Well, we have just bought a new car, another Shogun, 2016, 8250 miles, white, from a millionaires row type road in Henley on Thames. We don't intend to drive in any cities apart from when OH infrequently goes to QPR, which will be evenings or weekends. Just have to sell our 07 car now...
We have a Petrol Saab 2L turbo estate for towing (our lightweight van) and various other runs. 5% of journeys.
For the other 95% of trips we have a Nissan Leaf which is fantastic. Pence to run. No tax. Cheap servicing & insurance. Smooth. Quiet. Comfy. Really quick off the line (0-40) as well...
I realise this combo is not for everyone but if we had a big van we'd get a diesel SUV.
We met a couple back in 2015 who tow there caravan down to Frejus each year, retired of course as they are on the campsite for 3 months!
Interestingly the towcar used is a 2lt Petrol Renault Laguna, there normal day to day car back home Stockton UK was a Micra.
It all kinda makes sense when you think about it, Diesel cars are definatley on there way out, and now is probably a good time to buy one as no doubt values on used are plummeting even more so when the Diesel scrappage scheme kicks in.
VW are introducing a 1.5lt Three Cylinder Petrol engine with Twin Electric Turbos, that will produce the same BHP as the current 1.6lt TDi, although I dought the Torque will be as good.
This new engine will find it's way into the VW Golf Mk8 range first I believe.
Of course it's all a stop gap, as all electric (EV's) is the future, and they are working fast on getting the charging infrastructure sorted.
Tesla will launch the Model 3 in the U.S. later this year, and that alone will be a major game changer.
Like it or not, we are at the beginning of the end for fossil fuel cars, and come 2020 is when we will see it for real.
Last month was a certainly good time to buy a diesel if one intends to keep it a few yrs. No car is worth much after that. Anyway. I got in there just in time before new road tax regime.
£30pa road tax & well proven diesel engine. If I had bought the petrol version of the same car I would have had unproven small capacity turbo petrol. Less towing ability. Higher road tax & higher fuel costs.
Quote: Originally posted by Mrs. Bonce on 06/4/2017
So we will no longer be able to tow large caravans?
You will always be able to tow large caravans. In other markets the car you have for example is available with large capacity petrol engine with at least as much towing ability as the UK supplied diesel version.
Obviously petrol engined cars have higher fuel costs which I'm sure all upmarket caravanners can easily absorb.
It is the same for all large SUV manufacturers. All have suitable petrol engines available which are offered in all other world markets except Europe which is alone in it's high tax regime on road fuel which makes diesels popular for their fuel economy.
Nothing to do with the EU. This is rip-off Britain, where our fuel is taxed more than in most of Europe. If anything our fuel tax is more likely to go up.
If buyers of larger SUVs want a diesel alternative. The future for large petrol engines will be 2litre or a little more. Turbocharged with outputs of well over 200bhp up to over 300bhp. I doubt the fuel consumption will be much worse than current diesels. Or it could be an equally capable hybrid.
Whatever the future. To try to pretend that there will be no suitable UK market large SUV towcars available to well heeled caravanners is laughable. The market supplies what the market demands.
Quote: Originally posted by Opensauce on 09/4/2017
If buyers of larger SUVs want a diesel alternative. The future for large petrol engines will be 2litre or a little more. Turbocharged with outputs of well over 200bhp up to over 300bhp. I doubt the fuel consumption will be much worse than current diesels. Or it could be an equally capable hybrid.
Whatever the future. To try to pretend that there will be no suitable UK market large SUV towcars available to well heeled caravanners is laughable. The market supplies what the market demands.
Last sentence is very true OS, the man who owns the vast majority of North Sea Oil coming into Scotland, also owns the Refinery that turns it fuels of all sorts and is also in the process of Building a Vehicle factory to build a version of sorts of the Landrover 110/90.
He knows there is a market for it, LR will not make it anymore, he has the money and the passion for them.
Diesel v Petrol, I see more diesel then petrol cars filling up nowadays.
Well yes. There is even a diesel version of the new model Nissan Micra. It's something to post about on forums but in real world I don't think driver's buying habits have changed much. Particularly as a diesel car is still going to cost less in fuel than petrol version of same car.
80% of cars for private motorists go on the road as leasing deals so trade in values don't matter much anyway. Whatever you buy the depreciation is steep.
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Topic: Diesel Tow Car? Toxin Tax
