We have ordered a new car. We had a few mandatory requirements: it had to be an automatic, be able to fit Anita's trike in the back, and have the French crit'air 1 rating. There were a few extras like a towbar, satnav and so on, but those three were the main requirements. A hybrid rechargeable would give us the dual-fuel option, plus a pseudo-4WD mode, useful when driving on the grass here, so would have been nice to have.
The three key criteria proved amazingly difficult to meet. Over the last few weeks, we have visited Renault, Peugeot, Toyota, Ford, VW, Jeep, Dacia, Mitsubishi, Kia and Citroen garages in the area and also looked online for used vehicles. No hybrids in utility vehicles, and hardly anyone making automatic ones. And none of the hybrid rechargeable cars would take the trike. (Except the VW Multivan - too big, heavy and expensive for us) Eventually the only option was a Renault Kangoo with a petrol engine and (only recently available) automatic transmission. Delivery in September.
It will replace the old Renault Espace 2.2 diesel auto, a thirsty car, 16 years old and showing its age now. We get about 28mpg out of it in our typical use, although on long trips it will deliver up to about 36. A bit wasteful in these days of rising fuel costs. So it really was time for it to go.
5 comments:
28mpg is seriously thirsty. We went away last weekend in our small camper, based on a 2.3 ducato van, 2004 vintage. Filling up on leaving home and once when away (when we found a garage open!) it managed almost 10 miles/litre, calculated out as 42mpg, not bad for a brick shape carrying our living accommodation.
That is a long delivery time. Enjoy when she eventually arrives :-)
You're right, Woodsy, 28mpg is pretty horrendous. To be fair, many (though not all) of our trips in the Espace are under 5Km so it barely has time to warm up, hence the thirst.
Kangaroo rouge?
Too many roos, James
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