's door and look in the door shut, or check under the bonnet: the VIN plate (a metal or sticker plate, not just the 17-character VIN etching) lists up to four weights in kg. Your towing capacity is line 2 minus line 1.
- Line 1: gross vehicle weight (GVW / MAM)
- The most the loaded car may weigh: car, fuel, passengers, luggage.
- Line 2: gross train weight (GTW)
- The most car plus loaded trailer may weigh together, and it must not be exceeded. GTW minus GVW gives the braked towing capacity. gov.uk states that if your VIN plate does not list a train weight, you should not use your vehicle for towing (gov.uk: towing weight and width limits).
- Lines 3 and 4: axle limits
- Maximum front and rear axle loads. The rear one matters for noseweight and heavily loaded boots.
The handbook (and why it can differ)
The owner's handbook lists separate braked and unbraked towing limits, sometimes lower than the plate arithmetic suggests, and often different per engine and gearbox. Where the handbook figure is lower, treat the lower number as your limit: it reflects what the manufacturer actually rates that variant to pull. For unbraked towing, gov.uk says the loaded trailer must not weigh over 750kg and should not weigh more than 50% of your car's weight.
Car towing weight by reg or VIN
Online lookups of car towing capacity by reg are a decent starting point, but they match on model ranges, not your exact variant, and tow ratings swing hundreds of kg between engines in the same range. Use a towing capacity checker by reg to shortlist, then confirm on the plate and in the handbook: the plate on your actual car is what a roadside check works from.
Got the figure? Put it through the checker against your trailer's MAM for the full licence-and-weights verdict.