General Picking up my new Trekking in a couple of days!

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General Picking up my new Trekking in a couple of days!

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Skipton, United Kingdom.
We currently own a 2013 Panda 1.2 Lounge, and within the next couple of days it will be joined by a 13 plate Trekking 1.6 multijet.
We had been looking for a replacement for our 2010 Grand Scenic, which sadly got written off last month. I managed to persuade my wife that we don't actually need 7 seats for 99% of the year, and therefore we should have a look at the 500l.
I always preferred the trekking, and we managed to find an ex-demo car locally for a good price.
I'll post pictures once we've collected it.
 
We currently own a 2013 Panda 1.2 Lounge, and within the next couple of days it will be joined by a 13 plate Trekking 1.6 multijet.
We had been looking for a replacement for our 2010 Grand Scenic, which sadly got written off last month. I managed to persuade my wife that we don't actually need 7 seats for 99% of the year, and therefore we should have a look at the 500l.
I always preferred the trekking, and we managed to find an ex-demo car locally for a good price.
I'll post pictures once we've collected it.

Nice one, what colour?

and yes don't forget to post some pictures up...
 
Picked up the Trekking this evening. Sadly, it was a bit too dark to take photos by the time we got back, so I'll have to take some later this week.

First impressions are very good. Got 55 mpg over the 25 miles back home, which is pretty good I reckon, and that's driving at the speed limit, not Driving Miss Daisy.
 
First picture... Ok, I know it's not a great photo. Hope to take some better ones when I get chance over the weekend. Still managing to keep to 55mpg average. The ecodrive display is quite strict scoring! Anything more than a feather-light touch on the pedals and you get marked down.
 

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Nice One (y)

Seems my dealer was right and white really is the most popular colour for the Trekking model!
 
That's very good. But do you drive at 70+ on motorways and accelerate briskly in town? I only ask because some people drive at 60 and accelerate sedately, and think this is normal driving. I'm not accusing you of slow-coaching, but driving styles do make a difference.
 
That's very good. But do you drive at 70+ on motorways and accelerate briskly in town? I only ask because some people drive at 60 and accelerate sedately, and think this is normal driving. I'm not accusing you of slow-coaching, but driving styles do make a difference.

I completely agree. Driving style makes all the difference. I drive all around the UK for my job. Week before last I went from Skipton to Plymouth, to Portsmouth, to Silverstone, to Newark, to Wisbech, and back to Skipton. So I am used to driving a lot.

I used to be a bit of a boy racer (my Fiat Punto HGT used to get about 25mpg with my driving style then), but married and two kids has slowed me down. Plus, when you have to drive such long distances, you realise that driving faster makes you tired sooner.

So yesterday I stuck to the speed limits. On the M62 I set the cruise control to 65mph (obviously except for the 50mph average sections through the roadworks). I accelerated gently, but not slug-like. I slowed gradually rather than jamming my brakes on. We still had climate control on, and the lights/stereo on etc.

I know from driving for work that if I go at 75mph on motorway compared to 65mph, I will lose about 8-10mpg. But you don't really notice the difference yourself in terms of time taken for the journey. Main difference is that it's a little quieter in the cabin.

Today, I'm off to Reading in my works van (2012 Vauxhall Combo 1.6mjet - basically the Doblo Cargo with new badges), and I'll be adopting the same sort of techniques when driving that.
 
Thanks for the comprehensive reply; much appreciated. The M62 is quite a climb too, and a descent of course ;)

That's a very decent consumption. I got 68 with the 1.6 Diesel and the cruise set at 74 (based on satnav reading), and with a little town driving. But that was only over seventy miles and with no hold-ups.

A Fiat engine, but not a fiat car, and similarly impressive consumption.
Thanks again.
 
The thing which kills our day-to-day fuel economy is the fact that we live at the top of a hill, and we're surrounded by hills, so you don't get much chance to cruise on overrun. But our previous car (the grand scenic 1.5dci) only ever managed a max of 50mpg on a good long run, driven like a vicar, and around town it struggled to get much over 36! So I'm pleasantly surprised that the 500l trekking, which according to the official testing should get similar economy to the scenic, is in fact more truthful about the achievable mpg i.e. You can actually get 60mpg!
 
It is a bugger to keep clean though. As my son said when we got back home from the coast - "dad, the fiat looks like its got a beard"... All the flies which had decided to commit suicide on the front of the 500L were so thickly coating the bumper and grille, that it looked like a stubbly beard.
I've washed the car about 8 times in the past month since we got it!
 
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