our old espace is getting tired and we are looking for a replacement.
any ideas?
im happy to have high milage so newer models may come into the budget if they are like that.

id look at the seat(alhambra?)/ford(galaxy)/vw(sharan) seven seater.

all shared the same platform and its only cosmetic stuff that sets them apart.

seat for mucho cheapness…………….vw for the badge snobbery thing ……….and the ford somwhere inbetween

oh and please stay away from the grand scenic , its ****

Plenty of Honda Streams around under that money. Last two seats not very big but fold flat. We use the extras when our kids bring mates along or days out with grandparents as well. (3 kids plus dogs here) Drives much more car like, and not very big really. We use a roof box for holidays. As reliable as any other Honda.

happy with my grand scenic 1.9dci.

It depends if you need 7 seats all the time or just occasionally. If you need 7 all the time and need to carry some luggage your options become pretty limited. Chrysler grand voyager and grand espace spring to mind unless you start looking at what are essentially minibuses (9 seat renault trafic's, vw transporters etc).

im very happy with our zafira

would suggest if you want aircon that works avoid the galaxy/sharan/alhambra – even if its been fixed and that costs a few hundred it will (probably said the lawyers)fail again after 12-18months – i'm sure i can't be sued its on all the ford forums and was the reason i got rid of mine

– got a grande espace 05 model which is total redesign from the older ones – only downside is heavy on tyres and seats weigh a ton to take out seen some 04/05's around at that sort of price – mates got a previa and thats longer and probably more reliable though mpg on petrol is horrible – other downside is that may only have lapbelt in middle rear which with kids i don't like and newer ones don't come in at that sort of price

zafira for that money

Toyota Previa. I have a yr2000 X plate that has done 110,000 miles – its solid as a rock. Still on the original exhaust! Nothing has ever gone wrong and its had nothing spent on it except tyres & annual service.Its no wonder all the Bristol taxi drivers have em. You should be able to get one for 5k if you look carefully. The CDX has 5 individual removeable seats- 4 have diagonal belts and one has a lap belt. Mines the 2.4petrol and it did 32mpg all the way down to Alp D'huez last year. Admittedly not so good round town..

new shape zafira especially if like me you more often than not need 5 or less seats but plenty space to carry stuff as the seats fold into the floor and middle row slide forward. the good diesel does 60 in under 10 seconds, 40 odd mpg easily (close to 50 on a high speed run) and very comfortable to drive. the vauxhall badge is the ultimate anti status statement too (if such things concern you)

C4 grand Picasso is an excellent motor if you don't need permanent 7 seats, I've driven just about all the 5+2 type MPVs out there (and FRV)and it is the best of the lot, effortless to drive, best mpg and has loads more space than the others. Don't know how cheap they are 2nd hand though. Honda Stream is a good shout for the money as well.

I've had 2 Seat Alhambra's (first was nicked), been really happy with them and totally reliable (though aircon had gone on the first one: and never got to find out if it just needed a regas as it was nicked before I got round to it).

I recently picked up an '04 130bhp diesel SE (top of range) with 60K for just over £5K. Does an easy 45mpg out of town. Nice drive (think the SEs have a stiffened suspension).

Rear seats removeable (but heavy and bulky to store) to give a huge bootspace. Loads of passenger room and all 7 seats are adult comfy. All 7 seats are separate as well (not bench seats): helps to keep the kids that bit further apart to avoid stray elbows!

Zafiras smaller, middle bench seat & rear seats only really comfortable for kids but do rears do fold flat into floor.

When we bought our first Alhambra a few years ago the Seat's were cheaper then the Ford Galaxy: now its the other way round as Seat's image turned around with the Leon etc. Galaxy's fairly cheap looking internally, Sharan's ugly & expensive, I much prefer the Seat's.

cheers all.most of that is what i suspected.
i do need 7 full "proper" seats as have a large tribe.
i was mainly thinking of seat/ford/vw job.
no one really suggested the new espace….safety factor is supposed to be pretty good…

Was about to mention the Verso but 6/7 seats are kids only in real terms.
They are very well put together though.

I wouldn't be too worried about an Espace, especially a later model. The Grand Espace is a bloody monster. I can imagine most garages could put one right if it has a problem.
If your worried take out a basic AA package, & add on their breakdown insurance policy, costs £67 a year & covers you for up to £500 of repairs up to 5 times a year. Cheaper than an add-on warranty.

Zafira for that sort of money, make sure you get a diesel though, brought my missus a 7 month old Zaf SRI petrol a while back and it only does about 30max mpg, urban driving its about 28mpg, wish I had brought a diesel.

LISTEN TO ME..

get a vw transporter.
it changed our lives.

If you really need the 7 then your looking in the right place. if you can make do with 6 full time seats but plenty of luggage space how about the Multipla..

If you are looking at the vw/seat/ford proper 7 seaters what about the 807/C8/fiat as they seem to get good reivews and use the peugoet hdi/ford tdci engines. The new espace is ment to be better than other renaults in terms of reliability and if you stick to the 2.2dci then its fairly common used engine. It gets some of the best reviews interms of what its degined for and you can put the rears seats where you like as they all have the seat belt fitted to them.

Should have said earlier, but the Mitsubishi Grandis is nice too, but the petrol one is thirsty. All the seats are big enough for adults and still a BIT OF LUGGAGE SPACE oops. Not quite in the 5K price bracket though for a diesel one.