Nissan X-TRAIL Problems

MY CHOICE would be the X-Trail, but there's not a lot to choose between the two. I would expect a dealer would offer you about $6000 on a trade-in for your Vectra assuming its in good sound condition. The kilometres are about average, so it seems like a car in the sort of condition you would expect for its age.

If it's an accredited repair shop, it will have the experience and skill to do the work. Body repair shops remove and replace panels all the time. It's not a concern as such, and done as a matter of course these days rather than panelbeat the roof to rid it of the dents as might have been done in the past. If the work is done correctly the structure of the vehicle won't be affected, and I would certainly have it done. I assume it's covered by insurance, so you have comeback on the insurance company if the work isn't done well. And resale value will be much better without dents in the roof.

YOUR poptop would probably weigh about 1500kg when loaded, so that's the weight you need to consider when buying a vehicle. In my view it comes down to where you want to go when travelling, and what you want to do with the vehicle for the rest of the year. If you stick predominantly to the blacktop on your travels, then a regular Commodore or Falcon is probably the best way to go. Both will easily tow your poptop, are comfortable and will give you reasonable fuel consumption. An X-Trail will tow up to 2000kg if the trailer has brakes, so that will also handle your poptop. A recent experience with a 3.0-litre Subaru Outback, rated to tow 1800kg, showed that when it was towing a 1200kg camper trailer the fuel consumption rose about 30 per cent, and rose even more when towing a camper weighing close to its rated tow capacity. That said, the Outback would be a great compromise for round-town use and towing capacity.

BEFORE the advent of bigger front-wheel-drive family cars from Toyota and Mitsubishi in the '90s, we mostly used rear-wheel-drive cars for towing. They are still preferred for towing because the weight over the rear wheels is an advantage. The recent popularity of all-wheel-drive cars, including 4WDs, has further clouded the towing issue. If I were to go on the round-Australia dream drive, I would take an all-wheel-drive. Not for the towing, but to get to those out-of-the-way tourist destinations that I couldn't get to with a two-wheel-drive car.