Two smaller cars vs. bigger 4x4

BadlyDrawnGirl_2

Hintza wrote: »

A big 4x4 is now over £400 VED!

We found the Fiat Panda with it's skinny tyres to be excellent in the bad weather and if that is not good enough you still have the option of the 4x4 model. I might add that the Panda's only depreciate at around £500 per tyear and hold their residuals very well.

I have to say, I love the look of the Fiat 500, but as I said I know very little about cars lol. We also drove around my mother-in-law's Fiat Multipla whilst living in France and that thing was pretty well indestructible as well (we moved a refrigerator and a washing machine around in the back with no problems).

The financial difference between two small vehicles vs. one big vehicle was my main concern, since I'm pretty confident in my hubby's driving (he was in the Army and took all the Advanced Driving courses so if I'm going to trust anyone behind the wheel in the snow it's him!). Neither of us have ever owned anything bigger than the small Peugeot we've got now, so we're not sure what to expect in terms of maintenance, road tax, etc.

AdrianHi

Some friends of ours run a 2.0l petrol Rav4, it's about 4 years old now.
They get about 33mpg, the tyres are a bit more expensive than a family sized car but other than that costs are much the same as they would be for a Toyota Avensis.
During the recent snow the man of the house went out in the Rav4 to play at pulling other cars out of the snow with a tow rope. With the exception of the bigger heavier cars that only Land Rovers and big 4x4 pick up trucks could shift it held it's own.

If you were thinking of buying new there is a £20-24K Hyundai Santa Fe 4x4 just out with much reduced emmissions, official 41mpg (it's a diesel) and the tax disk is around the £200 a year mark. 5 year warranty.

sierrakilo

Latest Toyota Rav4 with 2.2 D-4D diesel engine comes to about 23K. 6 speed manual gearbox. Leather interior, Air Con .

Road tax is £150 a year and mpg is claimed up to 48 mpg