Right – prerequisites/context

do a 32 mile round trip on open roads (to Chesterfield every day) – 25 minutes each way.
Travel with usual 2 in car (me plus daughter) – sometimes 3. Never really any more.
Use car for MTB (and also as a bike stuff store) and shopping for food, collecting wood, heating oil etc.
Do probably 14-16k miles per year
Not bothered about looks – them days are over – lol
Have £3-4K to spend
Want a flat “load bay” with no boot lip and no seats in the way when folded down.
Useful when camping
Not shite in snow

Can’t see past another berlingo.

Can you suggest anything else (apart from berlingo relatives)?

Multipla

no boot space as such when seats are up

Audi A4 diesel?

You don’t need to have all the back seats in all the time. With three of you in the front it is like a van on the back – and you can also set the back seats further forward.

so the back seats come out with ease?

I’ve just bought a 2nd hand Zafira 1.9 TDI. Huge and drives like a proper car rather than a van. Previous ‘car’ was an 18yr old Citroen C15 so not much to compare the Zafira too I’m afraid.

The back 2 seats are thin and ‘disappear’ when not in use leaving a BIG boot area and seating for 5 in comfort.

Something like a megane senic the seats come out leaving a flat load bay .At least they did on older models that I drove

i have a fiat doblo much bigger than a berlingo,i do 110 miles each day to work and back i get 40mpg doing 75mph on the motorways,get the 120bhp it goes quick with a full load,rear seats split so can get 3 bikes with wheels on

Mondeo

Just picked up a nissan xtrail for £3.5k. 38mpg from my last full tank, in my view an estate on steroids.

Huge load space and will be great in next years snow.

A pre 06 1.9 130bhp tdi PD Passat estate, with less than say, 100K on which you can get for less than 5K? If you can find one that is.
Mines got 232K on, you can have it for 1K if I can find another.

Bomb
Proof.

Aye – you just fold them down and flick a lever. They come out individually so are easily manipulated and you can take out as many/few as needed. 4 folk and 4 bikes and gear is easily possible. That leaves a big flat load area (bigger as you don’t have a seat in there). Of course, it also relies on you having somewhere to store the seat(s) you’ve taken out 🙂

in the huge boot 😉

Freelander.

Good thing about the uglipla is the 3 front seats… I’ve got a big estate which has the back seats down all the time, and it’s irritating to have to open up a 3rd seat- not because it’s hard or anything but because I’ve got a tarp in the back, stuff in the footwells, etc to make the most use of it when it’s van-ised. Ugly gets around that.

esselgruntfuttock – Member

A pre 06 1.9 130bhp tdi PD Passat estate, with less than say, 100K on which you can get for less than 5K? If you can find one that is.

Or you could get a mondeo for half as much, with less miles and a bigger boot.

been there before with a mondeo – DMF!

Main issue is flogging my Panda 100hp – surprised with no interest!

rob jackson – Member

been there before with a mondeo – DMF!

OK then- get a mondeo for half as much, with less miles and a bigger boot, and if the DMF needs done which it probably won’t, get it whipped out and fire in a new clutch while you’re at it and it’s STILL cheaper than the Passat 😉 (which also has a DMF-eating habit, but is more expensive to fix)

I still reckon the multipla fits. I wouldn’t let one within a mile of my house personally but they’re really good.

cost £1k last time!

In that case I have a bridge in brooklyn I can sell you 😯 Main dealer?

independant

Really want a car that i can wheel my bike into, hence the berlingo love.

1.6 Berlingo then.

hora STFU. You know the 1.6hdi is ****

i love my berlingo

Looking at:

Choice 1

Choice 2

Choice 3

Those Berlingo’s must be rather ‘boomy’ inside, having little/no sound-proofing?

not arsed tbh

This GF actually turned round yesterday and said we needed to buy a van!!! Has this ever happened before in the world of MTB?! I almost asked her to marry me there and then. Of course I can’t afford either right now but hey-ho. So my suggestion is get a small van you can “renovate.”

not a goer at the minute

Petrol 1.6.

Showed mrshora my mates T5 5seater yesterday ‘why soo big’?

‘d love your Panda but its too small 🙁

Renault Scenic 1.5 dci.
60mpg, big boot anyway – remove rear seats in 2 minutes, becomes a van (it does have a boot lip tho’).
Plus lots of clever storage compartments in the floor (under the mats, a-la Millenium Falcon), under seats, etc.

(I’m on this thread as I’m also looking for a bike van/mpv/family thing)

The Scenic- are you sure? No offence meant but aren’t they troublesome?

subaru forester, decent ones start at a lot less than 4k, use any money you save for fuel as they are a little thirsty.

no car is even close to perfect – thats how manufactureres sell new cars.

anything at 3-4k is going to need money spent on it to keep it on the road UNLESS its slow – NA/not tuned to death.

NA Diesel engine will be your best bet for bomb proof imo and as few electrics as possible. – wont do mega MPG – 40MPG to be expected.

Not so fussy on service as a turbo , no DMF (as N/A engined vehicles generally are pre DMF)

slow as shit though. but can take a load and petrol engines dont get on , hate the constant gear changing to get up hills. The N/A in my van performed the same with an 900KG engine and gear box in the back as it did with nothing – only difference was the illumination of the top of the trees due to the rear end being slammed – would have been a grim experiance with a small petrol engine.

NOT A NORMAL CAR HEIGHT – want to wheel bikes in

Forester 8)

30-35mpg. Same as a 1.6 petrol Focus.

i like foresters – was looking at 2.5 N/A

the rot on a couple i looked at put me off.

rear arches are paperthin tin and love to rot for fun.

can be had really cheap if i could be arsed to weld in new arches —- i dont need another project.

They rot??????????????

New to me. Maybe the ones you have seen aren’t looked after?