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Post by reclaimingrebus on Sept 22, 2010 23:15:27 GMT 1
I've had my Berlingo for 8 years, I have to be honest, I love it. It's deeply unfashionable, staid and a bit of an old tank (and thats just me ), but its served me faithfully. My mother refers to it dismissively as a mobile dog kennel... and of course, that's what I use it for. But, although the mileage is low, its starting to show its age. I've just got it back from having to have the coil springs replaced, and the front brake disks and pads will need replacing in the next couple of months. I've only had the rear brakes done at the end of May. I could just keep shelling out, but its of such low value now that any accident would mean that it was a write-off, and paying out to keep it on the road will mean I can't save that money towards the day when it dies completely the question is... when do I give up and get a new one? A new Berlingo will cost me the best part of £14000. Apart from the huge expense, they are over engineered, and far too nice a vehicle to use for carrying the dogs about it. I need to be able to get 2 large crates in and have space for Rebus and somewhere to put stuff for when we go away (which will fit on top of the cages because there is so much headroom ). But its a huge amount of money to find, and in the current economic climate I'm not sure I want to commit myself to anything long-term I'd get a second hand one, but as OH doesnt do repairs, anything needing doing is a garage job,so it would have to be fairly new.Also, I want air-con - the huge windows mean they warm up very quickly, especially with the dogs in as well.- and it was optional so I need to wait for the right one to appear on the market The new Nemo is just about big enough (but only if I take the larger part of the back seat out) and will cost less, but there are very few on the secondharnd market, and air con is optional for these as well. I'd get a van, but sometimes I need a third seat, and secondhand vans tend to be really high mileage. Any thoughts anyone?
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Post by wagtails on Sept 23, 2010 12:26:15 GMT 1
We have a similar love affair with our Renault Kangoo, which is now approaching 130,000 miles. When it was at 99,000 we tried to replace it with a new one, only to discover that "they" have redesigned them to be bigger and more butch with unnecessary MBP (more bits of plastic). We've investigated Citroen Berlingos, Peugeot Partners, Fiat Doblos as well (all similar boxy wonder cars, perfect for dogs and other animals as they have sliding rear doors and extra headroom for cages etc). But only the Renault has the amazing aircraft style lockers on each side of the car, which are absolutely indispensable for all the clutter we all tend to travel with. My OH is about to retire, so we're hoping to spend some of the lump sum on a 2nd hand Renault if only we can find one. Like Reclaimingrebus, we absolutely MUST have aircon and a diesel model. The only thing we can think of is to scour Renault's own website, where they do regularly put up new-ish 2nd hand cars in their outlets all round the country. So perhaps you could look at the Citroen site as I'm sure they must do the same. One word of warning though, when we went through our local dealer 2 years ago, they said they would let us know when one became available on the net, which they eventually did - only to tell us it would be £2000 more than the asking price on the website, because the car had to be brought up from the south coast!!!! Do they think we fell off a Christmas tree (sorry for the C-word !) Good luck with the search - and if anybody knows of a good condition Renault Kangoo (car not van), with low mileage, do get in touch
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Post by reclaimingrebus on Sept 23, 2010 18:33:02 GMT 1
If you're happy to buy privately (and I don't... basically because I don't like not having any backup if something goes wrong, and neither of us are car-savvy) then its worth looking on the agilitynet website...... they have those kinds of vehicles there..... because as you say, they were made for multi dog families. I just wish they'd left the berlingos alone, they have far too many toys on them now, and these are refinements I really aren't prepared to pay for
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Post by nicki on Sept 23, 2010 21:35:15 GMT 1
Might be worth looking at this E-bay seller shop.ebay.co.uk/force_auctions_uk/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=50 I wouldn't normally think of buying a vehicle from E-bay but these are all ex police vehicles, sometimes you can get brilliant bargains. I have seen police dog handler vans on there - only two front seats though, but the rear is divided into two large areas.
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Post by Old Dragon (Al) on Sept 23, 2010 22:50:11 GMT 1
Well, if prepared to travel to S. Wales for one, I can thoroughly recommend my local garage lads when it comes to finding vehicles to my specification that are sound and reliable. I can give you their phone number by pm, if needed, and just say 'Al with the old white Merc recommended them' - and no, I am not on a commission! Today, they sorted out the latest little problem with my old car, which turned out to be a worn out bush on the anti-roll bar! I have dealt with the same, family run garage for over 30 years now, and for buying my cars and repairing them, and they are great. Never sold me a bad car and always straight, honest, reliable and don't overcharge. Very rare in this day and age. When buying a car, I just tell them what I want and leave it up to them to find it for me at the right price.
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Post by reclaimingrebus on Sept 24, 2010 17:28:55 GMT 1
theres a lot to be said for forming a relationship with a garage. the main dealers have always done my servicing and repairs and have been great. the sales team is rubbish, though - you can stand there for 5 minutes, humming and haaing and looking interested and they don't bother to look up from their coffee - perhaps its because I don't look like someone who has any money I always buy citroen and thats two sales they've missed out on now ( and 2 of OH's as well - because he obviously doesn't look as though he's got any money either - because they blank him too OH has just bought a new car and was enthusing about how helpful the dealer he used had been so I went to see them yesterday. theyve given me a good price for the berlingo ,found me a demo vehicle to my spec with 250 miles on the clock and thrown in a coating which protects the paintwork. the price difference between that and new was amazing! So now all I need to do is find the mask and stripy jumper and go and rob a bank and its sorted!
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Post by tissy on Sept 24, 2010 20:47:41 GMT 1
I wouldn't normally think of buying a vehicle from E-bay I have bought two vehicles from Ebay (one private and on from a delear) Both excellent! Its only a place to advertise after all - no different to the local paper. We didn't even see the dealer one before we bought it but he had a fantastic rating (97%) which conidering the number he sold was incredible.
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Post by reclaimingrebus on Sept 26, 2010 17:14:20 GMT 1
I'd be happy to give this a go if we weren't both such complete numpties when it comes to things vehicular... a friend of mine whose dad was in the trade buys vehicles at auction regularly and she's not had a bad one yet....
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Post by tissy on Sept 27, 2010 7:23:43 GMT 1
If you buy from an on line dealer you can get the AA to check them out - good dealers dont mind and even some private sellers are happy for you to do this - it costs a few bob though!
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