Criteria
1) £9k budget
2) 7 seats for occasional freighting of old people
3) Comparable economy to The Mighty Vectra if possible (high 40s mpg)
4) Has to last for an additional 8 years / 100,000 miles
2.0l S-Max is in the lead. Is there anything else that I should be looking at?
a Caterham?
Any grown ups about this morning? 😉
S-max sounds ideal.
if you need 7 seats then Galaxy or VW Sharon(sp )?. doubt they'd that MPG tho
2.0l S-Max is in the lead. Is there anything else that I should be looking at?
Saga leaflets
Only need the 7 seats (well, 6 actually) occasionally. Mostly it will be 4.
We've a sharan - great, but heavy so mpg less than 40.
Mitsubishi Grandis
S-max then, but think 40+mpg might be optimistic?
Published mpg for the 2.0 diesel is 47.
I'm currently achieving the published figure for the Vectra so my driving style and commute must be reasonably economical.
Get a used X5, tell the mrs it does 80mpg (she'll never know) and you'll be the envy of all the other people carrier drivers out there that have succumbed to their wife's demands. After all, does anybody really want a people carrier when they buy one ?
Had a touran got over 40 from it and drove pretty well for what it is
Transit! Bench seat up front - single seat in back. In-laws can hold on for dear life in the back.
You can probably get a bluemotion touran for that budget now which would get you a good mpg. Our 2.0tdi probably does mid to late 40s and is no slouch if you put your foot down.
We brought a 2007 (57) Smax 2.0 D Titanium on the bay last week for £8500 it's covered 56k with full history. Even came with a Thule bar system that the guy though in. It's doing well over 40 mpg and although I'm missing my Audi A6 V6, it's a very good car. Ample room inside although you need to be pretty small to use the pop up rear seats. For 130bhp is reasonably lively when you're on your own.
Either SMax or Touran IMO.
Never owned either, but for all the research you've done these seem to be the best options.
😆
Buy what you want and hire something with 7 seats for the 'occasional' use?
Second hand Imprezza WRX and a trailer for when you need to take the extra bodies?
I made much the same sort of sensible list last year when I went to Oz for several months.
Needed van like space etc etc, had big mileage to cover.
Went through all the ads and eBay, made a shortlist. The top choices ended up a Corvette, Monaro, and a Falcon Ute with a stonking V8.
Looked at all the options and did the sensible thing and bought a motorbike.
10,000 miles later I was still happy with my choice.
Moral of the story, logic doesn't really come into it...
Buy what you want and hire something with 7 seats for the 'occasional' use?
That's what I do. An Astra van is suitable for 90% of the miles I do. When the extended family elders need to travel (they're in their 80s and not in great health- I take them from scotland to London twice a year) I hire. Then there's no need to compromise and they travel in a v6 merc v-class.
It's dependent on you having a good, well stocked hire co locally though.
SSangYong Rodius, 7 seats, reasonably cheap, engine from Mercedes, the guys who do the airport taxi runs seem to like them. Plenty of space, and a usable 7 seats. Another leftfield choice Chrysler GrandVoyager.
Don't bother with a Touran - brilliantly pratcical, good mpg, shockingly poor reliability/durability and awesome cost of parts to fix when it needs it, more often than not... 😕
I've looked at the "hire a 7 seater when you need it option" - Enterprise were quoting me £800 for a weekend!
Not much room in the far back seats of an S-Max, might be less of an option if you need it to last while small people grow?
I'd look at Galaxy/Alhambra and take any hit on mpg. (Will be having the grown up chat about cars later this year.... 😥 )
Caterham + very very cheap trailer ! 😆
Kia Carens pretty unbeatable warranty and good write ups.
had similar criteria myself a few months back.
Has to be Touran or an S-Max really, in the end I though screw the grand parents and bought a skoda yeti 🙂
LWB defender with an LPG conversion?
Do they still do Volvo estates with the two kiddy seats in the boot?
Mazda 5 or 5 Sport.
T5 Caravelle... removable seats makes it a bike van when it isn't full of sprogs 🙂
Dave
I've got an SMAX 2 litre diesel and get around 41-42mpg. Not bad considering the weight of them.
I wouldn't want to travel far as an adult in the rear 2 seats though. But I'd guess that's the same as most 7 seaters.
Mitsubishi Outlander 2.0D 44mpg here with selectable 4x4 off. Emergency 2 back row seats store below the boot floor. Bikes in the back no problem and roof bars if you want them up top.
lookers were selling brand new old shape zafiras for 9.5k
Vw t5. If the caravelle is out of your budget buy a t5 and get someone to put windows in and buy some 2nd hand seats off eBay.
Brilliant van and as someone else has stated makes the best bike vehicle.
My 1.9 TD1 Sharan did between 40 and 42 mpg average for all of the 128,000 miles and 12 years I had it.
Our Touran (2.0l, 140boy variant) does high 40's mpg when being sensible, low 40's when not being tutted at from the passenger seat. 6&7th seats needs small people with sshort legs... Definitely not for 6ft adults if you want to use your legs again
Expensive to fix, but holds value well and telescope solidly built than the s-max
If you can ignore the frankly awful economy (though it sounds like that may be a dealbreaker), how about this to hoon about in (the olds can hold on for dear life in the back...this thing's so big, you won't even be able to hear them scream).
[url= http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/mercedes-benz/amg/2003-mercedes-e55-amg-estate-full-history-just-82-000-miles--immaculate/1762549 ]bonkers[/url]
Something like this:
[url= http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201310089173564 ]Mercedes e320 cdi Sport[/url]
This particular one is mine, but I've decided I'm not going to sell it, coz it's just too damned good to get rid of for that money.
37mpg, 7.1 sec 0-60, 7 seats, lovely.
For something a little more economical (and cheaper to buy), the 220 cdi is a good bet, or the e280 for a detuned version of the 320.
Seats in the boot are definitely for kiddies only, but they love being in them!
How about one of these:
[img] 
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Although the economy might take a bit of a hit if you drive it like it deserves... 😉
http://www.ebay.co.uk/bhp/zafira-vxr
Been pretty happy with our Renault Grand Scenic Mk 3. Slow off the mark, only 105 how in a 1.5 ton car, but will (and has) cruised at 80+ mph all day, hasn't missed a beat. I believe newer models have 130 ish hp, perfect family load lugger, will lose value quickly presumably, but we plan to drive ours into the ground. Low 40s in town, low 50s on the motorway. Based on Renault Megane so should (fingers crossed) be cheapish to fix. Comfortable.
If you only really need the six seats, you could consider dropping down a size to a Fiat Multipla (if it holds together for 100,000 extra miles!)
Or for more street cred, a Honda FRV.
Don't bother with a Touran - brilliantly pratcical, good mpg, shockingly poor reliability/durability and awesome cost of parts to fix when it needs it, more often than not...
On the other hand we had a touran for 6 years as our only car. Commuted daily by my missus which included some long distance work stuff quite a few times and used every weekend for everything else.
I don't do maintenance other than paying at the car wash, filling up the windscreen wash and topping up the oil.
Not a single issue ever. Not one. Totally and utterly faultless.
"Or for more street cred, a Honda FRV."
Hugely underestimated car the FRV, getting a bit long in the tooth now as they haven't made them for 4 years now. Mine is 9 yrs old in January and has been faultless In that time (owned since 6mths old). Seats 6 easily (front middle best suited to kids though)
