Which towcar for a 1900kg van?
Present car (Volvo XC90 D5 2007 model) has had a lot of problems, unusual for a Volvo, but it has had more wrong with it than all our other Volvos added together, and we have been driving Volvos since 1972 .
Thinking we might look to replace it late this year.
So what can we replace it with?
What new cars these days are heavy enough?
Comments
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check out arnold clarke website look up the model you think .....
Arnold doen't have the best of reputations though ...
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Oh yes, we know Arnold very slightly! Our daughter was at school with his youngest daughter.
Don't know how involved with the business he is these days, he must be getting on a bit.
We went to look at some little VWs 2-3 years back at one of his dealerships, but his staff were not that helpful.
Anyway....
Discovery is out as we have not won the Lottery.
Last time round we looked at Audi, VW, and Toyota models, presumably they are still around. Any others we could consider?
Reliability is the number one consideration.
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Have you considered moving to a motorhome?
when you add the cost of a large SUV and a caravan together it makes me think?
Steve
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Knell, you could try the clubs caravan/car matching service to find a car suitable for your van. Towsure & C&CC both do similar.
If your choise is then a new car you could try a service like carwow which finds the cheapest available through a number of official dealers throughout the country.
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check out arnold clarke website look up the model you think .....
Arnold doen't have the best of reputations though ...
https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.arnoldclark.
read what i was saying i was telling the op to use arnold clark website to check car specifications not buy from him!!!
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..... read what i was saying i was telling the op to use arnold clark website to check car specifications not buy from him!!!
I did read what you were saying ........ I was pointing out what a shister AC are/is ....... Autotrader & Parker's also give guides, reviews & tech numbers
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what is your budget? If you don't have new Disco money then you also don't have Audi money either. You will need a Q7 or just possibly an A6 Allroad from the Audi stable. Personally I would still consider a Volvo along with Disco4, ML Merc and Shogun. If
buying used simply find a good independent garage who specialises in your chosen marque for future servicing.0 -
......... Toyota
Reliability is the number one consideration.
That`ll be a Land Cruiser then.
They`re not cheap but they are good. There`s a reason why they`re popular in the outback.....
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check out arnold clarke website look up the model you think .....
Arnold doen't have the best of reputations though ...
Write your comments here...Hell Molly that is frightening,who would want reviews like that!
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Landcruiser will certainly be on the list. Whatever we get, the bank balance is going to take a big hit. We had hoped the XC90 would "see us out", but it has been a big disappointment as far as reliability goes.
As a towcar, it is good.
It's just had its annual service and MOT, with various things needing fixed, so we will see how it goes this summer. It is on its last warning now!
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Have you considered moving to a motorhome?
when you add the cost of a large SUV and a caravan together it makes me think?
Steve
Ssssh! Mrs K has already been looking at MHs!
Costwise, you are right, but as we already have the caravan, it's not so easy.
Having given it quite a bit of thought over the last few months, I am not so keen on a MH. Being over 70, I no longer have the correct licence for a bigger MH, and all the ones that Mrs K liked were on the heavy side.
Then we would still need a car for day to day use.
We do have a 2 seater Smart (ideal to tow behind a MH if necessary), but it is no substitute for a car with some decent space in it. Especially when you have grandchildren.
Another option would be to downsize both caravan and car, but for our 3 month long trips we like to have a decent amount of space.
It's a bit of a problem.
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check out arnold clarke website look up the model you think .....
Arnold doen't have the best of reputations though ...
Write your comments here...Hell Molly that is frightening,who would want reviews like that!
There used to be another site singing Arnold's 'praises' called Anoldsucks.com ...... it seems to have been shut down
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For reliability Land Cruiser or Shogun, but there is always the earlier Disco 2, earlier BMW X5, Tourag V6, Mercedes, which are a bit less 'old school' and nicer to be in/drive but may not have that dependability the LC & S have. Then there are things like
the Kia Sedona, All depends upon your budget really.0 -
what is your budget? If you don't have new Disco money then you also don't have Audi money either. You will need a Q7 or just possibly an A6 Allroad from the Audi stable. Personally I would still consider a Volvo along with Disco4, ML Merc and Shogun. If
buying used simply find a good independent garage who specialises in your chosen marque for future servicing.Just realised I was thinking about the very expensive Range Rover!
Budget.....hmm. I think it would have to be up to £50k list price to get what we need. What sort of discounts on list price are possible these days?
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KjeIIN - if you are looking at new - are you aware of the website called 'carwow'? I saved about £9500 on a new VW Touareg which is just coming up for its first service and hasn't been back to the dealer for any warranty issues whatsoever. I managed to get a new Touareg Escape (offroad version with low ratio and diff locks etc) for just over £36500 - and that was from my local dealer.
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Thanks, that is very interesting. I am totally out of touch when it comes to cars and buying them as, for the last 44 years, we have had only Volvos, which usually last a long time, so buying a car is an infrequent activity.
Our previos Volvo, a 940 estate, was still going well at 13 years old and 150k miles when we sold it, never had any problems with it, so this present one is a big disappointment.
Makes us wary of buying another Volvo.
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Kj - I didn't know of carwow until I came across it on another forum. It's basically like putting your requirements out to tender - specifiying model, extras, colour etc. You will then find that a few participating dealers will get back to you with a price. There is no commitment or anything like that and I'm not quite sure how it works in terms of what the dealer gets out of it because they are all potentially competing nationally with each other - but I suppose targets and bonuses will come into it somewhere. I understand that not all dealers participate. As it turned out for me, my local VW dealer came up with a price that was within £200 of the best nationally and since I had dealt with them for a number of years, there was no decision to make. The deal went through very quickly and with no hassle whatsoever - and I even got what I thought to be a very fair trade-in on my previous car - so they weren't stinging me at that end, either. Overall, I was very pleased with the buying experience.
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£50K to spend on a car oh to have such a problem
must be the shares in Statoil. If only! Mind you, I think they have dropped a bit lately.
A new tow car is not something we had planned to buy, but if this one misbehaves again, we may have little option.
As prudent pensioners, we have been putting aside a reasonable amount each year, and we cannot take it with us, so we might as well spend it and enjoy it.
If we don't spend it then someone else will!
Looking at a £50k car does not of course necessarily mean having £50k to spend, I would hope to get a good bit off the list price, and a few £££s for the old car
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Yep, it is an excellent tow car.......its just that it keeps breaking down.
Maybe once we have forked out to replace all the dodgy bits, it will get better?
This is a work in progress isn't it?
Try this
For sale Volvo, was 2007 but since subjected to Volvo's legendary continuous improvement program now mainly 2012 with some attractive 2016 features.
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