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I would read the JD Powers surveys before parting with your cash personally!  The Renaults are not doing very well, I think it was the Espace that had something like  59 out of 100 returned for warranty work, abysmal.  Just my opinion of course and others will contradict but these surveys have a huge amount of participants and they can't all be wrong!

Ali

My word you have a liking for unreliable vehicles I fancy!!!!  Every one I know with a Galaxy has had mega expensive air con issues, the units seem to be a real weakness of these vehicles.  The Seat Alhambra is the better of the 3 similar vehicles so I am told.

Ali

hi,

we have just recently purchased a passat estate 19.tdi 130bhp, and it was fantastic to tow our van with, ave 37mpg,very comftable and roomy, didnt know the van was on the back, far better than our renault, 

good luck

jacks

Mmmm, I'll throw a spanner in the works here then. We've towed with Espaces for the last 14 years with no more problems than anyone else. The early petrol 2.0 ones we had suffered a bit with engine temperture sensor problems & also cooling fan switch problems, these are only screw in repairs but a pain in the butt if you are on route to your holiday. We had two of these 2nd generation petrol ones before moving to 3rd generation 2.2 Tdi & later dci deisels, these were all manuals & towed with no trouble.  

We currently tow with the 3.0 dci V6 diesel version. It's a Grand Initiale Automatic. It has the Nissan V6 in it along with Nissan automatic box. The thing is amazing to drive, it tows our van fully freighted with 6 in the car with no trouble at all. Fuel wise, we get upper 28 popping around here & Julie went up to Alton towers the other day with the kids & it did 32, I'm happy enough with fuel returns like these from a big  vehicle.

When we towed our van on the last holiday, it did upper 26mpg which I'm also happy with. The thing is, you pays your money & you takes your choice. I wouldn't ever have considered the Renault V6 petrol engine in one, I also found the 2,2dci automatic a bit wooly & would suggest a manual if you go for the 2.2dci. (we need an auto beause Julie has arthritis in her wrists)

This 3.0dci auto is a different beast altogether, it also has the Nissan drive line in it which gives me great confidence. The V6 nissan also has a drive chain instead of a cam belt so no more cam belt changes.

Go & try one out, ours is beautiful, it has the big glass roof & being the Initiale it has all the toys. The only thing to watch for is that some of them only came with 6 seats, we need the 7th & had to wait to find one. To buy the 7th seat from Renaut spares is a lot of money. The espace is a lovely family car with superb seating versatility & comfort. We have a superb dealer here in our area & can't speak highly enough of them.

Second hand values have been mentioned in this thread, I would suggest that second hand values of every vehicle have currently gone through the floor, you can go for a new Korean for the second hand value of an Espace but you'll be able to sell the espace when the time comes.

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Quote: Originally posted by JayDee on 22/4/2007

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Cheers for the replies all :)

at Snowy. I like the SEAT, the VW too I suppose I singled the Galaxy out as it has recently been replaced with a new model, which itself has both good and bad points to consider.

at jackies. We like the new Passat. The problem we have is we will be needing space on the back seat for 3 child seats as well as space for a dog in the boot.

at Basilbrush. Ideally we were thinking on a manual 2.2dci 170 Initiale, however having read your comments on the Nissan 3.0 maybe we will have to think again.

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Hya JayDee

I've had both & I like them both, the last 2.2dci we had wasn't a 170 bhp though, they've obviously squeezed a few more horses out of their engines. Not sure how the 2.2 would compare with the 3.0 on torque though. 

I do know that were I to go to a 2.2 again, it would be the manual version. We tested the automatic 2.2 & it seemed to lose a fair bit of performance in the auto. Try a 3.0, it's lovely, very powerful for towing & a lovely family car. With the Nissan engineering it "should" last a long time. We certainly love ours & wouldn't entertain anything else at the moment. We run it as a 6 seater with the armrests in place & the spare seat in the cupboard ready if needed. As a 6 seater it's powerful, safe luxury family travel.

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