Hi all! I currently have a galaxy but it’s 14y old and probably going to need replacing soon. My husband reckons diesel is being demonised by govt with increased price and tax etc.. so keen to avoid. We’re a family of 5 (but often end up as 6 with my mum) currently towing a too small coachman Amara 520/4 which is also going to need upgrading in the next year or two.. help?!?!
7 seater ??non-diesel
- Thread starter Turps
- Start date
I think you may need to decide what you are going to be towing next, or at least settle on a weight limit for it. You can then look at the budget to get options, but in general they are pretty limited. My solution was to buy a copy of What Car which has all the petrol specs in it and whittle them down based on weight and power and torque.
I agree with Ray, until you know a bit more detail of the caravan, it will be difficult to know what you need to look at for the car.
I did google "Petrol 7 seater's" and there are some current models out there but what I could not determine was what their towing capacities were without doing a lot more research.
Also you might find some good secondhand units. For example Ford used to do the Galaxy with a 2.3L Petrol, Renault used to do their Espaces with a range of petrol engines, but these may now be too old for you.
I did google "Petrol 7 seater's" and there are some current models out there but what I could not determine was what their towing capacities were without doing a lot more research.
Also you might find some good secondhand units. For example Ford used to do the Galaxy with a 2.3L Petrol, Renault used to do their Espaces with a range of petrol engines, but these may now be too old for you.
This diesel thing IMO is just another part of Project Fear. Diesel will be around for a long time yet and if you get a new vehicle it will be Euro 6 (needs AdBlue is the giveaway) which makes it one of the cleanest vehicles on the road. Remember fuel consumption goes up like a rocket when towing with a petrol engine.
Another good place to look for data and grounded opinions on vehicles is www.honestjohn.co.uk - he is the motoring correspondent of the Saturday Telegraph and will reply quickly if you mail him with any queries.
Another good place to look for data and grounded opinions on vehicles is www.honestjohn.co.uk - he is the motoring correspondent of the Saturday Telegraph and will reply quickly if you mail him with any queries.
Craigyoung said:
Yep, quite right. AdBlue isn't an essential part of Euro 6, a subset of vehicles don't need it.
Woodentop said:
I agree diesel will be around for a good bit yet, but at what price. I may be wrong but I suspect diesel may get taxed rather more in the future and the 10p price difference between that and petrol is wiping out the mpg difference. Having said that given haulage and buses still rely heavily on diesel increasing the tax may be a problem, so you have to make up your own mind on this and hope you are correct.
Recent news though suggests that diesels have lost 20% of their resale value so this is another thing to take into account.
Raywood said:
You see so many reports re diesel prices that its hard to know what to believe. I read one recently that said although new diesel sales were down the residuals for pre-owned were holding firm. The price difference between petrol and diesel is hard to explain. It would be interesting to see what it is in other EU countries where the mix of cars is similar to UK Ive just come back from a week in Iceland and there the price of both fuels was virtually identical.
PS Edit Link to Europe fuel prices.
http://fuel-prices-europe.info/
I can not afford to change my 5 year old Sante Fe to anything else, and carry on our desire to caravan outings, the range of pure electric cars is despicable, Hybrids are too expensive. So what are my option, stay with what I have , to tow with or buy a very old Range Rover diesel exempt from road tax. 
Or go back to an old Rover 3.5 P5. Lovely but expensive tow car, sorry not a 7 seater.
Or go back to an old Rover 3.5 P5. Lovely but expensive tow car, sorry not a 7 seater.
EH52ARH said:
The range of pure EV's has been poor, and that has been a real concern because of the relatively small number of public charging points. But, enormous amount of development is taking place on the cars efficiencies, battery capacities and charging points available. The some of the next generation of EV's will have up to 350kw charging capability meaning a stop at a charger could take as little as 15min for a 75% or more refill.
Obviously the charging network needs and will grow, but presently it a bit of Mish mash in the UK., Too many different systems, and incompatability. The suppliers need to get their act together to make it as simple as going to a petrol station, and not just a particular brand.
ProfJohnL said:
I was in Iceland recently and whilst everyone else was filling up and driving off. the "Leaf" community were queuing for the single charging point at a main service area on Route 1. So it is not just UK that is lacking charging points. But surely it's chicken and egg, but in this case as they are privately funded (in the main) which business will shell out lots of cash when the returns are not likely to be achieved for somewhile?
You may have noticed that quite a few of the major oil producing companies have changed their trading names to remove the emphasis on "petroleum". This is partly so they can be more readily accepted in the alternative energy production and distribution community
But as the Government relinquished all control of our energy and distributions suppliers, they have no access to a national institution to instruct them to build the network, so yes we are dependant on private companies responding looking for profitable opportunities.
But as the Government relinquished all control of our energy and distributions suppliers, they have no access to a national institution to instruct them to build the network, so yes we are dependant on private companies responding looking for profitable opportunities.
ProfJohnL said:
My feeling is that the problem is not building the network, but the space needed. A normal filling station can fill several cars at once, all within a few minutes, but if you have electrics no matter how efficient the system is, it will take far longer and require far more space. Throw a caravan on the back of the car into the equation and you have a recipe for chaos.
Raywood said:
I had this thought last year whilst visiting Strensham North services on the M5. They have an excellent caravan parking area which is adjacent to the main car park. But they only have the ubiquitous Ecotricity pumps for EVs right by the doors (I think there were only 2 pumps). In the current state I would need to unhitch the caravan and drive to the Ecotricity pump to change my theoretical EV or PHEV. In a pure EV future the MSA operator would need to have charging facilities at every car and caravan parking bay. This may be possible with wireless inductive charging, but would still be a substantial investment. Perhaps companies like FastNed will be shoulding the up-front costs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-7iu6ZeGuE
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