Going to Malaga for a week in May, car hire for a VX Astra is available from as little as £17 for the week.
Now I dont do much car hire but this has full to full fuel policy - I already have an annual insurance waiver policy that I took out last summer.
What else do I need to look for? Why is this so cheap?
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Who might you hire with? Makes all the difference.
It might end up being an older car with some damage on it already. And then they claim you damaged it. Or they might insist you have to have their super duper collision damage at a silly day rate.
Think about how they can make money from a rental at £17 a week.
At least it's full to full. That's the other scam.
And there's a VERY hard sell for their collision waiver for some cheaper companies. They might not even give you the car.
Last edited by: rtj70 on Sat 7 Apr 18 at 01:21
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The cheapest, almost certainly, won't be the best. Check review sites for whatever company you're thinking of going with. I book using either Auto Europe or Holiday Autos.
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I doubt it's a scam.
But the Astra may be older and more used than you're expecting. The penalties for not returning it full will be [really] stiff. Additional insurances will be expensive. The offices won't be plush, the service may not be great, there may be mileage limitations, offices may be a bit away from the airport, etc. etc.
I absolutely rent tatty and sometimes knackered old cars when I travel privately since the last thing I'm going to do is pay money for a luxury car or well equipped car that I simply don't need.
I've paid that sort of money for a perfectly serviceable but *very* used and tatty Uno. I think that was Majorca.
Depends on what you want the car for. Just be awake and aware.
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Just be warned that you may have a large number of people in front of you at the pick-up desk.Last time I hired in France(Holiday Autos),there were at least fifteen people waiting to collect their Ryanair organized cars.I collected my car from Europcar and was on my balcony with a drink while people were still in the queue and that's allowing two minutes per transaction-it's probably longer.
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Having used a RyanAir sourced Hertz car at Manchester airport, there were only 2 of us in the q. However it took over 30 minutes to process the one person in front of us.
If booking a car thro Ryanair always go for a premium front seat to ensure that one of you gets the hire desk at the front of the Queue.
They are rarely the cheapest option, Holiday Autos would be my choice. But I guess it depend s on location.
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I normally use ‘DoYouSpain’ as a multi car hire company broker, although have used Autoclick directly. AutoC have a new fleet and there is more chance of getting the actual make & model you ordered, and by looking at their website, cookies ensure that you receive offers by email....only last week I was offered a 50% discount!
Alicante airport has several car hire companies in the Arrivals Hall. I often use Firefly...sometimes there is a 25 minute wait, other times no queue at all. Doesn’t bother me.
Free cancellation with DoYouSpain, so if the hire car price drops, cancel and rebook, which we have done several times recently. If renting for an extended period, it has 100% always been much cheaper for me to book two separate rental periods than one long one, but returning the car to Alicante airport, picking up another is an easy transaction, combined with a day out in Alicante...lots to see and do there.
Earlier this year the ‘expected’ Hyundai i10 was a tatty old Fiesta several years old, no roof aerial, cosmetic damage, but more than acceptable. The second hire period when we returned the Fiesta, the i10 was a Fiat 500L. Think we paid around €75, full to full, one additional driver over 70 ( not me!) for each 3 week rental period. Fill up at Elche 2km form the airport, and keep the fuel receipt for when you return the vehicle.
I’m back at Alicante for two weeks in May...currently paying Firefly €58 for a Fiesta, full to full, 2 drivers. If it gets a lot cheaper I’ll cancel and rebook, I could really do with something larger as there are 4 of us + wheelchair, but I’m a Yorkshireman and last month Firefly offered me a brand new Pug2008 for a single € a day upgrade. I declined as €21 buys 7 bottles of Verdejo!
Last edited by: legacylad on Sat 7 Apr 18 at 09:18
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I too generally fill up at the service station at Elche just before the airport. I never wait long enough for them to ask to see it though - just give them the keys walk. I’ve always had the check-in document emailed to me before I’ve got as far as security.
I can see that for extended stays shopping around makes sense, as the cost does mount up. I’m generally only there for three days, and Avis charge us around €25 a day for a Seat Leon sized car. They’re always pretty new, and generally upgraded. Join their club and you can go straight to the carpark to pick up the car, and the wait is never more than 2 minutes now it’s all touch screen for the rental agreement.
The last two times has been to MINIs, which I’m not sure are really an upgrade, certainly size wise. The first was a clubman, which wouldn’t have coped with 4 plus luggage. The second a countryman which definitely would. Both were new, well equipped and in immaculate condition. They also had navigation as standard fitment, which might or might not be important to some people! A quick bit of mental arithmetic when filling the countryman up indicated it did around 64mpg - not bad for a hire car ;)
Last edited by: PeterS on Sat 7 Apr 18 at 11:42
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I said on another thread that a Renault Megane estate is mine for three weeks at £195 which I didn't think was too bad. Rented through rentalcars.com, it's a Sixt car. Faro airport seems more expensive than Spain, and picking up in Portugal and dropping off in Spain was mega expensive when I looked.
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Generally I prefer something older and a bit tatty for my hire car, and always peel off the rental sticker as I don’t want to be targeted in out of the way parking areas. Usually we start our walks late morning, not returning until early evening, often ‘abandoning’ the car near some remote track or path so the less it shouts ‘tourist’ the better.
OTOH I enjoyed driving last April’s brand new Focus estate from Autoclick, although as I was taking my old mum on that trip there were no obscure parking areas visited in the interior of the Costa Blanca.
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When I had a hire car out of Malaga I did a lot of research because there were some silly cheap prices. And these turned out to be bring back empty deals, hard sell of CDW etc. I think I got from Europcar in the end. Still fairly cheap, bring it back full.
On arrival there was no queue for us. Some of the cheaper ones had long queues. Our car was in the nearby carpark but some of the cheaper ones would have been a shuttle bus.
Holiday Auto used to be good but they got bought out and now it's more of a brand. Some bad reviews when I last looked at using them (for the Malaga trip).
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>>I think I got from Europcar in the end.
A VW Polo for same time is £278 for the week.
On one hand , we ask how can the cheaper ones do it SO cheap.
On the other hand, who would pay £278 for the same week??
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>> On one hand , we ask how can the cheaper ones do it SO cheap.
Because in low season they might as well make some money. But some make a lot of money on the extras like CDW and if you don't take it you will be found to have damaged the car.
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I’ve hired 4 times in the past 10 months from Alicante airport with three different hire companies. Never taken their CDW as I have my own 12 month U.K. purchased policy and never had a problem. The €900 deposit, held against my credit card and not taken, been restated within 10 minutes of returning the vehicle.
Who are these companies please so that I can avoid them?
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I am referring to a period 4 years ago when I hired out of Malaga. Back then my research showed up lots of issues with some of the cheaper companies including the full-to-empty scam (it is a scam), forcing you to take CDW and if you don't they actually charge the €900 to your card and you struggle to get it back. And cars hired damaged and you get charged for the damage on return.
The cheaper companies were like €14 a day and the one I went with (a Europcar I think) might have been a little under double. It was 4 years ago. But plenty of posts about problems back then.
Sometimes when it sounds too good to be right.... there's a catch.
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On our last 6 rentals...3 of us had 2 vehicles in Nov ‘17, and 4 of us had 2 vehicles for 2 periods each during Jan/Feb/March 2018, we paid less than €4 a day. Some hire periods were sub €3 a day! That was full to full and with additional driver, albeit in low season out of Alicante.
No catches with the car hire companies we used, which I can recommend.
* the reason we have two vehicles despite there being only 3 of us is that one friend is a keen cyclist and takes his bike in a car into the mountains, whilst we drive elsewhere for walking.
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>>I normally use 'DoYouSpain'
Just did a quote with them - Citroen DS3 for a total of £8.92 for the 7 days!!
With a full to full fuel policy , but then when you click on the "info" icon it states that its full to empty! No way of contacting them, no email address and no telephone number until you make a booking!
Kind of tempting to book anyway at at that price!
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Which car hire company through the broker ‘DoYouSpain’ was it?
I’ve just looked at DYSpain...I’ve already booked 2 weeks mid May with Firefly...a Fiesta ( or similar) full to full and additional driver ( under 70) for €58. It’s reduced to €52 now but hardly worth bothering with the free cancellation and rebooking to save €6, although I could get a Focus, Golf or similar for €70 now.
I’m still hoping for a free upgrade to a larger vehicle unless prices reduce further....we can squeeze 4 adults, 2 bags and a small wheelchair into a Fiesta for the short journey up the coast and Firefly have, to date, always offered me an upgrade for one € a day upon arrival.
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It was through Del Paso.
The quote system on DYS specifically said this was Fuel full to full - it would be supplied full and I had to return it full but I went ahead and purchased it (knowing that there was free cancellation) and when I received the voucher it states that I need to pay the full tank and then I will get a refund for what I dont use which is totally contrary to the booking information.
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Never heard of them.
Myself and friends... ten separate hirings between us in 15 months have only used Firefly, Record & Autoclick.
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I think I may have read it wrong - I never got past the first line to be honest!
"Fuel Policy:
On collection you will be required to pay for the full tank of fuel and when you return the car full this
money will be refunded. The fuel price will be between 88eur and 98eur. This includes the refueling
service charge which will be 40eur. This amount will also be refunded when you return the car with a
full tank. Please note that this is today’s fuel price and could vary between now and your collection
date.
If the vehicle is not returned full, a refueling charge of 15eur plus the cost of the missing fuel will apply."
So On collection we will hit you with a load of charges, but as long as its returned full then these will all be refunded?
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Finally went with a Firefly booking through Rentalcars.com (and get some cashback through quidco)
£35 for the week. Pick up from terminal.
Will leave missus to get the bags from the carousel and I will go and join the queue at the desk
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In due course let us know what vehicle they give you and what, in theory, it was supposed to be. My last 4 rentals with Firefly were 2 X Fiat 500L, a tatty old Fiesta ( perfect for us) and an almost new Zafira ( truly awful).
In all cases should have been an i10 or similar
Wonder what I’ll get in three weeks? Just when I could do with something slightly larger I bet it’s an i10 this time. Sod’s law.
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Well it is supposed to be a Renault Megane.
My brother and his missus are now coming so wanted something a bit bigger otherwise would have been happy with i10 size.
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Firefly is the low cost arm of Hertz. I have used them, the cars are a little more used than those in the Hertz fleet, and long queues at the rental desk behind a gazzilion yanks who dont have the right paperwork and licences.
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Tactics are in place.
Missus will go to the cases carousel and I’ll head straight for Car hire.
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So arrived at Malaga airport, I made a beeline for the Firefly desk and basically had a 45 min queue. They have a ticket queuing system so at least didn’t need to physically stand and queue.
All the other companies that I had looked at, Rhodium, Goldcar etc didn’t have a single person waiting! Sod’s law!
The woman had great English, telling me all the places to visit in Nerja etc but then when it came to insurances it suddenly became Pidgin English and louder voice stressing the need for more insurances. She wasn’t happy that I declined them.
I was handed the keys just as the missus arrived back with the cases. As usual with Ryanair, seems to take an eternity for cases to come to the carousel.
Took a while to find the rental cars location but was happy with a top of the range Captur. It’s the 0.9 litre version but has all the toys and it’s first time I have driven a car with LED headlights. What a difference they make, really lighting up road lines and signs in clear white.
So far so good, we will see what happens when we come to return it!
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Bit late now, but charged with organising a car for daughter's trip to Malaga I was recommended by multiple PistonHeads members to use Benalmadena Cars - www.benalmadenacars.net - guy that runs it is called Carlos.
They met her at arrivals and walked her to the car (so no hanging around with little kids) and then it was dropped off - fuel approx. same as pickup - at departures. Price was thereabouts the same as other companies for a week in the school holidays. She was happy with the car but didn't know what it was beyond it being a white supermini with good a/c!
Last edited by: Bill Payer on Tue 15 May 18 at 10:52
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Update on Alicante car hire
Previously with Firefly, with one exception, I’ve always had a ‘free’ upgrade from thei10....Fiat 500L, Zafira etc. As we were 4 up for the app7 autopista journey north, two large cases and a wheelchair, I cancelled the Fiesta (€58 two weeks full to full) and rebooked a Golf (€80) or similar ( knowing it wouldn’t be a Golf)
Like Bobby, got a spanking new Renault Craptur. The first Renault I’ve driven since my 5TS back in the mists of time. No queues at the Firefly desk, unlike Centauro which must have had 15+ parties waiting in line.
Unusually there was a hard sell of extra insurance, breakdown cover etc. I was not interested. If it breaks down you’re on your own the agent said. Really? Its only a few months old.
The paperwork showed no dents or scrapes. We found 5! Drove to the ‘return office’ in multi storey and in the better light they acknowledged the damage and amended my copy invoice. Seriously not impressed. After great previous service this was a big let down....scrape on rear 3/4 panel, scratch through to bare metal below door handle, minor dings on front doors, scrape on NS for mirror...all not mentioned on rental paperwork.
Don’t like the Craptur. Apparently it’s the best selling small SUV in Europe. Prefer the old model Fiesta rental from March with 45K hard driven kilometres
Last edited by: legacylad on Tue 15 May 18 at 21:05
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What don’t you like about it?
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Just landed back today after a week in Germany.
Car hire booked through Ryanair who contract to Cartrawler. Vehicle hire arranged through Thrifty. After booking reviews of Cartrawler did not bode well but we were committed.
Arrived Stuttgart early evening and ended up at Hertz desk. Large deposit on the Credit Card :( Paperwork completed. Did Sir require an upgrade with a Sat Nav? Nope, Sir had brought his own. Directed some distance to a garage to find a clean low mileage 308 Pug diesel complete with built in Sat Nav. The garage was dimly lit so any chance of a forensic examination was futile and had I found anything there were no humans about for miles.
Spent the week visiting daughter studying at Munich and a bit of a tour of southern Bavaria. It occurred to me that despite spotting a triangle and first aid kit in the boot there were no high viz vests. This requirement had dropped off my radar. Fortunately did not require said garments.
Returned today to Stuttgart and handed over vehicle in a very busy return facility. Only question was to establish that I had returned it fully fueled.
Other than the hi viz vest issue my only concern is the hand over procedure at collection and return. No one examines vehicle with you and on return no one signs as received undamaged. So we are really in their hands as regards any allegations of damage with the ability to cane the credit card with an ensuing battle.
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I will video the car with a walkround when I hand it back. Might come in useful.
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We all seem to trust car hirers as much as we trust estate agents!!! :-)
In my Spain thread I described damage I did to a new Astra estate. It was spotted at return time and only cost me €50 which I thought was very reasonable. But I had insurance anyway, but I can't be bothered with that. Doesn't anyone else take out insurance??
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>>We all seem to trust car hirers as much as we trust estate agents!!
It is quite frequent, almost inevitable, that when one picks up a rental car from one of the cheaper suppliers that it has "unnoticed" damage.
Yet when one hands the car back, it is much rarer that they don't spot the damage and subsequently charge you for it.
I rather suspect it is an additional revenue stream.
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Some of these companies not only charge for the damage but lost revenue whilst the car is repaired. Except they don't repair the car and the same damage is charged for time and again.
Some have very aggressive sales tactics for their own collision damage waiver insurance which is expensive.
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I have always carried my own excess protection - at about £40 pa it is a no brainer. Never been subject to any aggressive sales tactics. But it has just given me an idea! If you say (lie) that your excess protection expires the day before return is due and you would like to take out their cdw for 1 day (ie the last 24 hrs) would they accept the sale?
In which case any minor (eg stone or ding type) damage perceived on your return would be covered by their cdw and they would not be able to subject you to the up front fraudulent charges.
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I would be stunned if they didn't insist that all insurances ran to the same dates as the rental.
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Well mostly I've used the mainstream ones but a couple of times I've used ones which I considered may be dodgy, but so far (touch wood!) never had a problem.
But I do take out insurance for about £40 pa, as above. Just in case...
Last edited by: smokie on Wed 16 May 18 at 17:41
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Not sure where all these warnings and tales of gloom and doom come from. I must have clocked up over a hundred car hires abroad, Europe, USA, Australia, and never had a moments issue with damage payments (not even when I have damaged one or two). I even clocked up a few parking tickets in Positano and they disappeared as well. Thats mainstream two bit and local operators
Must have a hundred years of my life wasted queuing at hire desks tho.
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I’ve not had as much experience as Zero with hire cars, but have never experienced much of a queue in 20 odd occasions ( although pre booking a 4 wheel drive for winte4 skiing in the USA and trying to be fobbed off with 2 wheel drive is a different story altogether. That took literally days to sort with Enterprise)
My last 3 visits to Firefly @ Alicante had no queue whatsoever.
Bobby...don’t like the Craptur at all. Stodgy rolypoly handling. Not very nice gearchange. Cheapo plastic trim, although the dash and door cappings are soft touch. Dreadful dash layout. Cup holders are only a few cms deep so not fit for purpose. The turbo comes in all of a sudden
It’s not fair to criticise performance with it being only a 3cyl 900cc engine. The rear seats being able to move forwards in their entirety is a nice concept to make more room available in the boot, subject to rear passenger legroom requirements. It cruised ok at 140 kph /fully loaded up the AP7, obviously slowing on uphill gradients! Rear view camera and multi coloured display due to the sensors was a surprise.
Wish I’d gotten a Golf .....it’s definitely not ‘Golf or similar’ material as per my booking.
Taking 2 passengers back to Alicante airport Saturday, and collecting the next ‘guest’ who arrives on their outbound flight. Hope I don’t get stung for charges in the multi storey...I expect to be there about 3 hours.
Last edited by: legacylad on Thu 17 May 18 at 09:49
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And another thing about the Renault Craptur, which came into sharp focus on twisty mountain roads....it has wide shallow A pillars which obstruct the forward view to an unacceptable level.
Last edited by: legacylad on Fri 18 May 18 at 19:11
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>>And another thing about the Renault Craptur, which came into sharp focus on twisty mountain roads....it has wide shallow A pillars which obstruct the forward view to an unacceptable level.
I drove the road from Neja to Frigiliani - totally get what you mean about the A pillars and that 0. litre engine - gutless. Had to switch down to third gear in places to get up the hills! I thought these low powered turbo engines were supposed to be great - it would be impossible to live with this!
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Returned the hire car - 10 min queue and no issues. I was half expecting them to pull me up about the fuel level - I had filled it up and let it click 4 times to squeeze every last drop into it but the gauge never actually registered absolute full.
However there were no issues so overall, a week's car hire for £30 can't be complained about!
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>>a week's car hire for £30 can't be complained about!
I should say not. A brilliant deal.
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>> I drove the road from Neja to Frigiliani - totally get what you mean about
>> the A pillars and that 0. litre engine - gutless. Had to switch down to
>> third gear in places to get up the hills! I thought these low powered turbo
>> engines were supposed to be great - it would be impossible to live with this!
Pah, that’s nothing...try a 70PS non turbocharged Citroen C3 on a mountain road. Thrash it - that’s the answer!!! I overtook a Fiat Panda (new shape) *and* a Citroen Saxo :p
Last edited by: VxFan on Mon 21 May 18 at 02:06
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Yeah you have to rev the bejesus off the little 3 pots. Rev it like a motorbike.
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The redline on the 1.0 TSI Ibiza is somewhere around 6.5k rpm from memory, though the rev counter went north of 7k. Can’t remember on the Citroen, but I imagine it’s similar.
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The digital dash on the Craptur currently just shows kph. I’m sure it can be altered to show rpm but I can’t be bothered
My new ‘ guest’ has an 18 month old Disco Sport ( my same pal from whom i almost bought his X5 ‘06 240k miler for £2k). Huge tale of woe. It’s going soon....
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>>Huge tale of woe. It's going soon.
Interested to know what the tale of woe is - I know of two folk that their Discovery Sports basically died and LR had to take back as they couldnt fix.
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TAle of woe....electrical gremlins from day 1. Never properly sorted after 18 months. He normally keeps his motor for the 10 years. It’s probably going after 18 months. Most likely replacement a petrol X3
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I had the 3cyl non turbo Cactus over 7K
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Was it the S2000 which redlined at >10k?
Still, 7k sounds like a lot of hard work in that weight/engine size configuration.
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>>Yeah you have to rev the bejesus off the little 3 pots. Rev it like a motorbike.
Don't think I could live with that on a daily basis - too used to turbo diesels !
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The BM 6cyl has ruined me for anything else, specialy anything that include TD in its title
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The 'man with the hat' reckons those Disco Sports have no end of DPF problems. The unit is mounted too far away from the engine and rarely gets hot enough for a passive regen, even if you're covering decent distances. If you're just doing short runs, you're looking at a lot of diesel washing back into the sump from failed regens. Apparently not an issue on Jaguars using the same engine as the longitudinal layout allows the DPF to be sited closer to the manifold - problem solved!
Last edited by: Mr Moo on Sun 20 May 18 at 22:26
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They do a couple of petrol ones though, which would at least avoid the DPF issues! Our next door neighbour has just bought one - an HSE in a metallic red. Must be the colour to have ;)
Though, he does tow a caravan with it :p
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Ryanair car hire - rtj70
