Helpdesk

THIS WEEK:Fitting a family in a decent car

From SG

In light of last week’s article - The Death of the Family Car, February 22nd, 2011 -, is there any saloon that can cater for a family? I remember sitting four in the back of my father’s Ford Cortina. It clearly wasn’t safe, but nothing about motoring was particularly safe in the 1980s.

We have two children (aged four and six) and my wife is expecting our third. Any suggestions to avoid me having to get into one of those ugly boxes. I don’t mind an SUV if it comes to it, but not a so-called “people carrier”.

You have a couple of options. First up in the SUV category there are the Nissan Qashqai and Hyundai Santa Fe. Both are offered with a third row of seats. For a bit more cash you could get a used Volvo XC90, but I don’t know what your budget is.

The Skoda Superb has one of the widest back seats in the business and a massive boot. The latter feature is something often forgotten. Many affordable people carriers have three rows but poor bootspace, taking no account of the prams and detritus that accompany young occupants. That’s where the Skoda is a star performer. I’m told you can get three child seats across the back if you wish.

From JK

I received a fill of home heating oil and the delivery man told me it contained a mix of bio diesel. He also said it was being added to motor diesel. Can this be true? Could this “mix” harm diesel engines? Also, should the price not come down?

Yes, most diesel blends already contain between 4 and 7 per cent biodiesel. That’s the sort of range within which engine manufacturers are happy that diesel engines will not suffer unduly.

In terms of prices, the vast bulk of the forecourt price is tax and, while pure biofuel is exempt from the carbon tax, the levy applies to all blends where the biofuel makes up less than 10 per cent. There have been calls for the Government to give more recognition of the use of lower percentage mixes, but it remains unchanged so far.

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