Other half has decided against the mondeo but seems to Luke the vw touran and the Toyota verso.

Any thoughts on these two and are there any decent alternatives?

We want the economy, not fussed about style or performance. We don’t need the 7 seats but do like the height and space.

Our preference is for saddles down, front seat out and bike in upright.

thats exactly where we were 3 months ago. Id suggest a test drive n both MrsV really didnt like the Touran after loving the idea and we ended with a verso. Its acutally pretty good, very practical and a bit dull if your bothered by that. MrsV previous car was a grand espace so reliability was top priority, thus far its been ace.
In terms of bike fitting we had a week in centreparcs so drove with 2 car seats (9 month and 3yr old) balance bike, cot, walkers etc and her anthem through the middle only mod was front wheel off.

now looking at roof mounted as soon it’ll be 2 big bikes, 1 pedal and 1 pedal to take.

she likes the 7 seats as she can take family if we meet up with them, its a bonus but they are small

Had a Verso for a few years. Only changed it because of the low towing limit when we changed the caravan. but for that we’d have kept it. Excellent car. Ok, not going to set the world on fire, they did a 180hp version if you want to “make progress”, but the normal 2.0 diesel was plenty powerful.

Have borrowed a company Touran on a few occasions. Cant recall much other than it being incredibly dull…
Not a bad car, did its job well enough, but the Verso just appealed more. Felt more modern…even now, the Touran just reminds me of a mk4 Golf.

I bought a Verso in March. Can’t fault it really. Better to drive than I was expecting. 1.6 Diesel engine (from BMW/Mini) is plenty strong enough for normal driving. I’d say the boot is not quite as big as the Zafira we also have, but our three kids – one teenager and two on booster seats – are quite comfy as it is relatively wide and has a flat floor. I bought via broker so had no direct dealings with the selling dealership, but the local one were spot on when I took it for its first service. I like it and am very happy with my choice.

My Touran (05, 1.9tdi) was an uber practical and comfy car. It did go wrong more than expected, and cost a fortune when it did. We had it from 2.5yrs/20k to 168k/9years. I would hesitate going there again, especially factoring in any ‘VW premium’ in purchase cost.

We test drove the new Verso – I liked it, but it was smaller than Touran (most noticeably in boot) and I felt that five of us plus bikes and gear or canoes would have shown up the fact it was 1.6 (which is fitted to keep emissions down, not for grunt…)

Looked at a Touran on Sunday, it was so dull. I was so underwhelmed by it on appearance alone.

I know a car won’t make the road come alive like 650b but it was so functional, black and boring. It is still just in the mix with an Smax but now moving onto test drives.

Also why are most garages so crap, the sales person was reading of the back of the cars to identify the model, she works there FFS, surrounded by them all day. Also they could not answer why two similar cars were £5k different in price.

I hate buying cars!

Skoda Yeti, just got one to replace the Octavia so that I can get bikes in more easily. Rear sears are very versatile, they can slide forward and back, fold, roll forward or come out completely to give you a van.

Getting real world 50 ish mpg at the moment but it’s a new engine and running in.

We had a 1.4TSI touran for 3 years. Wife absolutely loved it as it did exactly what it said on the tin.

I hated it as it was so, crushingly, achingly, depressingly average.

However, never missed a beat in 3 years, hugely practical. Growing family and activities menat it was getting too small. led us to a T5.

What exactly makes a car dull?
Our cars are bought for a purpose, used to be kids, bike moving, now it’s grand kids and caravan towing.
Swapped the Touran for a Sorrento for that reason.
Touran was a brilliant motor. Had it from a few months old for 5yrs and 75k with no issues of any kind. Ours was the 140/2ltr TDi and was anything but dull on the road 😉 the versatility of the rear seating arrangements were a bonus. Would be happy to have another 😆

Thanks folks. Dull is almost a desirable feature for us. Just the two of us and the bikes so the verso being a bit smaller/more economical does appeal.

Hopefully “dull” means less desirable so cheaper to buy and cheaper to insure. Kind of looking like we can’t go wrong with either.

Even thinking the petrol verso might be economical enough with out the threat of dpf and dmf issues.

I’recently bought a Sharan. Yes, I know it’s not a Touran, but it is certainly massive inside for bikes, gets mid 40s mpg from the 140bhp diesel and is very nice to drive. Having come from an MPV with sliding rear doors, sliding doors became a must. I recently went to the Alps with 6 bikes, 3 mates and associated luggage and the car was great. Fit a towbar just in case, and you’ve got a car that covers many bases.

Just the two of us and the bikes

hmm disposable income and no kids. You are free, relish this time – you need a stupid car, not a practical one. When your old like us ^ lot then get something dull!

Would sir care for a transporter?

Two plus bikes I would go Verso.

We are old like you lot! Just chose not to have kids.

So the verso owners/users on here are happy getting a fairly normal bike in upright with front wheel off and saddle down?

http://www.bikeinside.de/en/bike-carrier/the-interior-bicycle-rack.html
Not used them but a friend had a rack inside his Yeti…

Got one of those in my Yeti, but I’ve never used it! Much easier to dump bike in the bike.

Had a Touran before the Yeti. Really liked it. Not sure you’ll get bikes in upright though. I always took the front wheel off and lifted it in. It was my first car so little to compare to, but it was certainly speedy and comfy enough.

Acres of space in the back of our Verso. Got 3 car seats in the back and the boot has room for pushchair, 2 bikes plus more and I stick my wife and my bikes on the roof.

’05 1.8 petrol verso here. Had a bearing in the gearbox go after 5 years £1k to fix, a common problem according to gearbox specialist. Otherwise no problems at all.
Regret getting petrol as it is underpowered, on the torque front and seems to be a bit noisy (almost needs another gear).
Massive flat floor when seats down.
Rubbish stereo though.

I am a Toyata fan, had a Rav4 and a Yaris for many years with no issues. Older shape Rav4 4dr can remove rear seats for van like load carrying – poor fuel economy though (ours was 2 petrol auto). Neighbouts had a Verso which they ran for 10 years without any issues. My feeling is you’ll find it easier to locate a Touran as there seem to be more about

In the STW tradition of recommend what you own… Citroën C4 picasso.
No really: they’re roomy, practical, lots of extras, theft proof (who has ever stolen a C4 picasso?) it’s a bit like driving a sofa, our 2.0 diesel gets OK Mpg, apparently the 1.6 will do much better, great for motorway plodding, pretty cheap to own… Avoid the models with air suspension though…

The Citroen is French. The car will be the wife’s. There is no point on the diagram where those two sets overlap.

Touran owner here, bikes go in, dropper down, front wheel off. There is a false floor in the back that can be removed for a bit more height.

1.9 version, no dpf and simple. It’s been reliably dull and copes well with what we ask it to do. I do miss the t5 a lot.

Looking forward to a caddy maxi next, it’s a bit taller and the front wheel can stay on the bike.

Check if your local dealer will let you put a clean bike in one to see for yourself….