2020 Renault Koleos

Smeesh
Smeesh Forum Participant Posts: 2
edited April 2023 in Towcars & Towing #1

Hello everyone  ...Mixed discussion .. Went out today to trade in my trusted trouble free E350 Coupe Mercedes which I have owned for the last 9 years. I recently changed my caravan to a 2020 Swift Challenger 560 and after a couple of outings my Coupe was not exactly built for towing. So sourced a Volvo XC70 D5 at our local Arnold Clark Dealership on a 2014 with I think 59,000 miles on the clock. Unfortunately being the Nirvana tow car it held the price of 17 and a half big ones. Quite steep for the age of car. Any who the Mrs didn't like it one bit surprised and much preferred the 2020 Renault Koleos already fitted with a detachable tow bar and electrics with 29,000 miles on the clock for 3 grand dearer. Checked the towing capacity and with in range . Its the 1.7 dci GT Line not the 2 litre. So the golden question anyone tow with the 1.7dci 2 wheel drive XTronic ? Mixed reviews to be honest. Looks the part with all the toys but might be slightly under powered being used to big torque.....

Comments

  • EmilysDad
    EmilysDad Forum Participant Posts: 8,973
    1000 Comments
    edited April 2023 #2

    I'd have let Mrs Smeesh buy the Renault if she really liked it & kept the 6 pot Merc for myself. 😉

    (but owning a ML350 I'm biased 😉)

  • flatcoat
    flatcoat Forum Participant Posts: 1,571
    1000 Comments
    edited April 2023 #3

    Wouldn’t buy a car from Arnold Clark if they were the last dealer in Earth and wouldn’t touch the Koleis with a barge pole. The Volvo price is ok-ish but there are plenty on Autotrader and given car sales are struggling I would look elsewhere. I have never seen a Koleos towing and I suspect there is a good reason for that! 

  • EmilysDad
    EmilysDad Forum Participant Posts: 8,973
    1000 Comments
    edited April 2023 #4

    The web is full of tales of woe re AC ..... there used to be a whole website dedicated to them but it was taken down some time back

  • eribaMotters
    eribaMotters Club Member Posts: 1,193 ✭✭✭✭
    1000 Comments
    edited April 2023 #5

    I'm a bit cynical about larger Renaults. Possibly I'm biased as some years ago at 18 months old I traded in a Scenic as it was useless at towing a 1000kg caravan, and at 3 months old the air con had exploded whilst in France. When home it took Renault 8 weeks to fix.

    If I've read the Whatcar website correctly, the Koleos was only built for a few years so I'd be asking why they dropped it. It also only got 2 stars out of 5 in reviews. You say it's towing capacity is within range, but if I was spending £20K I'd want a bit more than that. 

    Finally, and you'll have to check on this, Renault had a strange system of working out max tow figures. If you used the full allowance it was at the detriment of vehicle payload.

     

    Colin

  • winni1974
    winni1974 Forum Participant Posts: 52
    edited April 2023 #6

    i am not going to comment on the Koleos but when it comes to Renault i would not buy one if they were the last car on earth i had two and that was enough both broke down many times major electrical issues window fell into bottom of the drivers door all i can say you get what you pay for.

    You said you liked the Volvo XC70 but your wife didnt have you looked at the BMW 5 series touring 20D i had mine for 4 years and it was a fantastic tow car as well as a solo car it comes with AIr suspension on the rear so levels out really well with the caravan in tow plenty of pulling power and very good MPG solo i averaged 50MPG but could get as much as 58MPG and towing to Cornwall from South Yorkshire fully loaded i achieved 34mpg which in my opinion was fantastic. it was also very reliable in the time i had it which i covered 40 thousand miles. i have now changed the car to a BMW X5 which is even better.

    good luck in which ever car you decide on