This years European Holiday

[trucker]

We went to a lovely site Heidewald in Sassenberg North West Germany this year returning yesterday.
We got a new towcar, a Ford S Max 2.0 TDCI in Febuary to give us a better towing combination with the new Sterling Emerald.
Well I must say a great combination, both car and caravan never missed a beat. We travelled over 1600 miles in the 2 week staying at 4 camp sites in 4 countries.
The car averaged 34.3 MPG (according to thw cas onboard computer) for the 1600 miles of which only around 200 solo, so the towing MPG was as good as we had experienced on some shorter trips local to us at around 33.5.
Overall had a great time made even better by a great caravan to live in and a good tow car to get us there and back.

Kev

 

[emmerson]

Glad you enjoyed your holiday Trucker, but your remark about neither car nor caravan giving any trouble I find a bit odd, as you say they are both new.
I regularly tour in Europe (inc up as far as Sweden) in my '94 range Rover and '79 Royale and never miss a beat.
A well - maintained outfit of any age should cope with only 1600 miles. If not I'd take it back!

 

[trucker]

Maybe odd to you Emmerson but have you not read the posts on forums about new caravans being poor build quality, leaking ect ect ect, I should have said that the car was new to us, a 59 reg car.

Kev

 

[SteveW77]

Glad you enjoyed your holiday Trucker, but your remark about neither car nor caravan giving any trouble I find a bit odd, as you say they are both new.
I regularly tour in Europe (inc up as far as Sweden) in my '94 range Rover and '79 Royale and never miss a beat.
A well - maintained outfit of any age should cope with only 1600 miles. If not I'd take it back!

My Car & Caravan are both 18 months old, yet I had a tyre explode on the van which left me stranded on a German Autobahn, until the man from the RAC arrived. So age has very little to do with it.

Steve W

 

[JonnyG]

Glad you enjoyed your holiday Trucker, but your remark about neither car nor caravan giving any trouble I find a bit odd, as you say they are both new.
I regularly tour in Europe (inc up as far as Sweden) in my '94 range Rover and '79 Royale and never miss a beat.
A well - maintained outfit of any age should cope with only 1600 miles. If not I'd take it back!

?????????? this is odd in itself i mean whilst it is right to assume new products should function proper and not breakdown, alas that is not the case and excse me but if we go back 18 years i can assure you new range rovers of the day also broke down early in life! as for taking it back, ha ha ha, you might have the time to sit in a show room and argue you want a replacement car or van but the only thing you would get is a fixed vehicle!
As for the "well maintained vehicle" statement!!!! again one would like to assume that was reasonable to believe, but you cannot for see ignition coils breakdown or a cooling system fault apearing or a oil pump packing up! maintain all you like but youd not find time to go off touring if you went to the extremes of checking every single thing that could couse problems, but glad that you have had a good run and hope it continues for you......
Trucker, thats not bad mpg for towing,

 

[DianneT]

We have had many trips with the same outfit as we have now 6 in all. Only had problems three times and they have been dirty fuel in the car from a BP Garage and 2 puntures this year through no fault of our own and oh yes another puncture in the first year on the caravan. We always check the tires before we leave the UK and replace if needed..

 

[trucker]

Yes Jonny I was well chuffed with it. We had a Kia Sportage before this car and was only getting a bit more SOLO, towing was down to around 24/25 MPG

Kev

 

[emmerson]

What trucker said was that the outfit did not miss a beat. That signifies to me that it did not break down. Punctures I would not describe as a breakdown.Breakdowns occur due to poor components, poor maintainence, or both.I agree that no-one can foresee a fault in the coil, or a stuck relay etc, but bits and pieces like that I carry in the car, but because my outfit is well maintained, most service parts are changed regularly, thereby decreasing the chance of breakdown. I'm not saying my vehicles never breakdown, but if I had brand new kit, I would not be best pleased if it could not complete a 1600 mile trip without trouble, and the same would apply if it was only three years old.
As regards the comment that "we all know what new caravans are like", I say again, if you expect them to be poor, why buy them?
Regarding the comment about Range Rovers breaking down 18 years ago, I'm not quite sure of the relevance of the comment, but by the time I buy them, most faults have been ironed out by previous owners!
I'm not up for a range war on this, fellas, I'm just glad I have older reliable vehicles.

 

[DianneT]

How are you emmerson? Have you beenaway this year? We came back on the 22nd April.Had wonderful weather for 7 weeks in Southern Austria just a little rain on 6 days between the last week in April and the 2nd week in June. Eversinceweleft it has been good there today 32 degree and full sun. Wish I was back there.

 

[emmerson]

Hello Dianne. Yes we've been to Holland,went out abou t 23rd April, but had to come back mid-May, as Anne developed an ulcer on her leg, now well on the mend. So our holiday this year was cut rather short, I'm afraid. Not to worry, though, what time we had we enjoyed, in spite of the somewhat inclement weather!
No more Euro-jaunts for this year, but still lots planned for UK.We also hope to meet up with Lutz somewhere over here in August, as we missed him in Germany. Next year centres around Heidelberg in May.
Trust you're all OK?