Just booked my holiday car hire for our fortnight in Spain this coming summer.
I have plumped for a car group advertised as "Citroen Berlingo or similar", as it was cheaper more practical than the "Peugoet 308 or similar" standard small family car type.
The picture on the website (carhire3000) shows the obsolete Berlingo model. I wonder what I'll get? I'm hoping for a new shape Berlingo/Peugeot Partner, but I expect it'll be a high mileage, well used obsolete model.
Either way, I'm quite looking forward to trying out a class of car I'm not too familiar with. A good experience may well sway me towards buying a car like that in the future, although I always get the feeling they look a little "out of place" on UK roads. No idea why this is, but they just look a lot more "comfortable" or "normal" on continental roads.
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>> I have plumped for a car group advertised as "Citroen Berlingo or similar", as it
>> was cheaper more practical than the "Peugoet 308 or similar" standard small family car type.
>>
We did that 2 years ago in Spain using Sixt, for the same reasons (better value). Because we were a bit slow getting out of the airport all the Berlingos had gone and we were upgraded to a brand new Scenic at no cost. Result!
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Ah! That sounds like a plan. Our flight arrives at 10pm, perhaps an upgrade awaits!
Although, as I'm using an agency, I expect the car will be supplied by a small local company who will have a specific vehicle lined up for me in advance.
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I booked a "Picasso or Similar" some years ago, as we were 4 adults with 2 weeks luggage. Got fobbed off with a Seat Leon; luckily one of the 4 had cried off but it was a nightmare even for 3 and luggage. We finished up with stuff on the back seat and on the passenger's lap.
Obviously you want an upgrade, not a downgrade!
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>> I wonder what I'll get?
A BMW X5. I've been in touch with them already and have arranged a gratis upgrade. :-)
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I'd rather an Austin Allegro, thanks.
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...I'd rather an Austin Allegro, thanks...
The Allegro estate could be described as an early Berlingo.
tinyurl.com/67295q3
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That Allegro Equipe in your link looks fabulous. I always quite liked them to be honest, I remember one of my first girlfriends used to be allowed use of her mother's beige estate. Happy days. :-)
Perhaps I should have said Austin Princess. Those, I truly hated.
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... I always quite liked them to be honest...
Me too.
With its mini rear spoiler, the Allegro estate was quite stylish for the time.
One of those rare occasions where the estate was at least as good to look at as the saloon.
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>> One of those rare occasions where the estate was at least as good to look
>> at as the saloon.
No No no, look at the nasty rear window line. It looks like exactly what it was, an afterthought.
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...No No no, look at the nasty rear window line. It looks like exactly what it was, an afterthought...
The gutter line including the windscreen pillar, is mirrored by the waistline including the rear window as it sweeps up to the top the tailgate.
This symmetry is a clever design feature.
But obviously lost on you.
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>> But obviously lost on you.
No, its ugly. Rather like your caravan.
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...No, its ugly. Rather like your caravan...
But there's a saucer of milk outside it you might like.
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The Princess is, in fact, the only* BL product of that period I liked. And it my mind it still looks good today.
* (excluding the rover SD1 and the dolomite)
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* (excluding the rover SD1 and the dolomite)
And the Stag, and the Spitfire, and the Midget, and the Mini, and the Triumph 2500 PI, and the....
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some of those not the same period as the princess. The mini in its later years was a nasty abortion.
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>> * (excluding the rover SD1 and the dolomite)
>>
I saw an SD1 in Farnham the other week. Lovely gold thing, really excellent conditon. Still a stunning looking car, I would say easily the best thing BL ever made. The total oppostie of the utter disgrace to the senses which is the Princess. Terry Medford had one. Bleurgh.
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>> The Princess is, in fact, the only* BL product of that period I liked. And
>> it my mind it still looks good today.
>>
Agreed. I used to be taken to school in one and it was enormous inside, what with its very thin contemporary doors and unusually wide body (for the time - probably narrower than average these days).
Another victim of BLs normal under-development.
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Mother had a bright yellow allegro estate when I was small; great motor. (IIRC it cost 4k new. New engine at 5k, having burned oil at a rate of knots since new; the boot had an inclination to spring open unexpectedly, solved with a new plate onto which the lock attached; finally disposed of at 35k ish, by which point it had developed a new oil habit - that of leaving clouds of blue smoke when first setting off in the morning.)
My best upgrade: A Toyota Aggro to a (delivery mileage) Zafira. Actually, alternative possibly to a Signum. The upgrade to a Golf (albeit that it too had only delivery mileage) was a much less lux experience.
Last edited by: Mapmaker on Wed 11 May 11 at 13:35
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I booked the same category a couple of years ago and got a blue VW caddy which wasn't too bad. Groovy sliding door to get in the back.
My wife kept telling me off for renting a van, I spent the holiday saying that I'd look into getting one to replace our Octavia estate which we had at the time.
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Caddy would do nicely! I like sliding back doors, the current Caddy Maxi looks like a preferable alternative to a Touran in the practicality stakes. And that's what MPVs are supposed to be all about. But yes, I suppose the image conscious would be put off by its "van like" looks.
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It was a Caddy Life without the third row of seats in (never knew that was an option until looking just now), rather than the Maxi. For four of us it was ideal.
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Aye, the Life would be a great hire car for a beach holiday for 4 people.
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Well well well. Three holes in the ground.
Whaddaya know. We arrived at Almeria airport and were offered a choice of latest model Citroen Berlingo or.................a VW Caddy.
As it was nearing midnight and I wanted to get the family to our accommodation with all possible speed and simplicity, I plumped for the Caddy as I'm familiar with VAG controls and didn't want to spend time working out some bizarre, Byzantine controls in a Citroen (probably a totally unjustified fear these days). Turns out, I fell at the first anyway. It was a 2011 Caddy (3k kms on the clock), and required the depression of the clutch pedal to start the engine. Which I didn't realise as the information pertaining to this (imho unnecessary) encumbrance was scrolling across the instrument display in Spanish. Worked it out eventually and off we went.
The car was a 1.6 TDi CR engined variant (manual gearbox), and I was quite pleased to give the once over to this new unit, being a big fan of the old 1.9TDi PDs. I was quite impressed. We managed 1000kms on a tank of diesel (staggering in my book), which was part urban and part motorway work. The engine was just gutsy enough, with all of the torquey push of the old PD unit, and a longer rev range. It felt much more like a petrol engine than the old PD does, in the same way that the Citroen C4 1.6HDi I hired in Serbia earlier this year felt. It was similarly quiet and free of vibration at tickover (couldn't tell it was a diesel), but became more familiarly gruff at higher revs when accelerating briskly. On the motorway, it was quite happy and still willing to push on at 160km/h, and far, far quieter and smoother than the PD engine (we have two at home in Golf and Galaxy). Overall, a big step closer to HDi engines in terms of refinement and performance, but still somehow not quite as accomplished and petrol-like.
It handled and rode with all the comfort and poise of a normal car, and carried people and loads with enormous comfort and ease. A special mention to the comfort and support provided to by the front seats, a improvement on the seats in the 2008 VW Touran we used to own.
A really big old thumbs up to it in summary, and I was a bit sorry to leave it behind. I'd seriously consider getting a 7 seat version if I ever need to replace the Galaxy at home, but I fear the DSG gearbox would put me off (I had one in the Touran and got fed up with the slow take-up characteristics in town traffic, now much happier with TC in the Galaxy).
Last edited by: Alanović on Mon 25 Jul 11 at 13:26
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" required the depression of the clutch pedal to start the engine. "
Of course it did. You should always do this to a car - particularly one with a DMF. To do otherwise is to abuse it.
When they require you to depress the brake pedal as well it becomes a challenge...
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Perhaps the DMF issue is the reason this is required now to start cars like that.
Bizzarely, when I own manual cars myself I do always start them like that, but I'm out of the habit having had automatics for several years now and just didn't think to do so it first off.
But thanks for putting me straight as usual.
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When I learned to drive in the 90s I was taught to do this (Corsa petrol). On a RoSPA course they also recommended this but I already did it.
I still do. So when I had a VW on demo in March I was told you had to do this to start it. But I'd have not got confused because I already would have done. And the demo car was English.
Despite doing this in the Mazda, it's getting harder to select 1st and 2nd gears. Booked in again on Thursday. During the service they changed transmission fluid and bled the clutch (something like that).
I hope the repairs are about to be expensive... my new car might be in the UK soon :-) Cheeky I know. But in theory the lease company could avoid two tyres, clutch/gearbox repairs, MOT and road tax.
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Citroen Berlingo Multispace - Holiday car hire - Boxsterboy
