Wifes car (fiesta) is going back to the NHS in a few months, so were looking for a new one.

We want something with four doors, economic to run, mostly she wants good access for the rear seats for putting our young un in the child seats, so something like the Seat Altea, whats out there ? what would anyone recommend.

Cheers.

does it need to be new and what is the budget?

Focus

My dad’s got a fiesta, rear seat are quite nice drives well, surprisingly quick, boot is bigger than you expect. His is the 1.4 HDI so very good on fuel don’t know the numbers though.

second hand, budget up to £6k, maybe £7k if i’m feeling nice.

Focus have normal low seats though Matt.

I like the Seat Altea. I know bugger all about it, but everytime I see one, I just think it’s a nice car for what it’s supposed to be…if you know what I mean. And it doesn’t look as angry as other Seats.

Have a Fiesta at moment, and its a bit small, so need to step up to something around Focus size… but its the higher rear seats, like Merc A1 etc that she likes for access.

The Altea XL is a belting motor. We had a 1.9 diesel at work. Economical, nice to drive, plenty fast enough and, (clearly MOST importantly) you can easy get a bike in the back without having to take the wheels off.

daft question, but whats the differnt between XL and normal ?

We’ve just got a Touran and Mrs maxray is very happy with it in respect to child duties, car seats, scooters, etc. I have to say I am pretty pleased in terms of driving and performance too, plenty fast enough, easy to stick bikes and associated gubbins in too.

Mrs Gti drives a 4d Citroen C1 diesel. Good access, nippy and 66mpg. And quite girlie too. Peugeot and Toyota do the same car with their own badge on it.

It’s not likely to win much support on here but…Nissan Micra. The just-released model is less funky than the previous model but they’re both great. Fun to drive, practical.
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/articles/2007/04/cars/nissan/micra/nissan-micra-1-5-dci-car-review#techSpecPerformanceAndEconomyContent

Mrs FD has an Altea XL SE 2.0 140 tdi. We use it for child duties and find the extra height makes lifting kids in and out easier. It’s a very practical car, the best bit being the sunshades which are built in to the doors!

For a bus, ok not that massive, it drives very well and in 140 bhp guise very nippy. We thought the 1.9 was a little underpowered, especially for holidays etc with the car all filled up with Jnr FD , dog, bikes, roof box etc etc.

Older versions have very ugly dashboard and bit plasticy.

XL has much bigger boot, and that’s it, but glad we went for the XL. We are certainly in no rush to get rid of ours.

Isn’t an Altea XL, just an inflated Altea? Like the Golf Plus, compared to the Golf?
I met up with some friends a while ago who’d just bought a petrol Altea. I was quite impressed with it. Decent room inside, nice & airy, decent sized boot etc.

EDIT – just re-read that and it sounds like I was being derogatory about the Altea XL above, using the word ‘just’.
I wasn’t trying to be. The question was asked above what the difference was between the Altea & the XL and I was attempting to answer it.

mmm, Altea appears to come out well.. Anyone got a nissan juke ?

Surely the critical question is;

“What colour does she want?”

igmc.

Ford C-Max. Slightly larger than an Altea, but similar.
AVOID at all costs the 1.6TDCi

Got a 2.0TDCi now and its great.

I’ll guess the Nissan Juke has all the disadvantages of a small car, with all the disadvantages of a 4×4, with none of the advantages of a 4×4.

Ford C-Max. Slightly larger than an Altea, but similar.
AVOID at all costs the 1.6TDCi

Why ??

I have owned 2 with just that engine, & had no issues with either of them.

Ditto. 1.6 tdci is very economical and has enough go for normal driving.

Known turbo problems unless treated with absolute kid gloves from day 1

Very expensive if outside of a warranty, and believe me, Ford will try and tell you its outside of warranty. I had to fight for 6 months to prevent the local Ford garage charging me £5000 for a new engine…

In the end, after threats of court action, the Service Manager admitted the engine isn’t up to the job. I know someone who’s got through 3 turbos…

Here you go:
http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/focus-16-tdci-owners-also-berlingo-volvo-renault-citroen-owners-warning

What Car for the Mrs

I’ll swap you for a Mondeo?

Here you go…

Quite literally, What Car for the mrs.

I’ll swap you for a Mondeo?

sold as unseen….

Not a mini from Arthur Daley Esq Mini main agents!!!!!!

skoda flavia no competition.. 1.4 petrol should do 50mpg and carry everything you want estate if you can get one even better ( and no her bum wont look big in it)

Fiat Qubo

If access is the main thing then one of these would fit the bill nicely.