bailey peagent owners

[GingerPete]

hi folks ,i own a S5 bailey burgundy which itow whith a kia 2005 sedonna with 2 adults & 3 adult size teenagers on board who sometimes only come to france with us. i,m looking to buy a new car soon but don't know what to buy, i like the new sedonna but wife thinks owe sedonna & the new seddona are too big for every day driving , we also like the new mondeo estate but a little bit worried about the dog wagging the tail when only the 2 of us& that it maybe to small for 5 of us,also we like the ford s-max , we are interrested to know what car other bailey burgundy ,bretagne ,vendee & provence owners use & what other forum users think of the ubove cars, we have £20k to spend give or take a few £k...thanks...pete

 

[johnk]

hi pete,I have a burgundy s5 and used to tow it with a mondeo 2.0 tdci and had no problems,and then bought a Honda crv 2.2 cdti {2006 model 55 plate} which tows it no problems and very good fuel economy ie 42 mpg solo and 28 towing.Only bugbear is you have to remove spare wheel to hitch up but only takes a few minutes.The new crv cdti has a higher tow limit at 2000kg and has good reviews and it should be within your budget.

 

[GingerPete]

hi john ,thanks for the quick reply , was the mondeo hatchback or estate, what year & how many passengers. had a look at the crv2.2 on th auto trader looks good i will book a test drive....pete

 

[Garfield]

Hi,

We have had our s-max for over a year now and tow a 1600kg twin axle lunar lexon, we considered the new Sedona but dismissed it on fuel consumption amongst other things. the s-max handles like a 7 seat gti and is very stable with the van on the back, passing hgvs are barely noticable. we average low 40s mpg despite living in a hilly area, a week touring Norfolk gave us 52 mpg over 300 miles, 27 mpg with our van on the back.

Some have described the s-max ride as harsh but we love it, one mans harsh is anothers precice and stable

 

[Sedo]

Hi Pete

We've a Pageant 6 Burgundy and tow it with a Sportage 2.0 diesel. Tows with no problems. The only shortfall we've noticed and it goes for any car this size with a full compliment of passengers is storage. We're tempted to have a roof box when my daughter and grandson come iwth us. By the time we've loaded the awning in the boot and my grandson's bike plus other sundrie items the cars full, and unless you want to load the van you're pushing for space.

Tomo

 

[Ian_5040589]

We towed our Provence with a 53 plate Passat Sport 4 Motion saloon (1695kg kerbweight). The new Passat won towcar of the year.

The 4 Motion also benefits from an extra 10kg on the noseweight.

Ours was rock solid and returned 32/33mpg on longer runs.

 

[Tapestry]

Hi

We have a Series 5 Bretangue and tow with an S Max. Really like the car for both towing and solo journeys. Hubby has had 7 adults in the car when going to some meetings with work. The S Max has more space than the mondeo, our previous tow car.

Hope this helps

Annette

 

[Richard_374306006]

Hello,

We tow a S5 Bordeaux on a 55 plate Passat 2.0Tdi saloon. Fabulously stable outfit - too stable, I have found the speed on motorways creeping too high! 140hp engine barely notices hills.

Solo the car returns 55mpg / 27 towing, I drive over 40k per year with work and find the car a relaxing motorway cruiser with masses of room for passengers and luggage.

Electronic parking brake is no problem - anybody who moans about it just has poor clutch control.

Richard

 

[johnk]

hi pete,it was a mondeo hatchback 2002 model and only had 29000 miles when i sold it.When towing there were 2 adults a zodiac inflatable,large outboard,awning and everything else associated with a fortnights holiday.

I forgot to add that the crv cdti is low emissions for the size of car and i "only" pay

 

[BurtonRob]

We went through this process last year. In the end I settled for a Ford Galaxy 130bhp. Enough weight to dictate the terms to our Pageantand plenty of tug. Where it really beats the Sedona is on MPG. I get up to 50mpg on a run not towing. average 42mpg on general running. The Sedona is closer to 29mpg due to the engine size. We still have the flexibility of a people mover. i have driven VW's for years but found the Passat diddn't have that little bit of kerb weight that makes the difference if you tow a lot. The Seat Alhambra and the old Sharan are virtually the same as the Galaxt, I don't know how the new VW Tiguan measures up. Happy hunting

Rob

 

[Angus1]

I tow with a 56 reg Passat sport Estate 140TDI, and yes it will easily tow a van of this size.

Unfortunately, despite what Richard says the electronic parking brake is a nightmare and it has less than sod-all to do with clutch control. Basically, mine (and its far from unique) doesn`t always release (currently about 50/50 chance) so I use my clutch control and hold it on the footbrake as at least you don`t get shunted at traffic lights when the infernal thing refuses to release.

It`s been back four times now and had new switches and software upgrades but still has a mind of its own.

The car has also been back for paintwork, new front suspension arms and bushes, a new passenger seat,rattles in the dash (six times to date so now I`ve just given up),needed the clutch cable re-routeing as it was causing the dash to vibrate, had a split turbo pipe causing it to go into limp-home mode, and used 7 ltrs of oil in the 30k it did before it needed a new engine (again not an unknown occurance).

It has lots of room, is nice to drive and to my mind looks great (didn`t need an estate, but i find the saloon a bit lardy-arsed), but unless it`s a Company purchase (like mine is)I`d be very wary.

We also have a previous model TDI130 Sport which is totally different, faster, more economical, better put together and has been soooooo reliable I bought it off the Company for TOH. Oh, it also tows better.

 

[Robfooty]

We tow a provence s6 with a 08 passat 2.0TDi estate. So far so good , last trip out it was a little twitchy but then it was blowing a gale over easter wasn't it. We have had no trouble with electric brake yet, but we use auto-hold once on the move which was great for the van. Looked at a smax but no deals to be done and although looks posh from a distance inside, the glovebox is so plasticy we could see it breaking off in a short time.My wife refused to consider the smax after that. The passat is a higher nose weight as well. The way i look at it if it goes wrong vw can come and get it and give us a car while they repair it, thats what they have always done in the past. That's the whole point of a warranty.

 

[Dave_374330759]

we've got a Provence and tow it with a 2.0 litre TDCi C-max tows fine, 50-55mpg solo and a bit over 30 towing. Perfect for 4 adults but a bit snug for 5 on a long trip I suspect. The S-max has the same engine, a longer wheelbase and a bigger towing capacity (1700kg as opposed to 1500kg for the C-Max) it's also everso big inside. Worth a serious look