Hea***/Limo as family car?

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
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Wed 2 Dec 2015 11:42
Hea***/Limo as family car? - no-no

Just after a little advice if that's ok.

I have 4 kids, 3 little ones and a teenager. I've been looking at a few used limo's online, mostly ex funeral and wedding fleet stuff. They seem to be a very cheap way to get 6 plus seats with low mileage.

I've been looking at cars up to around £5000, they seem in much better condition than the MPVs I've looked at in that price range.

Is insurance usually much higher than a standard length car? How about fuel consumption?

I've noticed some for them come with huge engines and others with more modest 2.4 engines.

I'm not sure how these things are built, would there be any problem fitting a tow hitch to a limo? Would it be an issue teaching my son to drive in one? Not sure about car lengths and provisional licenses.

Thanks very much, Kev

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Wed 2 Dec 2015 12:12
Hea***/Limo as family car? - DirtyDieselDogg

since when was hea*** a "rude" word

sigh!

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Wed 2 Dec 2015 12:32
Hea***/Limo as family car? - RobJP

I would not want to try to teach a youngster to drive in one of those. Positively horrific.

Bear in mind that you simply won't be able to get into plenty of car parks, and when you do you won't be able to fit into any spaces, so won't be able to park. Same for on-street parking spaces. Either buy 2 tickets or get booked and fined for taking up 2 bays.

Most of them will be petrol - for smoothness - so fuel bills will not be cheap. Expect 25 mpg-ish from the 2.4 petrol types, 20 mpg or less from larger engines.

I'd honestly suggest looking a bit more seriously for a Galaxy or similar. Fuel bills a lot more reasonable, a car that's actually practical to park, and actually driveable for a youngster with no idea of just how large a turning circle can be.

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Wed 2 Dec 2015 14:08
Hea***/Limo as family car? - no-no

Now you put it like that, yes teaching maneuvures would be a nightmare.

The fuel consumption's not pretty either. Shame becaue other than that they'd be quite practical for me, live in the country and can't remember the last time I had to parallel park.

It's just that the low mileage on them is so tempting, plus the 6 doors, no more kids clambering into the back seat. Plenty of room on top for bikes and canoes. Stylish in their own way too with those big leather sofa seats.

Those mileage figures are a dealbreaker though.

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Wed 2 Dec 2015 12:50
Hea***/Limo as family car? - alan1302

since when was hea*** a "rude" word

sigh!

It's not - it's the word inside - think bottom!

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Wed 2 Dec 2015 21:24
Hea***/Limo as family car? - Ethan Edwards

Six seats in an old London cab.

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Thu 3 Dec 2015 07:06
Hea***/Limo as family car? - dan86

Six seats in an old London cab.

Plus toy could close the little window and shut out the noise from the kids ??

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Thu 3 Dec 2015 20:36
Hea***/Limo as family car? - hillman

Why don't you look at people carriers ? Ford have several. The servicing and spares are cheap.

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Thu 3 Dec 2015 22:59
Hea***/Limo as family car? - Avant

Agreed. A Ford Galaxy or S-Max, or if you need still more room, a Hyundai i800.

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Real MPG enables you to register the fuel economy you are actually getting against your make and model of car, its engine and type of transmission.

Every time you enter an average consumption figure against your car, the overall average automatically adjusts to reflect it.

Real MPG