New Tug Required Your Opinions Please

[paul.bower]

Hello All

I'm in the market for a new tug for my Sterling Eccles Amethyst (1236 miro)

We currently tow with a A6 est which is a company car and is going back so we can buy our own. i know it's a buyers market and our options are a 2/3 year old Espace/Galaxy for arond £7000 which seems the sensible option, or do we push the boat out and go for the S Max which is £5k more, i am for the sensible option but do like the look of the s max. I have heard bat reports of the Espace but to be fair i have heard bad reports about all cars !!

 

[cheryl.mark@yahoo.co.uk]

Hi Paul

We needed an MPV and it was a choice between the Smax or New Galaxy, we bought a 56 reg Smax 2ltr tdci and we towed our Bailey Indiana mtplm 1500 with it, the Fords are fantastic towing cars, you didnt know the van was on the back, they look very smart and the seating arrangments are so fleixible, the mpg was also very good, between 40-52 solo and 27-32 towing so not bad eh? We changed the smax last year for a new galaxy as we needed more room inside (we are child minders so have lots of children in the car), the Galaxy is a better car all round than the Smax even though they say they are virtually the same car, its just more roomier inside the seats in the back of the smax are small and only suitable for children, it all depends if you need a 7 seater or just want it as a towcar? I liked both cars and for towing they are fantastic with good mpg, the Galaxy suits our needs more than the Smax but I would certainly recommend one to you, they drive like a dream and tow great.

 

[RogerL]

The problem with the Espace is it's built by Renault.

New Galaxy and S-Max share the Mondeo platform (floorpan, engines, transmissions, suspension, electrics, etc) but are significantly different apart from that - so chose which suits you best.

 

[Garfield]

Hi,

We had a 99 Sharan and my father in law had a 52 Galaxy auto,

both 1.9 td, the reliability of both cars was poor, FIL's auto box self destructed and our wiper motor failed, wiring harness at hinge points broke, head gasket went, slightest tap destroyed the speaker covers, aircon failed, central locking failed.

Reliability aside they do make excellent family cars and very stable towcars and theres not much else that big that will give 40+ mpg

We considered the Espace as a replacement but for some reason they appear on paper to be much more thirsty and reliability is said to be even worse.

We bought a new s-max nearly 2 years ago, cheaper and better looking than the new Galaxy but it's only occasionally used as a 7 seater, the fold down seats cut down on max load space compared to lift outs but are MUCH more convenient.

Incidently I am 6'1" and have sat in the rear seats of the old Galaxy/Shaz and the S-max and there is MORE headroom in the rear of the S-max but this is done by sitting you nearer the floor such that my knees are near my chin.

After nearly 2 years and 35k miles (including 2 trips to Andorra), a piece of plastic broke off the handbrake lever, there is a small hole in the gear lever boot and some of the windscreen heating elements have failed, other than that it has never failed to start, broke down etc though I would much rather have an identical car built by Toyota.

The Original goodyear Excellence tyres only lasted 14k on the front but the Conti sportcontact2's should be good for 20k