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Looking at changing our car to a Grande Espace, and so need to fit a towbar to it, I am tempted to get my FIL to do this, he is a mechanic and has all the tools etc, has anyone tried this? also, if i was doing this where is the best online place to get the bits from? was looking for standard Flange fitting, we have an Alko hitch, but have an Alko Fitting on our Picasso, so was goign to just swap the new flange fitting for the Alko one to save a few pennys. Cheapest local quote for full fitting is £322 is that cheap enough not to trouble FIL?

Also, what are peoples opinions of the Espace as a towcar? it is the 2.2dci with 147 bhp (which is 57 more than the Picasso)  The Picasso copes very well, but suffers a little bit on the long journeys, am i expecting too much from the change to the Espace? it is more a case of a car has come up that we can get, and just want to check it will be as good as i hope!

We pulled our van with two 2.2dci espaces over the years Pig Farmer & they both did the job very well. The first was an R reg RXE 2.dci & the next was a 2.2dci privelege which was a lovely car, it came to us at only 6 months old & gave us no trouble at all. Both of these had flange towbars on them fitted for us by the Renault dealer.

We then went on to buy a 3.0dci Grand Espace initialle which was a fabulous car. So much so we kept the thing too long & ended up spending a lot on electrical faults during the last year we had it. This came to us with a removable towbar.

My advice to you is to put a good warranty on your Espace.

BB

It's a 2004 Grande Espace Priv 2.2dci (sorry should have put that up top!)

Some good responses, and mixed too which is always good, thank you all :)

so to respond to a few;

Picasso copes, i think probably better than I expected I think, but I think i am seeing the esapce with a huge amount of space in the boot, and a bigger engine and a better match for my outfit (56%)

In terms of getting the Picasso chipped, I have considered this in the past, but couldn't persuede Mrs PF it was worth it.

as for goign for a VW/Ford - We are litterally able to get the Espace due to opportunity, FIL bought it to sell (as a trader) and our ears pricked up when we heard the details, the discount he would give us means it is litterally just in the price range.

we have currently got said Espace to test it, see how we like it - it is so much lighter to drive than the picasso, and doesn't feel as big as it's size suggests it should.

Fortunatly FIL is happy for us to wait to test it fully before making our decision, penidng MOT & particulate filter service on the Picasso might force the hand! one way or the other!

re the mechanical issues, there are definatly mixed opinions out there, and peoples main grumble is the lack of renault main dealer support - I don't normally use main dealers anyway (unless the car is new enough to warrant the cost) This car has (since FIL bought it) had a gearbox refirb, as he thought it was a bit noisy so got it fixed ready for retail, also it had had a problem with the injectors i think (which were replaced at previous owners expense) while this woudl normally ring alarm bells there are 2 thoughts on this:

a) 2 major things have gone wrong, and been repaired - so hopefully they wont come back(!)

b) FIL woudln't let us buy a car he didn't trust, (numerous other cars he has had that I have wanted he has diverted me away from)...

thanks again one and all...

You can get remove the dpf and get a welder to open it remove the insides and weld it back up then get the sensore deleted with a computer

See guide here, the same will apply to the Picasso, then get it chipped

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/145157-dpf-issue-sorted-at-fraction-of-the-cost-pd-170/page__p__1817324__hl__grinder+dpf__fromsearch__1#entry1817324

It still passes the MOT with absolutely no problems

Quote: Originally posted by Pigfarmer on 21/3/2012

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It's a 2004 Grande Espace Priv 2.2dci (sorry should have put that up top!)

Some good responses, and mixed too which is always good, thank you all :)

so to respond to a few;

Picasso copes, i think probably better than I expected I think, but I think i am seeing the esapce with a huge amount of space in the boot, and a bigger engine and a better match for my outfit (56%)

In terms of getting the Picasso chipped, I have considered this in the past, but couldn't persuede Mrs PF it was worth it.

as for goign for a VW/Ford - We are litterally able to get the Espace due to opportunity, FIL bought it to sell (as a trader) and our ears pricked up when we heard the details, the discount he would give us means it is litterally just in the price range.

we have currently got said Espace to test it, see how we like it - it is so much lighter to drive than the picasso, and doesn't feel as big as it's size suggests it should.

Fortunatly FIL is happy for us to wait to test it fully before making our decision, penidng MOT & particulate filter service on the Picasso might force the hand! one way or the other!

re the mechanical issues, there are definatly mixed opinions out there, and peoples main grumble is the lack of renault main dealer support - I don't normally use main dealers anyway (unless the car is new enough to warrant the cost) This car has (since FIL bought it) had a gearbox refirb, as he thought it was a bit noisy so got it fixed ready for retail, also it had had a problem with the injectors i think (which were replaced at previous owners expense) while this woudl normally ring alarm bells there are 2 thoughts on this:

a) 2 major things have gone wrong, and been repaired - so hopefully they wont come back(!)

b) FIL woudln't let us buy a car he didn't trust, (numerous other cars he has had that I have wanted he has diverted me away from)...

thanks again one and all...

 

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I didn't realise you already had the Espace & know its history Pigfarmer. That being te case & with your FIL on hand to sort out any problems & he probably knows someone in the trade who can do the other awkward jobs so you sould be OK with it. Our 2.2 privelege was a lovely car, we bought it at a few monts old & only sold it because I found a 3.0dci just down the road at tidy money. I don't regret having Renaults for one minute, I do however regret hanging on to the last one for so long. Being the 3 litre it'd pull a house down & I had visions of it being here as our towcar for as long as we'd need one but it's on board computers had other costly ideas.

BB