My neighbour has a 110 defender which is great fun but not really all that big inside for big vehicle and not very comfortable for 7. We often have friends / family to stay so the option of 7 is good but currently involves lugging the extra 2 seats out of the garage and sticking them in the T5 which is a bit of a faff – I know, middle class problems and all that…

Thanks Gavin – seems most people know someone who’s got one that costs them a fortune…

Definitely not looking for a luxury car – just a big 4 wheel drive box that won’t cost a fortune to buy (and then run).

Thanks all – most helpful and only 2 people questioned why I was after a 4×4.

Will take a look at the xc90 as seems to be a sensible alternative, guess not as big though.

Unfortunately it needs to be LHD as a fair bit cheaper to pick up 4×4’s in the UK – especially with the current exchange rate.

Yep agreed – currently have a 12 year old (high mileage) T5 and struggling to find a decent local garage so fairly used to forking out to keep a car on the road.

However if a disco really is a (real world) liability then happy to avoid.

Is the 4 any better?!

Yep agreed – currently have a 12 year old (high mileage) T5 and struggled to find a decent local garage so fairly used to forking out to keep a car on the road.

However if a disco really is a (real world) liability then happy to avoid.

Is the 4 any better?

Thanks all – decided against considering one until the last few posts…

Other car is an octavia scout so realise the benefits of an estate. At the risk of giving my life story also in the midst of house renovations so also a reason for wanting a big car / van.

Will also look at xc90 – hadn’t thought of that.

On the flip side if I stump up the cash for a 4motion T5 I’m likely to be able to sell it on for not much more than I bought it a few years down the line (joy of French second hand car market..) – and yes have looked at importing one from Germany – lots mote choice but not dramatically cheaper for the extra effort involved.

That’s a little spooky as searched for a hilux and stumbled across a pathfinder which looks like it ticks most of the boxes but probably not as much fun to drive as a disco. I didn’t realise they were 7 seats too.

We live in France so most garages are generally poor and very expensive but I’ve asked previously and they wouldn’t touch a disco as there’s a lot of electronic wizardry so I would be forced to use a main dealer which is probably ever worse and more expensive than the independent ones. It would probably be cheaper to drive it back to the UK…

On the flip side it’s cost me a lots over the years to keep the T5 on the road but that’s as much a reflection of garage prices as much as how much has gone wrong with it.

Thanks – 7 seats would be nice too, current got 7 with the T5 but two of them spend 90% of time in the garage and a bit of a faff to pop them in when have friends / family to stay.

Thanks both andy8442 and freddyg – I am obviously hoping my experience will be more like latter…

It’s a 2008 but done about 120k miles.

Not even got close to sorting it yet – sife just about to give birth is somewhat of a distraction. However oddly I drove the car yesterday and it didn’t do it to me once..?!

Great – thanks all!

Thanks Jimjam – will look to take it in, main problem is that we are in France so tend to play Russian roulette a little with the garages here.

Thanks all – both cable adjustment and bearings came up on a few forums which I am hoping will be a quicker / cheaper fix than new gearbox / clutch.

As it’s a second hand car if the fix is big bucks will just live with it until it becomes totally unbearable.

It’s the wife’s car so it’s not me that has to put up with it though – oddly however it seems to happen to me more than her and she drives it most days – she must have a more dainty clutch technique than me…?!

I live in France and work in GVA – highly recomended, mail in profile if you want to drop me a mail with any questions.

Thanks all – we are already on green-acres.com and leboncoin and just listed on ebay too – didn’t even know could sell on ebay although hopefully other people do otherwise won’t get many hits…!

Thanks for the replies all, here’s the link to it if you want to be nosy:

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/very-very-ot-house-in-the-french-alps-3

It’s not our holiday home but our family home, mainly due to a new addition to the family we are (sadly) selling up and moving to the French countryside nearer Geneva (where I work).

We can’t afford to keep it on as a holiday home and in all honesty we probably don’t need a holiday home only 2 hours from where we live (which is also nice countryside and has mountain biking and skiing not too far away etc…).

For an internet based mountain bike forum I’m quite amazed at how many professional or more modestly semi-professional skiers we have on here.
I go off piste with the best of them mind, once I was so off piste I could barely see the sticks.

For a decent finish (not student house etc…) the very rough rule of thumb seems to be 500 per m2 for a “refresh” or 1000 per m2 for total refurb. I’ve even been told by many a builder to expect to spend the same again on what you’ve paid for a place so if that seems like a lot you’re either not being realistic or over paying in the first place.

When you do the above sums on paper it seems (and seemed to me!) like a huge amount of money but it’s amazing how quickly budgets get eaten up and it will end up coming near the above if you actually honestly add up every single penny spent – guess you’ve seen grand designs where they always spend twice as much and take twice as long…

If you do the majority of the work yourself and shop around for
everything then you can prob halve those figures above.

Guess the main thing is do you want to live in the house once it’s done as would be surprised unless you are a commercial developer you’ll end up making much money out of it, especially when it could take a long time and if yr working on the house you aren’t earning money.

I’m sure there’ll be lots of people saying you can do it for £20k etc… but unfortunately unless you are very skilled and own all the tools you’ll ever need already etc… £20k won’t last too long
(all the above IMHO).

Thanks all – interesting views.
Heated screen all the way for me as don’t have a garage and get a lot of snow / frost here over the winter.
Am tempted by the Octavia but like the idea of the extra height of a Yeti type car to avoid the need to take out seatposts etc…
Currently have a Peugeot partner (car type) and love it for lugging bikes duties but want something a bit nicer for the commute and 4×4 etc for the forthcoming winter.

Posh van appeals…!

Glad we covered off the bike carrying bit!

I’m not in the UK hence the heated screen / 4×4 requirement but also do a fair amount of motorway type driving so the decent MPG is a good selling point over “proper” 4×4’s.

Not sure about the availability of them here (France) as gather they are like gold dust in the UK at the mo.

Great – thanks nickf, sounds like you need a dropper post for the car even if not for riding…
Thanks for the input, running costs are a concern but sound like the pros may outweigh the cons.

sparkyspice – is that with all seats down?

Anyone got any pics to hand to try and gauge the size? I gather they are pretty massive?!

Anyone else…?!
Guess they are not the car of choice on here – reckon it would be a little easier to get opinions on an Octavia…!

Thanks – I keep an eye on the bay but ideally want a 4motion with tailgate, SWB etc… so very rarely come up – most seem to be LWB with barn doors.

On the flip side at any point there are millions of D3’s…!

Thanks all – most useful, T5 4motion is also a contender but as stated are much rarer and seem go for a big premium if can find one…

It’s a skim over plasterboard (already in place) and likely to be done by an ex-pat (with French co) – understand I need to pay the market rate which may be well above UK rates but at the same time don’t want to be taken for a ride…!

Not grumbling about using French builders vs French prices at all (in fact likely to use an ex-pat English plasterer) but finding it very hard to get an idea of what is realistic if UK plasterers can be had for not much over £100 a day etc… – the 55 per m2 in Belgium post makes me feel a bit better about the situation though…!

Great – much appreciated, any idea how many m2 you do (very roughly) in a working day?

Not sure where yr based but bave a chat with Al at http://www.wheeliecool.co.uk/Home.html

Did TCL with him a while back and thoroughly recommended, nice guy and sure he’d spare you a few moments.

It would be a very expensive way of spending 2 months a year in the Alps…?!

Realise that but looking for someting 4wd that can carry bikes but gets sensible MPG

That was the next step but was hoping to save a trip to the dealer if it’s a no go.

both wheels off you reckon for 2 bikes? Looking at an Octavia Scout too…

Thanks – I replied to a few recently and got the usual copy and paste replies e.g. total scams.

32 is the new 18…

The listing fee would have been enormous

mmm – interesting, did you have a look at the Octavia Scout at all?