Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 53 total)
  • Next car
  • st
    Full Member

    Loads of other people ask this question so why not me…

    Later this year my current car is due for replacement. It’s a great car (BMW 3 series) but not the most practical for a family of 4 with kids who are getting to an age where we can look at heading off with 4 bikes and that.

    I’m looking for something that will work as a good family car, cover me for a reasonable daily commute and take a bike or two in the back with minimal faff.

    I like the idea of something like a Skoda Yeti or Ford Cmax as I could take the centre rear seat out and slide a bike through upright (front wheel removed) whilst keeping the booster seats on both side rear seats. This will be handy for quickly sticking my bike in ther car for weekly night rides. I do this occasionally with my Wife’s old Renault Scenic but I don’t get to take the keys very often. This reason is putting me off an estate

    I can’t have any sort of van or old banger as I need a new or fairly new car under the terms of my work car allowance. Budget would be around £20k give or take and the plan to run it for 3 years.

    For bigger trips away I’d look at roof carriers (as I use now) or a tow bar and rack and use the space inside to stash kit and people.

    Also needs to be a reasonable spec as there are some things I’ve got used to on the beamer that I would prefer not to do without (mine is one with working indicators)

    Once the Summer is out of the way I’ll be wanting to sort as many test drives as I can but am getting a bit stumped on the shortlist. Thoughts so far;

    Ford Cmax – god spec for the money, seem flexible enough
    Skoda Yeti – A bit pricey for what you get and quite crude feeling inside
    Hyundai IX35 – A mate works for them and can get me a deal but it doesn’t quite tick the boxes above
    Citroen C3 Picasso – looks quirky but a bit sh!t inside
    Skoda Roomster – One for the window lickers

    Owt else I should consider (sits back and waits for recommendations of knackered old vans and estates and suggestions of pocketing the difference on my allowance).

    Ta.

    mboy
    Free Member

    BIG estate… How hard is it to take the wheels off your bike, and sling it in the boot quickly after a ride? Easier than removing a seat in a people carrier I’d warrant!

    Gonna be boring here I’m afraid, but I’d look at Passats, Octavia’s and the like here. Dynamically they’ll be better to drive (and closer to your Beemer) than a people carrier would, and they’ll be more economical too.

    molgrips
    Free Member

    I’d get a rack for carrying bikes. That way you have the choice of any car that takes your fancy, and you’re not limited to a few specialist type cars that you won’t get the benefit from most of the time.

    A good Thule rack is a piece of pee to use.

    This will be handy for quickly sticking my bike in ther car for weekly night rides

    If it’s just you then almost any hatchback or even saloon with fold down seats will accommodate one bike and one person.

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    donsimon
    Free Member

    What’s a window licker?

    One for the window lickers

    falkirk-mark
    Full Member

    I would say a decent estate and towbar carrier would be the way to go. I would check the price of getting a towbar fitted before deciding what car as prices can range from £150 to about £1000.

    DaveyBoyWonder
    Free Member

    Ford Cmax – new one looks horrible. IMHO. Why not an S-Max? Bigger, nice looking…
    Skoda Yeti – meant to be excellent thought
    Hyundai IX35 – dear god
    Citroen C3 Picasso – think you’ll find its a bit shit everywhere else too
    Skoda Roomster – meant to be good but look at it, JUST LOOK AT IT!

    Others? Touran? As mentioned above, S-Max would be high on my list, 20k will get you an Octy vRS diesel estate (I’ve got the pre-FL 2.0T version and its brilliant), new Passat estate, does a Superb estate fall into the budget?, quite like the Zafira personally…

    joolsburger
    Free Member

    I really, really liked my Volvo V50 well worth a look especially at the D5 if you are heavy of foot. Don’t get the T5 unless you have a petrol card that’s why I sold mine.

    hora
    Free Member

    What’s a window licker?
    One for the window lickers

    No, to me its more of a spiritual successor to this, the Pope mobile mkII

    http://www.autoplenum.de/Auto/TOYOTA/Yaris/Bild-id275502.html

    If you mean the NEW C-max. That is your winner. V50’s a nice car but its a reverse-tardis.

    akira
    Full Member

    C Max isn’t as big as I expected, been looking at the S Max instead.

    mastiles_fanylion
    Free Member

    I’d get a rack for carrying bikes. That way you have the choice of any car that takes your fancy, and you’re not limited to a few specialist type cars that you won’t get the benefit from most of the time.

    That and the fact you won’t have several heavy, pointy metal thingies ready to impale a loved one in the event of a crash.

    ScottChegg
    Free Member

    But when you stop for a slash at the services, it will disappear.

    Keep them inside the car; out of sight.

    hora
    Free Member

    That and the fact you won’t have several heavy, pointy metal thingies ready to impale a loved one in the event of a crash.

    Having seen many a car in various states of damage on the motorway I don’t think bikes inside cars would cause the most damage..it’d be the door etc pressing against it that presses onto you..

    The 30mph NCAP tests are bollocks on NSL and motorways in alot of crashes IMO..

    molgrips
    Free Member

    But when you stop for a slash at the services, it will disappear

    I said that if you were on your own it could go inside. If not, someone else can watch them during your micturations.

    The 30mph NCAP tests are bollocks on NSL and motorways in alot of crashes IMO

    The tests have made cars much safer, even if the simulations are not accurate.

    st
    Full Member

    Thanks for the ideas so far, keep them coming.

    At the moment I’ve got roofbars and 2 Thule carriers fixed semi-permanently but would like to be able to do without for weekly use.

    Whatever the choice bikes would go on the outside for weekends away and to take all 4 bikes away.

    Test drove and Octavia before I chose this car and that was nice.

    DezB
    Free Member

    Are Peugeot’s a swear word?
    I was well impressed with the 5008 I hired on my hols in the alps.

    molgrips
    Free Member

    As above any estate will be perfect if you are one- or two-up. Save fuel and get better performance and handling.

    JollyGreenGiant
    Free Member

    Go for the S Max.

    Can`t beat a proper people carrier for boot access.Extra height makes it a doddle to tick the bike in upright.Thats not something you can always do with an estate.

    molgrips
    Free Member

    Thats not something you can always do with an estate

    Not a major issue tho. Took me about 5 seconds to put my Patriot in the back of my old car.

    hora
    Free Member

    I could stand my bike up inside the back of a Focus.

    Try the new C-Max. I was very impressed with it. The old C-max is soundly beaten by the S-Max. Obviously the new C-max is slightly smaller but it depends what you are looking for? A large MPV or a daily/manageable MPV.

    scruff
    Free Member

    Ferrari FF.

    Saw a Skoda Superb Estate yesterday, actually looked superb.

    Drac
    Full Member

    Having seen many a car in various states of damage on the motorway I don’t think bikes inside cars would cause the most damage..it’d be the door etc pressing against it that presses onto you..

    Having witnessed the carnage caused by various objects flying around inside cars I’d disagree. Doors, dashboards and the likes are designed to move away they don’t move into the car so easily now, mainly thanks to NCAP tests. They still do to certain extent at high speeds and depending what people hit but no where near as bad. Objects still obey the law of physics though and continue to move when the car comes to a sudden halt.

    Anyway I’ve been in a Yeti down from Leicester to London it was rather nice is you can get over it’s quirky looks but they are a bot pricey.

    hora
    Free Member

    Drac I know what you mean, only an absolute bell end puts wheels, tools, boxes/loads ontop of and at headheight.

    I like to see out of the rear window and have a clear view of the rear 3/4’s for overtaking/shoulder-checks before changing lanes.

    A good-sized vehicle with correct loading should enable this. I most definitely wouldn’t stuff an estate with four grown males and four bikes for ‘bragging rights’…..along soon will come such a chap to put me ‘right’ 🙄

    ltheisinger
    Free Member

    Have you thought about a Honda CRV?

    Mine carries all the bikes and the gear to the Alps! (and many other bike jaunts!) and I could still see out of the back window!

    Great MPG, VERY comfortable, VERY well equipped, handles just about everything you can throw at it!

    I have had it now for just over two years and it has NEVER been to the garage for any repairs(only 2 routine services).

    st
    Full Member

    But what about sticking 1 bike in the boot of a car for the 8 mile low speed drive to my Thursday night ride??

    I’ve seen that the Yeti for one has an ad-on bike support that fits into the boot for additional peace of mind.

    You’ve gotta love the STD massive ;o)

    molgrips
    Free Member

    Great MPG

    You wot?

    But what about sticking 1 bike in the boot of a car for the 8 mile low speed drive to my Thursday night ride??

    ESTATE – BIKE IN BOOT

    Do you have me on ignore or something? 🙂

    ltheisinger
    Free Member

    One bike slips straight in the back of the CRV, with one wheel removed and being diesel, no issues on the MPG even for short distance!

    mastiles_fanylion
    Free Member

    @Drac and @Hora

    I know I first mentioned not having stuff in the car for safety reasons – I wouldn’t ever do it with my kids in the car – unless safely in the boot (the stuff that is, not the kids. There again…)

    Anyway, I digress. My brother had a pretty nasty crash a year or so ago – was broadsided by someone changing lanes on the A1 without looking. Sent him into a spin, down an embankment and came to rest on its side against a tree. Now my brother works for NCR repairing electronic cash registers, cashpoint machines and the like and his car is literally rammed with crap – tools, spare parts, service manuals etc – so much so pretty well much every single space is normally filled – boot, rear seats, stowage boxes, floors etc. But somehow (I really have no idea how whatsoever) none of it touched him and he walked away from a high speed crash uninjured.

    ltheisinger
    Free Member

    molgrips – Member

    Great MPG

    You wot?

    Offical figure says 43.5mpg combined – but in reality mine is getting about 40.5mpg, so I wouldn’t say that is bad considering.

    st
    Full Member

    molgrips, sorry, not deliberately ignoring you ;o) just a note on the way people answer a question of their own choosing rather than the one that was originaly asked.

    ianpinder
    Free Member

    I had a mondeo estate, two bikes (both xl) slide in the back with no disassembly. Also go four bikes and a 3 weeks worth of kit down to the alps with 3 people in the car

    molgrips
    Free Member

    Offical figure says 43.5mpg combined

    Well given that a Passat Estate figures say 54mpg combined, I’d say that’s pretty poor. Even a Tiguan (which is the same type of car) gets 53mpg on the test.

    just a note on the way people answer a question of their own choosing rather than the one that was originaly asked

    Funnily enough that’s absolutely standard forum behaviour – happens everywhere. Odd, isn’t it 🙂

    ianpinder
    Free Member

    my focus says 64 combined, i’m lucky is i get high 40s, so for a larger car with a more powerfull engine i’d say a real world 40 is ok.

    ltheisinger
    Free Member

    This argument could go on all day regarding MPG (i.e. Citroën Nemo 65.7mpg) – but the OP asked for suggestions of possible vehicles…..the CRV was mine!

    molgrips
    Free Member

    Well my car says 48 combined and I get 52 so 😛

    hora
    Free Member

    I once achieved 55mpg (average) in my Subaru Legacy Sportswagon. The dullest experiment ever.

    molgrips
    Free Member

    I get 52 in normal driving, including some 110mph sections of autobahn. Not dull at all.

    nickf
    Free Member

    I stick my bike on the back on a Thule rack if it’s muddy, or if I have more than one bike to carry. In the summer I stick it in the back of the car. Seatbelt make sure it won’t move anywhere.

    Tracey
    Full Member

    We bought a C4 Grand Picasso 4 years ago to replace a Mazda Premacy. It has been great for kids and bikes. We have been to the Verbier 3 times with it fully loaded inside and 4 bikes on the tow bar. All the 5 rear seats fold flat to the floor and its like a Tardis inside. The 2 criteria we wanted when looking around was that Kevins SX Trail [180mm 66 forks] could go in the middle with just the front wheel off and it needed to be an auto. We demoed the S Max but the bike wouldent go in without compressing the forks, the sales lady told us we had the wrong bike as the brochure showed one in it.
    The added advantage that the Picasso has is that the rear suspension self levels so that when its fully loaded the car is still level.
    4 years and 70000 miles later we have been so impressed that even after looking at what is available we have just replaced it with a newer one

    Drac
    Full Member

    Drac I know what you mean, only an absolute bell end puts wheels, tools, boxes/loads ontop of and at headheight.

    The seat catches don’t always hold everything back though, I’ve even seen the read seat dislodged.

    Anyway, I digress. My brother had a pretty nasty crash a year or so ago – was broadsided by someone changing lanes on the A1 without looking. Sent him into a spin, down an embankment and came to rest on its side against a tree.

    There’s a clue in there why nothing shot forward.

    hora
    Free Member

    Molpgrips, 50mph in my test…read it and weep 😀

Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 53 total)

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