Should i get one???

[ZootHornRollo]

Hi,

i am in the process of mulling over my next car purchase.

I am currently deliberating between a citroen berlingo and the roomster.

Fuel economy is a major factor in my decision which has brought me to these two motors. Looking at Diesel models capable of towing. There is just me and my girlfriend plus the two dogs so not interested in child seats etc. The car will be used for my commute to work - about 18 miles each way on dual carriageway - carrying the dogs about for agility training and shows and towing a 4 berth caravan.

any of you dog owners? how do you find the boot with regards to the dogs?

i realise this is a roomster forum and you guys will all be biased but some of you may have experience with both vehicles, anybody got any views on whether the roomster or berlingo would be a better car the job?

appreciate your thoughts.

[VRStu]

Hi,

i am in the process of mulling over my next car purchase.

I am currently deliberating between a citroen berlingo and the roomster.

You are choosing between a car and a van with a couple of extra seats IMHO.

I don't have one nor do I have a dog but I would think the boot a little on the small side for a dog unless it's one of the handbag dogs that the owners carry everywhere.

[StuartBell]

The Roomster's boot is a good shape, and pretty deep front-back for all but the biggest dogs I would have thought. As regards towing, the 1.9TDI is superb. I did 1600 miles in August towing a large folding camper. Admittedly not as heavy as a 4 berth caravan, but I'd have no worries as long as your 'van is under around 1100kg.

Stuart

[skorob2007]

For reliability sakes, and the fact that it isn't based on a panel van, get a Roomster.The quality is sooo much better than the Citroen.I used to work on Citroens and wouldn't recommend the Berlingo to anyone at all.

[chalfont]

We have 3 dogs that are very happy in the back of ours but I'd check your weights re the caravan. We haven't found any 4 berths that are within the 1200 maximum towing weight for the 1.9, we tow a 2 berth with our 1.6 petrol.

[Hans Freikit]

The Berlingo has just been facelifted I believe, and is much more attractive in its latest incarnation (relatively speaking). Click link below for image

http://www.autospies.com/images/users/speedspies/2008%20Citroen%20Berlingo.jpg

However, I would echo the comment made above about build quality and reliability. I now drive our (petrol) C3 to work every day, and for various reasons, have christened it The Sh1troen

I would hazard a guess that the VAG-sourced diesel in the Roomster would be a much better bet (in terms of economy, performance and reliability) than those on offer from the cheese-eating surrender monkeys.

[Allams Skoda]

Totally agree with you about the Citroens....

The quality is shocking and the reliability is phenomenally poor.

Roomsters are excellent cars and for some reason they are fun to drive!

[steffo]

I had a Berlingo in 2004 (1.6 petrol).It was surprisingly good to drive with a very comfortable ride.There was certainly more room in the boot than in the Roomster and although the idea of the sliding rear doors was a good one,in practice they were very awkward to open from the inside.I have sat in the new version and can say I was very impressed although it has grown in size somewhat,so much so that it's no longer a real rival of the Roomster more of the size of the old Galaxy with two fewer seats.The Roomster has a much more quality feel than Citroen too

[ZootHornRollo]

We have 3 dogs that are very happy in the back of ours but I'd check your weights re the caravan. We haven't found any 4 berths that are within the 1200 maximum towing weight for the 1.9, we tow a 2 berth with our 1.6 petrol.

We haven't bought the caravan yet so could get a 2 berth if necessary so long as we got an awning.

I've been looking at some 4 berths on ebay (older ones, early 90's), seems to be a few come in under the 1200kg, most are nearer the 1000kg mark as gross weight. not sure how much you can go by the listing tho!

[ZootHornRollo]

We have 3 dogs that are very happy in the back of ours but I'd check your weights re the caravan. We haven't found any 4 berths that are within the 1200 maximum towing weight for the 1.9, we tow a 2 berth with our 1.6 petrol.

what kind of dogs do you have?

we have two (small) border collie bitches. they fit fine in th eboot of my Mitsubishi Galant Est. but i am thinking of puting two cages in the back of the Roomster, would they fit? has any got a proper fitting dog guard? where did you get it?

[ZootHornRollo]

I had a Berlingo in 2004 (1.6 petrol).It was surprisingly good to drive with a very comfortable ride.There was certainly more room in the boot than in the Roomster and although the idea of the sliding rear doors was a good one,in practice they were very awkward to open from the inside.I have sat in the new version and can say I was very impressed although it has grown in size somewhat,so much so that it's no longer a real rival of the Roomster more of the size of the old Galaxy with two fewer seats.The Roomster has a much more quality feel than Citroen too

i test drove the new berlingo and liked it very much. it does feel very big but drives very well. The boot is huge. But you need to go for the top model to get the three seperate back seats which come as standard on th eRoomster. (i often carry my bike on the back of my Galant but i really like the idea of the interier bike rack!)

i will probably go up to our local skoda dealer this weekend and have we peak at one - do you think they'll let me put the dogs in the back of one to check the fit?

[ZootHornRollo]

Totally agree with you about the Citroens....

The quality is shocking and the reliability is phenomenally poor.

Roomsters are excellent cars and for some reason they are fun to drive!

I was speaking to a trusted mechanic friend and he really rates citroens quality of late - especially the diesel engines shared with peugeot.

(besides, being a Skoda Dealer you are probably more biased than most! )

[chalfont]

what kind of dogs do you have?

we have two (small) border collie bitches. they fit fine in th eboot of my Mitsubishi Galant Est. but i am thinking of puting two cages in the back of the Roomster, would they fit? has any got a proper fitting dog guard? where did you get it?

We have 2 Scotties & a small collie type, she's really not sure of all her relatives. We have a dog guard but not the official 1, with a bit of playing it does the job at half the price. Don't know if you've had a caravan before but you need to go on the maximum permitted loaded weight rather than the unloaded weight, this doesn't include any extras such as the gas, battery, awning or anything you put in the caravan to go away. We've been looking to see what caravan we could move up to if we went for the 1.9, there are 2 berths but not many any bigger that would be safe or legal to tow with it.

[Decron]

The new Berlingo is a much better proposition than the older one, it looked great on the Fifth gear review but to spec up anywhere near the Roomy it's mucho pesos (Over £15k). There was a discussion on here about the cost of the Roomy comapred to the Kangoo/Berlingo and the new Scenic. In conclusion the Roomy was much better value for money despite being slightly smaller.

Here is the Roomy compared to an older model;

Boot of the Roomy (Seats fully back as they do move forward )

Back seat room

Loadspace

Economy

Imho there isn't a lot of contest unless you really need that little extra space. I can also guarentee that it will handle a lot better and be a much more rewarding drive. To spec up a Berlingo First to Roomster 2 spec with a 75bhp 1.6hdi engine comes in at £11171. The roomster 2 with the 80bhp 1.4tdi comes in at £12600 but this comes with a lot more kit and ATM you get a free upgrade to 3 spec.

You may also want to look at these threads

http://briskoda.net/roomster/roomster-scout-trend-setter/111181/

http://briskoda.net/roomster/scout-review-independent-sunday/90450/

(Although some of the data is now a bit old)

Edited 10 September, 2008 by Decron

[ZootHornRollo]

thanks,

i didn't realise there was such a big difference in size between the the roomster and berlingo. and the new one is bigger!!!

still, there is only the two of us plus the dogs so don't really need a cathedral on wheels. Going ot agility shows we would have the caravan anyway.

i've been checking out caravans and it is easy to find 4 berths that fall around the 1000-1100kg range max weight (as we are looking at older caravans, they were lighter). However i don't know about the nose weights, would need ot look further into that.

[mdk1]

Noseweight for the Roomy is 50kg.

[ZootHornRollo]

cheers,

i still need to work out how that translates onto a 4 berth caravan.

i have no idea if thats a little or a lot.

[mdk1]

cheers,

i still need to work out how that translates onto a 4 berth caravan.

i have no idea if thats a little or a lot.

The nose weight is governed by the car, The caravan must not exceed 50kg down force onto the tow hitch.

This can be changed on the van by loading different weights for and aft of the axel.

Have a read on here,

Caravan Talk (Powered by Invision Power Board)

Lots of info on there.

[ZootHornRollo]

ok,

that helps a lot.

Thanks.

[ZootHornRollo]

hi,

The 50kg noseweight seems to be really restrictive from what i've been reading elsewhere.

please correct me if i'm wroing but it seems to be very difficult to find a caravan that can be balanced to achieve the 50kg noseweight and not be dangerously weighted to the rear.

thanks for all your help guys but i don't think the roomster is for me. shame, cause i was really starting to like it.

[mdk1]

Don't discount the car because of it's nose weight, It can be done with out to much difficulty.

[Decron]

YouTube - SKODA ROOMSTER VS CITROEN

[Jonny5ive]

Buy a Roomster. They're great. Nuff Said!!

[StuartBell]

In my experience, strategic placing of an awning on the floor of the caravan usually achieves the desired nose weight - behind the axle will reduce it quite effectively. Some caravans reputedly almost balance (i.e. zero nose weight) when totally empty with no gas bottles.

Stuart

PS Was driven in an old model Berlingo today - distinctly agricultural, reminding me of the old Renault 4.

[ZootHornRollo]

i think that maybe i need to go looking at caravans with some scales, see if the type of caravans i'm looking at can be balanced without dumping weight at the rear.

i was asking advice on popular camping/caravaning forum and up unitl i posted on here all the advice was "50kg is not enough". Since posting that i would give up on the roomster advice changed to get one under 1000kg.

so the roomster is back in the mix!