Yet another what car.....

[Dover Nige]

Ok, I need some fellow PH'er suggestions please...

My shopping/work/running around car is currently a Peugeot 107.

Now, it's great at doing what it does, i.e. running on fresh air (55-60mpg+ no matter how much I thrash it), costing £20 pa to tax, squeezing into comedy parking gaps etc. and is surprisingly fun to drive but.....

When I bought it I intended to sell my [flame suit on] little Eriba caravan. I've changed my mind and want to keep the 'van (I use it on my trips back home to Wales). The caravan is only about 600kg max, but the little Pug can't legally tow (despite me finding a towbar sold in Germany), so I'm thinking of changing it.

I don't want to spend any more money than I already have, so I'm thinking a ceiling of around £5.5k ish. Thing is the replacement also needs to run on fresh air, cost pennies to tax, be reasonable to find second hand and be as good an all rounder as the 107, but also be able to tow. Being able to fit a mountain bike in or on it would be a bonus too..

I'm not fussed on the looks, more the usefulness, frugality, practicality and minimal running costs as this car only helps me keep my more PH-esque cars. So far I've looked at:

Renault Modus 1.5dci
Pug 207 1.4d SW
Hyundai i10 (trouble finding one at the £ point though)
Golf tdi (high milers)
Ibiza diesel
Megane 1.5dci

Now, I appreciate this isn't the usual PH what car, but the little runabout complements my other cars and offsets the huge fuel consumption of my Chevy pick up and the Z4M's road rent, insurance and servicing bills...

So, over to you. Your input on what I've looked at and suggestions for other cars would be very much appreciated.....

[vit4]

Use the pick up to tow?

Love the image of an i10 towing a caravan though

[chrisispringles]

What about an old diesel barge. There are plenty of old diesels out there that meet all your requirments apart from fuel economy, but cost less than £2k, leaving you a lot of change to run it and your toys.

BMW 325 TDS: http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2088759.htm

BMW 525 TDS: http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2049448.htm

Ford Mondeo 2.0 TDCi: http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2091462.htm

Skoda Octavia TDi: http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2016760.htm

Toyota Avensis D4D: http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2020810.htm

Volkswagen Passat TDi: http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2035464.htm

Volvo 850 TDi: http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2087206.htm

[Dover Nige]

Double post edited out

Edited by Dover Nige on Saturday 25th September 15:56

[Dover Nige]

Yup, got a removable bar made for the Chevy and I use the caravan for weekend hot rod shows, but at 10mpg, trips to Wales and up and down the country don't really work out too great..!!

I'm curious how the 107 would be towing, but I wonder what would happen if the combo was stopped and the car wasn't homologated for towing?

[chrisispringles]

I'd be more worried about what would happen in a crash, because:

a) A caravan is bound to make a mess of a small car towing it in a crash.

b) I bet the insurance would kick up a hell of a fuss if you tried to claim whilst towing a caravan with a car that isn't legally allowed to tow at all. Sounds like a perfect get-out clause to me.

[Dover Nige]

I've thought about the diesel barge route, but I like being able to park in silly gaps and the running and maintenance cost of barges can be surprisingly high compared to these new fangled super mini hatch things as I found out with my old E39. Its a thought that's not been discounted as yet though...

[Dover Nige]

Hadn't thought too much about the insurance angle. Not only is there the not paying out bit, but then prosecution for not having insurance would swiftly follow no doubt...

Any more ideas on suitable replacements anyone? Maybe something a bit newer and smaller than bargedom..?

[RobCrezz]

Dover Nige said:

Yup, got a removable bar made for the Chevy and I use the caravan for weekend hot rod shows, but at 10mpg, trips to Wales and up and down the country don't really work out too great..!!

I'm curious how the 107 would be towing, but I wonder what would happen if the combo was stopped and the car wasn't homologated for towing?

Yeah, but 5k buys a lot of fuel.