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We are considering replacing our Frontera with a new car. Our choices are:

Hyundai Santa Fe-for good value and warranty, against huge depreciation.

Kia Sorrento- good size, proper  4 x 4 and good prices,

Land Rover Freelander 2, hve driven it and liked it but concerns over reliability and high price-but low depreciation.

We have a Bailey Pageant Vendee, which all of the above will tow easily.

Any feedback on these cars would be appreciated

I have 2 friends who have got rid of Freelander nothing but trouble, like me they both now have a sorrento 2.5 diesel, i have had mine 2 years now and touch wood never had any problems and to now nor have my friends, also know a couple who have the santa-fa and are more than happy with

Hope this helps and good luck with your choice

Dan the Yido

Thanks, just had an e-mail from a friend who has ordered a Freelander 2, they tried the CRV (ugly) the Santa fe and Sorento, they do a lot of miles so discounted thre Kia on mpg.

I would not have the Freelander 1 as it has insufficient legroom and poor reliability.

The Kia does appeal so we will try the latest model, we have tried an older one but were'nt too impressed, but there are a lot of improvements on the latest one.

Hi,

Is the MTPLM about 1420kg?

If so, unless you pull a burger van for a living why not consider a Mondeo 2 litre tdci?

I drive a 130ps estate (kerb weight 1560) and it drives better than any 4x4 on the road and delivers excellent fuel economy.

Just a thought!

Mr Ulti-Mate

Quote: Originally posted by 664DaveS on 03/9/2007

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We are considering replacing our Frontera with a new car. Our choices are:

Hyundai Santa Fe-for good value and warranty, against huge depreciation.

Kia Sorrento- good size, proper  4 x 4 and good prices,

Land Rover Freelander 2, hve driven it and liked it but concerns over reliability and high price-but low depreciation.

We have a Bailey Pageant Vendee, which all of the above will tow easily.

Any feedback on these cars would be appreciated

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Followed friends to N-Spain for 2.5 days and they both had 2.0ltd manual Hyundai Santa Fe's with Caravans alot less in weight than ours and they both dropped from 60 to sometimes 40 on hills where as i kept on going at 60.  In my opinion no where near as good as the 2.5ltrd Sorento who on the way back i followed for a while and he did not drop down to these very low speeds.

As i understand it with the Sorento's the new models do not have self levelling suspension as standard and i am not sure you can have it as an option either.  In my opinion and experiance this is a must.

So Kia Sorento all day long.....

Quote: Originally posted by Ulti-Mates on 06/9/2007

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Hi,

Is the MTPLM about 1420kg?

If so, unless you pull a burger van for a living why not consider a Mondeo 2 litre tdci?

I drive a 130ps estate (kerb weight 1560) and it drives better than any 4x4 on the road and delivers excellent fuel economy.

Just a thought!

Mr Ulti-Mate

 

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I We prefer to use a 4 x4 because we like the higher driving position, have found them very stable, plus front wheel drive cars plus van = no traction on wet grass or sometimes wet roads! Our Frontera is primarily RWD and is a good tow car.

I would cosider a Volvo Cross Country(pricey though!) , but we may go for a heavier van in the future, the Kia is promising and will probably be tried again as will the new Santa Fe which is a 2.2 and has plenty of torque, we will also consider nearly new Discovery, Shogun, Land cruiser etc.

Well we tried the Sanata Fe but did'nt like it enough to buy one, we found the ride too bouncy and unsettled as if the shocks are too stiff.

Then went to our Ford/Mazda/Kia dealer and tried a 56 Reg Sorento XS diesel which was a demonstrator -loved it so did a deal!

Hope to have it on Friday once it has been serviced and the tow bar fitted!

Well pleased and saved a fair bit on the price of a new one, good spec too!

We have recently got the same van as yourselves and did actually have to buy a new car.  After much hunting around for just about everything we found a Vauxhall Vectra Estate 3.0 CDTi SRI, 6 months old for about 55% of the retail price brand new, tows like a dream and lots of power and torque and makes just a wonderful tow car (and when not towing is a great drive!!)

Quote: Originally posted by JayDee on 17/9/2007

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We recently bought a Volvo XC90 7 leather seats, auto, tons of airbags and very safe , £205 road tax and it still has a useable boot with all 7 seats in place.

I'd recommend one to anybody.

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There was one in Salop caravan showroom the other day-very nice.A bit more than I wanted to pay. The local dealer had a second hand one but again expensive. Obviously good residual values!

The Sorento is very nice tows like a dream and is good solo-we  are used to 4 x 4 s and like them!