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Rite ............ thats it !!!!!.................

Im cancelling the appointment i made with the garage for a test drive and ive also mentioned cars to my parents and ive more or less talked them into changing their van for a smaller single axle ........ being is safe is certainly better than being sorry

I really do appreciate your advice Cleef15 as youve got an Antara, you know obviously know what the car is like. Yes it is a lovely car, there are not too many  AWD i like the look of but i do like that one. Could i please ask, would you tow with the Antara or not and if you would what weight would you tow? That way i can point my parents in the right direction of what weight of 'van they need to be looking at.

I do agree with what everyone has told me about car salesmen, pressure, figures etc and i do appreciate the help and advice everyone has given me too.... thank you.

The plus of my parents probably exchanging their van via a dealer is they will hopefully deliver and remove their big twin axle so i wouldnt have to worry about towing too soon, it gives me more time to look round and decide what car would be best suited to their new 'van

Many thanks once again everyone

Hi Di

We have spent a lot of time looking at caravans as the intention is to get a caravan one day - when we pluck up the courage to tow and can justify the cost of using the van perhaps 5 weeks a year. We have concentrated on the single axle Baileys and have looked at the Pegasus 4 bed. As I said before the Antara is a lovely car to drive, it isn't huge, the boot isn't big but it does have a spare wheel. However we have had enough of getting such low mpg £80 does about 340 miles, school runs, dual carriage way driving to work etc. We are looking for another car. I'm sure there is another peep on here who tows with an Antara as we both bought our cars at the same time.

Good idea to swap the caravan as twin axles are very heavy and as a newbie perhaps a little too much to start with. Once you are confident with towing then you can get a twin axle.

Thank you all once again.....

I spent most of yesterday trawling the net for single axle 'vans which i think would suit my parents for long stay ..... 6 weeks or so at a time so plenty of room is a must really hence the twin axle ...... They also like light wood and neutral soft furnishings so anything floral etc is immediately ruled out plus they both hate blue !!!

It appears Lunar make a decent size single axle 23' and inside 18' with a tow weight of say between 1400 and 1600kg then again so do other manufacturers, its just that a Conquerer stood out to me. I concentrated on 'vans with lower weights and used the site 'what tow car.com' using the Antara 2.2 auto diesel as a guide and the results were all ok ...... the highest figure i got was 81% but i have to admit i do have trouble working out the kerb weights, fuel etc and when i would be towing there would just be myself plus 2 small dogs weighing 10kgs each

Fuel figures are not a worry at the moment, towing would only be occasionally as they like to stay in one place for a while. I realise i wouldnt get great miles to the gallon, i tend to only do 6000 miles a year so low mileage really. I would prefer a AWD that i feel comfortable driving and a lower weight 'van, i dont really want to go for one of the really big AWD, id feel like a pea in a drum !!!!! lol. My parents now realise its not going to be quite as easy as they thought it would be for me to help them out  .......

If anyone can suggest a decent quality 4 berth fixed bed van with a total towing weight of 1500kgs ish i really would appreciate some pointers please. I had thought as today is a nice day weather wise of maybe going to my local dealer for a good nosey ...

Cleef15 i did see a couple of Bailey 'van on the net yesterday which appeared as if they would suit, they do seem to be nice 'vans but thought they seemed to be very boxy looking, more a square front rather than shaped and wondered if there woulld be more wind resistence??? .... only a thought .... if anyone knows better then please help !!!!

I dont fancy going down the avenue of a transit van for the reasons mentioned in previous posts, i also fancy a bit of luxury ......

What started out as something i hoped would be relatively straight forward  has turned into something else ....  finding a completely new outfit !!!! ....... lol

I dont have an Antara as yet .... i like them as theyre not a too big AWD, anything any bigger and i would look like a pea in a drum !!! lol

I have spoken to the CC this morning and gave them the information for the relevant car and they told me that i could go up to a 1600kg with the 2.2 automatic diesel which suits me just fine.

I did go for a nosey with my parents over the weekend to our local dealer and there are a few vans ranging from 1400 -1568kg which they like so im hoping things will work out .... saying that ..... i will have to wait until April 2012 for a new Antara  ..... so no rush there then !!!! lol

Thanks once again everyone