Hi Timberwolf,
I think we should first talk about some "realities", which you are going to face on most European highways.
->Definitely you need a car that is able to "swim along" with most of the modern trucks traffic in the plaines. That means top speed must be in the range of 95...100 km/h. And that preferrably with a not too loud engine noise inside the cabin.
Also check the split of the single gears within each other - especially going uphill on 4th or 5th gear.
The ols MAN is not too good here....
-> Check carefully for the fuel consumption, because there is no fun having a big car, but not the money left to move it a couple of thousand kms during vacations. 3 Kids will keep you quite busy buying ice cream and chocolate....
-> Check carefully for the maximum length of the car and if you can manage (to have enogh space with 3 kids), stay under 7 m total lengh.
You will not really have fun looking for parking places on the supermarkets of the bigger cities around.
Besides that, a long car having a long wheelbase needs bigger turning radiuses and it is not funny having to back up in smaller curves all the time.
My travelling experience in England showed me that the most beautiful places have quite narrow roads for access, so also consider that if you want to drive the car back in England most of the time. Also costs for ferryboats increase with length.
Definitely you will need safety belt equipped seats for your kids within the crew cabin. This is an absolute must in my eyes.
->Consider the spare parts availablity and their costs min England.
Mercedes has the most wide spread service organization.
Parts for the older Mercedes trucks have relatively reasonable prices and I can get parts for my 30 years old 911 mostly on the next day.
-> Think well about if you really need a 4x4 car. Consumption will be ~ at 16 - 20 l / 100 km or above, when driving fast on the highways with rugged tires. In Germany with the actual Diesel fuel costs this makes ~ 23 € just for the fuel per 100 km.
We have been travelling from North Cape to the south of Greece during the past 30 years and have not really needed 4x4 if we did not want to access beaches, wet meadows or really rough terrain which we could well access with hiking boots .... leaving the car a few meters away.
Having a big car that is able to drive at 120 km/h is also not a bad thing to consider...
Although these are my personal basics I have ovened 4 RV´s since 1975 (all 2 x 4 and 4 x 6), "I did it" 4 month ago and bought myself a 4 x 4 - 30 year old Mercedes 911 from the German police equipped with a windowed cabin (~ 4m x 2,30 m and a hight of 1,78 m in the middle) that contained most of the basics needed for an RV. I`ve investigated ~ 2 years to find the "right one".
My 2 boys are out of the house already and my wife is not too keen on this car (yet).
My story and the details how I bought it, including a lot of pictures you can find here.
http://www.allrad-lkw-gemeinschaft.de/p ... hp?t=22121
Last weeend I`ve taken it to the Saverne meeting - they have a big 4 x 4 terrain there, where one can "check the cars on their abilities" - I can only say that this old car can do much more then I will ever face on a road thorughout this world where i will be travelling. I was born and raised in Latin America and I know what bad roads can look like.
Keep these basics in mind when you choose your car, if you want to be happy with it long term.
Cheers,
Udo (DL 8 WP)
This is my little toy ...
