VW Caddy Max Life is a Touran on steroids and has a monster boot. Go for the ST wisdom of the 1.9tdi rather than the 2.0tdi. A mates had one for 2 years and loves it.

Honda Accords have huge boots 626 litres for the older one and 660 litres for the more recent one.

I have a new Passat estate and to be fair it is not as big as the Mondeo it replaced. If you are looking for a big car you will not get much better than a Mondeo estate and the Ford was a better car to drive, the front end on the Passat is to soft which makes the cornering a bit vague.

As for build quality I can’t see anything in it, the Mondeo was also cheaper and better speced. The thing I dislike the most is I now have to take the front wheel off my bike to get it in the Passat, never needed to with the Mondeo.

Stu661 just out of interest which year was the mondeo as the current one doesn’t look very big

57 plate, still the same size as today’s model and way bigger than a Passat.

have a octavia vrs cr tdi, boot a good size, passat slightly larger but you can get a high spec skoda for the price of a low spec vw, have done 40k in 18 months trouble free best car i have ever owned. i find more head room in the octavia over the passat im 6’4″.have you considered a seat altea xl they have a massive boot and are much cheaper than any of the above and use the same engines.

the current one doesn’t look very big

You are joking right? It’s massive.

My next door neighbour has a Passat estate diesel as a company car.
He said its the worst car that the companies had and so far its had over £8000’s worth of various repairs including a full engine rebuild.
The fancy handbrake is a continuing problem.
He had a Mondeo before that which never gave trouble but was heavy on tyres.

We have narrowed our list down to either Octavia or KIA CeedSW

None of the above. Get an smax or galaxy

The end

None of the above. Get an smax or galaxy

The end

not to keen on either of them to be honest

smax looks dated already in my opinion

Surely better looking than the Touran??

do you think ???

I’d prefer an SMax over a Touran. But I’d prefer a fast estate over either…

been today to various garages to have a look around.

first off the list was the octavia, just not enough rear leg room with my growing lads which is a shame as it looked a nice motor.

had a look at an smax and yes they are nice but **** me how big are they!!

im sure the wife would struggle to park it

went to vw and had a look at the passat and touran.

both nice in their own different ways, sleek lines on the passat and the touran is a nice lifestyle vehicle.

got the mazda 6 and mondeo to look at both in estate version.

so far the touran is ahead though !!

anyone got any views on the mazda or mondeo ??

also lets see some of your tourans please!!

which model would be best to go for ?? was thinking a 2.0tdi sport model??

       

     
Wife has driven a few hundred miles in a Mondeo. Did not dislike it but still prefers the high seated driving position of Touran and we need the extra seats regularly

Passat here. Got mine at 46k, it’s now 83k, not had any problems. Well.. the handbrake worked intermittently at first, but now works perfectly. I think the original owner never used it, since it’s an auto. I love the car- the driving position is great. The suspension is soft but that’s not really a problem since it’s pretty comfortable. On windy country roads I just don’t rag it, which is probably just as well since it’s a lot wider than the cars I used to rag as a kid 🙂 Road holding is good I reckon.

It’s way bigger than an Octavia too.

VW charge £150 + vat ph at my local dealer, it’s only £125 at the local porsche OPC, make of that what you like

I make of it that you have a terrible dealer. You do know the main dealers are not actually run by VW don’t you? Sinclar VW of South Wales did my cam belt for £300, couldn’t complain about that.

My wife has a touran and it’s a great wagon. 1.9tdi S on a ’07 plate from new. Superb reliability apart from a fuel lift pump failure at 18 months.

Doesn’t get used for MTB or surf duties often as I have a van for that, but it has done the odd mission and it’s great.

We have the 140ps 2 litre tdi. For what it is its a pliable engine. You can pootle round at 1k rpm happily but if you want to rag it its responsive for a big vehicle. It does hammer fuel a bit if you do have a heavy foot!

car by Sush Kelly, on Flickr

Recently replaced a 58 reg Touran with new Passat estate, would have gone for a Octavia VRs but company car tax was too much. Touran not as well built as the Passat and a little unrefined/thristy if you’re an enthusiastic driver but can get loads of gear in it even with 5 up and it went like stink for a box on wheels (2.0 TDI). No problems in 90k miles. New Passat is crushingly efficiently German and gets you your family and stuff around comfortably without any excitement, you just lose a bot fo height on the boot. Is surprisingly way better than the previous model if a little dull, the wide spaced gearing on the Bluemotion is annoying as you need to change gear a lot to get it moving, but does have good mpg.

Now my drivers door won’t open with the central locking. Passat estate . . .

This thread could become a live update of reliability woes if you like?

All cars have problems. My Passat has had rather fewer than many I’ve owned. 140k and still going strong, though I did have to get th handbrake switch replaced at 90k (£60 or so), and a shock absorber needed replacing at 100k.

True. The thing that frustrates me is that most of the problems are electronic or computer related rather than something fundamental. Also, most of the trouble just goes away if you wait long enough – what’s that all about?

Superb reliability apart from

To me, superb reliability means no faults, in this day and age. If you’ve had a few minor niggles that would go down to ‘good’.

Speaking of Superb, that’s another supposedly very good option. I like the look of them (the Skoda Superb that is).

I was choosing a month ago and going from a 3 year old Polo we NEEDED something bigger (2 teen kids and more camping hols wanted, aswell as transporting bikes). Looked around at the usual suspects but the wife really wanted to stay with a VW.
Narrowed it down to a Passat, Golf plus and Touran.
Influenced by a wifes previous pool car, which was a Passat. Her boss (heavily into bikes) has owned Touran as their family car for many years and my Dad got a Touran 18 months ago.
I think the Passat would’ve been fine but the Touran was a bit shorter and taller so easier for the wife to maneuver.
Not had it long but very happy with it so far, lots of good reasons above.
They do a 5 seater version that comes with a spare wheel as an ‘extra’.

renton – Member

also lets see some of your tourans please!!

the vectra was just to small

Which Vectra? I had a 56 plate and tbh its as big a hatchback as you’ll find – but take a look at the estate version, they are huge.

Otherwise get a people carrier – while they look big, if you measure them your wife will find they are often no bigger than normal family cars. Plus they have internal flexibility that no hatch/estate gets.

Maxray… is that a sport model ??

looks just like what we are after.

can i ask what year it is and if you have had any problems so far??

we currently have a vectra hatch and yes the boot is big, but with a dog(recent) and 2 small boys we have outgrown it.

i had to do a separate trip back in between new year and xmas just to take all the boys pressies home from the inlaws.

we struggled to get everything in and leave enough room for the dog!!

been to ford today, the mondeo is a big car, the one we looked at was demonstrator with 6k on the clock, top of the range jobby and it looked tired inside already!!

just got the mazda to look at but everything we look at now we are comparing to the touran or passat.!!

I’ve had an Octavia 4×4 estate for over 2yrs and love it. Very capable, comfortable and decent on fuel. The boot with the seats down will swallow two full suss bikes and relevant bike kit, the tent, walking gear, camera gear, two folding seats, food all inside the car.

Put it this way, when i look for a new car, it’ll be another Octavia or possibly the Superb (for the better ride)

avoid mazda loke the plague. they have major problems with their DPF’s which are very costly to repair or replace. My 5 year old mazda 6 diesel recently spent a month at the dealers with a problem with the DPF which they could not remedy. after throwing > £1k at it and having it returned to me twice apparently fixed but still the warning lights came on, I gave up and got rid of the car. the main dealers still couldnt identify the fault 5 weeks later and mazda uk are a shower!

lots on the web re mazda DPFs so avoid. i will never buy another mazda.

dead car after 5 years and 85k – not impressed really. c/w my wifes vag a3 sportback which has done 130k and never missed a beat complete rubbish.

ok so thats the mazda off the list then !!!

had enough dpf problems with my old cmax !!

Is the Mazda diesel not the same as the Ford one?

i think so however it has a different emmsions system.

Have a look at the Hyundi estate. Only seen one in the passing but it looks huge/nice
To overcome our load lugging I now use roof bars and a box. Tempted to get a trailer, would be easier to ferry gear and bikes if fitted with racks as the g-kids get older

weve decided to look out for either a nice speeced touran or passat estate for around £9

You’ll not get much car for nine quid! 😆

If you go passat and its 56> make sure its had the injector recall done, I’ll dig out the code for you. 😉

EDIT
see below

This is a brief précis of the VW UK Service Action 23H9 regarding Piezo pump injectors.

The repair instructions are contained in Technical Product Information (TPI) transaction number 2027647

This applies to 2.0TDI PD Golf, Passat, and Touran with PD Piezo Injectors

There are approximately 78,800 (model years 2006 – 2010) affected vehicles in the UK.

Owners will receive communications from Volkswagen UK on a phased basis.

The following vehicles with the engine codes listed are affected.

Passat 3C 2006-2008 with the BKP, BMA, BWV, BVE, BKP, BVE, BMA, BWV, BMR, and BUZ engines

Golf 5 2006-2009 with the BMN engine

Touran 2006-2010 with the BMN engine

Technical background

On some vehicles with the 2.0l TDI engine, deposits can settle on the Piezo pump injector elements because of dirty engine oil. This can lead to running problems. Not all vehicles are affected by this campaign! On the affected vehicles the Piezo pump injector elements must be checked and if necessary replaced. Please make sure that on the affected vehicle the check and repair of all open campaigns/measures are performed during the workshop visit.

Parts to be fitted as part of this campaign.

1x Campaign 23H9 sticker 000 010 006 1x Wiring loom adapter 03G 971 033 M 4x Adjustment screw WHT 000 530 5x M8x58 socket head bolt N 105 811 01 8x M6x88 socket head bolt 03G 103 385 A 4x Pump injectors

If the vehicle is listed in the system as not completed, check whether a campaign sticker with the entry “23H9 date/stamp” is attached in the spare wheel well area (next to data sticker):If the campaign sticker is attached, the campaign has already been performed. Make the entry “23H9 date/stamp” in the service schedule under “Space for workshop entries”.

I took delivery of a new shape VW Sharan on 3rd September, its now got 12k on it and after 2 Ford Galaxy’s (07 & 09) all i can say is i want to go back to the Ford!!!

The Sharan is falling apart, i has been in twice for airbag sensor failures, the auto handbrake is a law to itself.
And to top it all off the chrome trim around the rear window came loose yesterday whilst driving , so when my daughter slid the rear door back to get out it scraped a huge line on the paint inside the door.

~After having old shape VW touran’s & sharan(which were a nightmare with faults) previous to the Galaxy’s i am surprised the company went back to VW.

I would personally look elsewhere as i think VW had there day 10 year ago and now are way down the list of quality well built cars.

Hi renton,

as you seem to be down to Passat vs. Touran let me share some thoughts from owning a 1st model Touran / last model Passat (with eBrake before recent facelift) / current model Touran.

I’ve read through most of the thread and many things have been mentioned so I’d just like to add:

I prefer the Touran for
– it’s ease of loading (boxy space, higher rear door aperture, more height throughout the car (handy for bikes and Ikea trips))
– it’s 7 seat option (if you take 3rd party kids along or have visitors and still want to talk while going somewhere) -> but 5 seat version has even more load height in the boot due to lower floor
– for being/feeling slightly wider on the rear bench
– for being more flexible inside (rear seats do individually fold or collapse forward and are easy to remove completely -> it’s like a van when every thing’s out – in a good way)
– for being short on the outside and really big inside (good for parking!)
– for being surprisingly fast and fun, even chuckable on those entertaining B-roads (if you don’t take it by the scruff and find the flow)

The Passat
– felt more refined in terms of perceived quality and finish inside
– is less noisy which makes a difference on long trips (I assume more insulation and less boxy/big volume)
– long wheelbase and lower point of gravity make it more comfortable (but not more fun/agile) to drive
– the Passat has a higher status factor (I don’t care and am happily back in the Touran)
– some people feel as if they had vasectomy (or worse) when seen in MPVs (I don’t)

Both models share many components. Me thinks the Passat just tends to have more trick eStuff in there so more potential for trouble. The 1st generation Touran was a high milage 136hp 2.0 TDI with PD (Pumpe Düse). We had multiple issues with the injection system and the auxiliary heating. So the used car guarantee insurance was unfortunately well worth it. The Passat and 2nd Touran were/are new (company) cars and we had no problems at all (both 20K mls).

So while the Passat is more refined the Touran is more practical and more fun. We often sit in it after a long journey and are amazed how good the car is and how well it suits an active family life (kids 4 and 5).

SUMMARY
I would recommend (for the budget) to go for a 1st generation (but facelift) Touran plus one of those used car insurances. Consider treating yourself to the DSG transmission as it works perfectly (and I hate conventional auto transmissions). (Then again if you don’t know it you won’t miss it.)

With more budget I would still go for a Touran, maybe 1 year old current generation.

All the best with your decision!

Hendrik