2 adults, 2 sprogs growing fast, Vectra is starting to fail, missus has suggested a 'people carrier' [I was sick in my mouth a little]. Is there anything cool, cheap, reliable, spacious etc etc???
Budget?
If bargaintastic oldie, Honda Stream or Fiat Multipla
Money to spend, S-Max
Need to impress in Surrey/Cheshire, Q7 or a posh 4x4?
No particular model is a good second hand purchase
The history , previous owners care and luck make a good second hand car - not the badge.
2+2? Estate car FTW!
Smax are great cars!
Is there anything [s]cool, cheap, reliable,[/s] spacious?
Yep. Anything else is in your head
Big estate 🙂 set a budget and find the best you can test drive and have a good crawl around them see what fits best.
Our two 6&4 c-max is fine,great responsive drive...i still love it,it flys!..
As a Galaxy owner...S-Max (if I had the money).
had a zafira for 5/6 years , was really easy to put seats flat , no problems with it at all during that time .
If you don't care about cars (and I'm not saying you should) then get a people carrier.
They are generally bland utilitarian things.
With 2 kids there isn't really a need for one...
Buy a Mondeo instead?
The Stream has a drink problem.
Alhambra is pretty cheap.& same as galaxy or sharan
Nothing shouts I don't care utilitarianism more than aKango or Berlingo!
Do you need that much.space & 7 seats? Because a decent estate is better.
Mondeo +1 (the estate version). That's what I've just bought, having pondered something bigger - and I bet I carry around more toys than you. If you find that's not big enough on the rare occasion then get a roof box for it.
Had a galaxy, loved it. Mate has an Smax and he loves it. Ignore the naysayers. Both of those drive pretty much as well as any estate and with 2 kids there will be times when you will be over the moon with the extra space / seats. New Cmax with the sliding doors is good also. Avoid the zafira like the plague.
Picasso, huge inside but a bit basic.had 2 myself.
Mondeo a good shout but not as big in height room.
Toyota however it could have a hidden taxi past
..
Or 2.0HDI Citroen Xsara Picasso. (Or C4 newer version).
The 2.0HDI doesnt have a dpf.
Estate with a couple of fold-up seats in the back for the odd occasion where you have to carry 2 kids plus their friends?
Estate! Golf ? Just bike enough for 90% of the time???
If its got to be a people carrier hoax out a diesel Honda FRV not pretty or cool but then what people carriers are?
Had a Shitroen Picasso, although it goes against all rules of human nature, it wasn't too bad in terms of practicality once the electrical gremlins were sorted. But at four years old it started costing a lot to run.
Wife has a Touran which has been pretty good, although smacks of uber-dullness. It's much better to drive than the Shitroen.
She's after my 4x4 now so I'm working on an Octy Scout 1.8TSI as I can't see me buying a modern diesel again as they've sacrificed durability to drive down the emissions on the tests. That's something I would look at; if diesel then does it have DPF and cambelt? If so I'd look elsewhere to keep costs down.
any thing that is reliable spacious and cheap is, by definition, cool.cool, cheap, reliable, spacious
i've just picked up a fiat scudo with rear seats, 10 year old, 36000, £995. cheap spacious, yet to see if its reliable so two thirds cool so far
[i]Do you need that much.space & 7 seats? Because a decent estate is better. [/i]
Is better at what exactly?
I've had Zafira's on hire and they are brill. Loads of space and loads of options for seating etc. When my kids were young I had a Mondeo Estate, but if there'd have been a company car option on a people carrier I'd have taken one.
Nothing shouts I don't care utilitarianism more than aKango or Berlingo!
Add VW Caddy Life to that list
I love my people carrier. It just does so many things so well
Renauls are unoversilly hared used and there for very cheap. They are hated for a good reason.
As said above its who you buy it from and the condition of the one you buy. We have a Grand Scenic. Nightmare AC problems all sorted out by the dealer.
Now its going strong. Loads of Renaults in our family are crap in middle age then great as they get older, better than the Hondas we've had
I still think it was a bargain. We payed a few grand less than a Touran that would have done 3 x the miles on purchase
Extra seats have suddenly come in handy now we have Grand Parents living in town
cool
People carriers don't come cooler than the Mitsubishi Grandis
We had a scenic and a cmax. The ford was slightly more reliable but not much..... Now have a small car for wife who does mainly short journeys (kia soul) and a bigger estate coming soon.
Surely going to any vehicle from a Vectra is an improvement ?
Good point funky 🙂
Vw transporter kombi or caravelle would be a good call...
Plenty of space for bikes then!
Wife had a touran which was a good compromise between car and mpv.
I had a Land rover Discovery 3 previously which was lovely to drive/be passenger in... Just be prepared for the running costs!
Having owned a series of Mondeo's and now own an Smax, I can't see why you would choose an Smax over a Mondeo unless you have 3 kids?
From a ridiculously out-dated macho perspective:
Whenever I see a man driving a people carrier, I always imagine there's a wife next to him keeping his balls in her handbag.
Sorry, but makes me chuckle and yes, I know it's a stupid generalisation.
VW Golf Plus
Mondeo estate, only now we've downsized, does it's ability become so obviously brilliant, have to spend a fair chunk more to get better.
Just another +1 for "why get a people carrier if you don't have 4 kids?"
But if you must, Galaxy/Alhambra/Sharan can make good value... Most of the engine options seem a bit pointless though and the diesel commands a wee bit of a premium.
Love my mondeo estate, but it's [i]big[/i]- bigger than a Galaxy in fact. Focus or similar probably makes more sense for more people (but I couldn't find a Focus I liked)
Mondeo a good shout but not as big in height room.
Why exactly is lack of height room a disadvantage?
having just bought a caravelle, the last word i'd use to describe it as is cheap. I saved up for 5 years and could only afford a six year old one, it costs the earth to fill up, the tax is £475 and the insurance £750 with 8 years no claims. and they are notoriously un-reliable.
absolutely love it though.
My other car is a new shape Galaxy and its a brilliant family, camping, biking car.
feefoo think you might have got that a bit wrong there as if your a man driving a people carrier it usally means you've got more than the average 2.4 children so balls have had quite a work out and not in the wifes handbag(unless thats your pet name for it) 😀
Good point! 🙂
Meriva. Not that big, you can fit your bike inside without taking wheels off, looks shit, drives canny.
I'm really happy with my Roomster, only one kid has to fit but great for putting a bike inside too with the rest of the luggage. I would have gone for a Yeti if needing more passenger space or a C-Max - the new ones look very good but presumably the OP would be looking at an older one.
aracer - Member
Mondeo a good shout but not as big in height room.
Why exactly is lack of height room a disadvantage?
Well, it's a simple equation that says the greater internal height available, the greater the total space is within the car. This means more storage and more flexibility as you can move round in the car more easily, making it more feasible if you are using it for camping and want to use it as a place to hang out (particularly useful in crap weather). Also useful in terms of carrying bikes!
I've driven both the Mondeo Estate and the Galaxy (one of which I owned as a company car). Couldn't agree more that the Mondeo is an excellent car. But the Galaxy (new shape) drives almost as well as the Mondeo, offers seven seats, has more space than you can shake a stick at, is versatile beyond belief, offers a nice high-up driver's position (great visibility) and seats you can get into without needing a degree in limbo (6'4" driver content). A 5 yr old with 70,000 miles on, in good nick, can be picked up for around £7k. I can't see any need to look further.
I suggest the OP test-drives a Galaxy and then reports back on his experience 🙂
Yes the height really helps with space
Until we got the Scenic I'd never tried a car where I ould set my seat for driving (I'm 6 foot 4) and then sit in h seat behind the driving position ihout my knees touching it.
We've done 4 bikes and 4 people inside
We've done a family of 4icludin teenage kids, down through France last summer. All our camping gear incuding lots of toy including inflatable kayaks, with nothing on the roof.
I've had various people carriers over the years and have also hired a few, out of the ones I've had the Zafira was the worst car I've ever owned, (that includes a Chevette and a Renault 18!)
Honda FRV is a good shout, still quite cool looking and handles well, has quite a versatile 6 seat combo like the (hideous) Multipla.
FWIW I'mm now on my 2nd diesel C4 Grand Picasso with electronic gearbox, I do a lot of miles and it is a very easy car to drive, effortless. Not had any mechanical issues in the 3.5 years and 130,000miles I've put in on the two cars although have owned both from new so would expect reliability as a given (although the Zafira broke numerous times, as did a Peugeot 308 variant I had)
We do lots of camping and/or mtb trips and the amount of space in the C4 is fantastic and the extra two seats in the boot can actually be used by adults for a length of time, unlike those in other compact mpvs.
Saying that If I could have afforded it (or rather if my company would let me afford it) I would have had an Smax. Looked at the C max but thought the C4 was still a better bet.
Well, it's a simple equation that says the greater internal height available, the greater the total space is within the car.
Well in that case I could just as well say "Picasso/Scenic a good shout, but not as big in length and width room" - the thing is a Mondeo has more actual space inside than any of those small "people carriers". Of course a Galaxy has more room inside, and I'll give you that they're quite decent to drive, but they are seriously big vehicles. Your economic argument for those falls down not only because there's only [b]one[/b] Galaxy under 5yo and under 80k miles for <£7k on autotrader in the whole country, but also because you can get a similar age and mileage Mondeo estate for a lot less money. Not only that, but the Mondeo will be quite a bit cheaper to run. Remember the OP is only talking about a couple of kids.
In my expereince cars like Mondeos have way less boot space and rear leg room that a grand Scenic. The more up right seating means that you can't really compare vehicle length
But for that reason estates are way cheaper used. Even more so for true 7 seaters
funkrodent - MemberA 5 yr old with 70,000 miles on, in good nick, can be picked up for around £7k. I can't see any need to look further.
That's a pretty big price premium over a comparable estate though. More or less twice what you'd pay for an equivalent mondeo, without scrimping on spec either.
Why exactly is lack of height room a disadvantage?
Never had to sit in the back of a car on a long journey without enough headroom? Even some estates have stupidly low roofs over the back seats. Bear in mind that it's easier to lift small kids in and out of cars with more headroom, and small kids grow into big kids who need as much headroom as adults.
Whenever I see a man driving a people carrier, I always imagine there's a wife next to him keeping his balls in her handbag.
I've got a C-max.
I have no kids.
I can fit a double mattress in the back and get naked without needing the flexibility of a teenage gymnast.
Would I buy one again? No, I'd buy an even bigger one.
My biggest criticism of it is the seats, why don't they fold flat? I know the sliding mechanism means you can have humungous leg room if there's only 4 people in the car, but why? I'm 6ft, and there's acers of leg room as standard, should have had normal hatchback seats or like the vauxhall ones which fold into the floor. Either would give it a 6ft long boot without having to take the seats out.
In my expereince cars like Mondeos have way less boot space and rear leg room that a grand Scenic.
Well the specs would disagree with you on boot space, and I presume you've not sat in a current Mondeo if you think the rear seats on that are lacking in legroom.
Never had to sit in the back of a car on a long journey without enough headroom? Even some estates have stupidly low roofs over the back seats. Bear in mind that it's easier to lift small kids in and out of cars with more headroom, and small kids grow into big kids who need as much headroom as adults.
We were talking about a Mondeo, which doesn't suffer from those issues.
Either would give it a 6ft long boot without having to take the seats out.
Like I get in my Mondeo? 😛