Surprisingly difficult decision..tow car replacement

[911hillclimber]

Wife has persuaded me to change my faithful Skoda Superb 4x4 diesel which is 2014 and 71k miles, and works perfectly.
It is the daily and the race car tow car etc.
So, another is on the cards very soon.

My issue is the choice of fuel for the next Skoda or BMW etc.

Tempted by petrol.
Going to see a high spec high performance Superb today, 2019.

However...

Co2 is killing this planet so is having a petrol car irresponsible ?

Diesel kills people, and there are a lot on this planet, gives me nearly 1/2 the fuel consumption and in current modern spec is very clean and efficient and gives me a far greater choice of cars to buy next.

So, head says diesel, heart says both!

Anyone else have similar thoughts, or a magic glass ball on the next 10 years?

[Bootsy]

Keep what you've got unless there's a genuine reason to change.

Give it a couple of years and reassess

[PeterK]

Went through a similar conundrum.
Decided to stick with my diesel BMW X1 (2013, 76k) until the hydrogen is more widely available.

[hot66]

Keep what you've got unless there's a genuine reason to change.

Give it a couple of years and reassess

best think for the environment too is to keep with what youve got

[jwhillracer]

Keep what you've got unless there's a genuine reason to change.

Give it a couple of years and reassess

best think for the environment too is to keep with what youve got

+1 Unless there is a problem with your existing one, keep it. They are good for well over double that mileage. Keeping it is better for the environment than buying another new car, and gives more time for the electric/hybrid/hydrogen scenarios to play out.

Cheers
JW

[rhd racer]

Agreed, and petrol not much good for towing unless you want to throw pound notes out of the window! My 4wd Audi is on 105k and still perfect, my last Passat was still excellent at 170k miles but was too tatty to use as a company car opt out. Keep the Skoda, it’s unmarked from what I remember seeing at Loton…

[KS]

But deciding to keep it won't give anything for Graham to worry about!

[Sam]

I’d imagine he was going to chuck c. £10k at the swap. You can have plenty of fun worrying about exciting things to spend £10k on. Much more exciting than a tow car that is likely very similar to the last one.

[Ollie]

Like the others have said, keep it going for a while longer. Better for the environment.

[Winston Teague]

I'd be very interested in your old Skoda if you decide to sell, my Octavia Scout is ace but yours would be even better! Good luck with the decision making..... W

[keith fellowes]

The original line is 'Wife has persuaded me to change...'
There is no discussion, the Skoda is going. You'll be getting a new car Winston!

[911hillclimber]

Read these comments having lunch after going to see the hot rod petrol Skoda Superb.

Sales guy took us out for a run around Milton Keynes so I could judge the ride quality.

Things that stood out:
SOOOOO quiet, thought it was an EV when we left the forecourt.
DSG is fabulous
Panoramic roof is novel
It drove like the 12k mile car it is
It will need an MoT in 6 months
It is 33K, trade-in on mine; £8k so a £25,000 hit or 5 good Eurotours in the Boxster.

Things mine has:
Diesel noisy
Trans clunks a bit (always has)
Drives nearly as well as 12K miler
Got us home in total comfort and safety as it always has.

My '14 plate as almost all the features of this '19 plate.

We did not buy it.
It did not enthuse me very much.

Conclusion?
Not sure as ever, seems pointless spending so much and not really seeing much benefit now I've been in one.

Could have a better age/miles VRS with a modern diesel for 5K less.

As Wayne says, the car is in fabulous condition, the sales guy could only note a chip in the bonnet, a chip in the screen and a small dent in the tailgate left by an unknow idiot.

Pause for thought.
Going to see if Mrs 911HC will continue to find VRs's for me.

[Cortina]

Easy decision ................... keep driving the one you have !! (Anything else is just "throwing money away") My tow car is 2010 - only 117K miles on it ............... will do at least another 5 years .... maybe more (diesel)

[BILLY BEAN]

But deciding to keep it won't give anything for Graham to worry about!

Good point but as an alternative Graham can worry about his current engine rebuild for the Lola.

[911hillclimber]

Other than the 911 I've never run a car beyond 60K, ever.

Always felt 60 was a bit of a marker, but I can expect maybe a flywheel/clutch in the future, the 4x4 rear pump I think is not working, hard to tell if 4x4 Haldex steps in, but the rest of the car is great.

Clutch and Haldex pump could be 3K, and another cam belt fix at 100K is another 1K, so it all stacks up to be keeping the car, but Mrs 911HC may not be so convinced.

Down side is the engine is a poor emission VW diesel gate engine and does not smell so good, but the particles aren't CO2.

Can't tow (today) with an electric due to poor range, so stuck really.

Be nice to not spend the money on the Skoda. We only need it to tow the Lola, so maybe it goes when the Lola does which was always my plan, along with the hateful trailer, worst part of motorsport!

Hope Hydrogen will be on the garage forecourts by then.

As to the engine worry?
You bet, but it will be far better when the bits arrive.