Anyone gone from an Octavia to a Touran – or vice versa?

Looking to change our Octavia estate in the autumn. Front runner is another Octavia estate, but I’m starting to think a Touran might be an alternative, so curious to hear from anyone who has had both.

The new car will have a four bike towbar rack on the back when we all go out to play, so the Touran being nearly a foot shorter might be a little easier to work with then. (Currently have bikes on the roof, but not ideal as MrsMC is 4’10” and one handed…..) However, the Touran is 2-3 inches wider, and will be parked up on our narrow drive between us and next door, which puts MrsMC off.

I presume chucking two bikes in the back of a Touran with just the front wheels off is still doable if only two of us are out riding, as we do now with the Octavia.

I also quite like the option of the third row of seats if we need to transport grandparents with us now they are getting on a bit, while MrsMC will happily leave them at home all alone when they can’t/don’t want to drive.

We’ll be buying second hand, so the Touran may need to be a year older than the Octavia we could get for the same money.

Feel free to pull these musings apart…..

I have said here before: our Touran was a mega practical workhorse as family/paddling/biking wagon. It did however go wrong more than I would have liked, and cost a chuffing fortune when it did.

Width wise, a Touran does not feel wide, you are in a much squarer box. I bet the doors are narrower, so getting in and out on a narrow drive wont be too much different to the Octavia.

Back of the Touran – you can do three bikes and three people easily inside.

The seven seats are great – we still use ours regularly.

We have moved to a Galaxy due to the death of the Touran (imminent turbo failure), and I like the even huuuuger space even more. But it is not as comfy as Touran, especially for mrs_oab at 5′.

I’ve been looking at Tourans recently as a potential new car, one thing I’d say is that the grand parents may not find it overly easy getting in and out of the rearmost seats.

No, that’s what the kids do…

The two smallest in the group go in the rearmost seats.

So that’s only one of the kids….. 😉

I looked at a Touran before getting the Caddy – tight driveway, kids, etc made the choice easy for me – the Caddy – those sliding doors and massive tailgate.
Plus 2 people and 2 bikes/kit go in whole – no wheels off, etc.
Had 3 in there easily too on occasion.
More than that and you’re stripping front wheels out but have had 5/5 down to dorset before

I’ve always thought the cheaper 5dr hatch Octavia has a massive boot. The estate may have 5 litres more or something but isn’t it a more shallow boot and thus less practical?

matt_outandabout – Member

No, that’s what the kids do…

Doh. Never thought of that. I suppose I’m looking at it from the perspective of having two toddlers and those bloody big booster seats. A bit of a faff to move around, and maybe not suited to the rear.

Alternatively if getting bikes off the roof is difficult it’s worth looking at Thule slidebars

I’ve always thought the cheaper 5dr hatch Octavia has a massive boot. The estate may have 5 litres more or something but isn’t it a more shallow boot and thus less practical?

Boots are pretty much exactly the same dimensions, estate isn’t shallower unless the variable (and removable) floor is fitted (an optional extra on most models). Estate just gives a bit more flexibility to pile stuff high – hard to justify over the hatch in a way.

We found the main advantage with the estate was that we could fit the roofbox further back and it seemed to hardly affect fuel economy.

I really like the Caddy but SWMBO does not.

I’d probably get an S-Max with your needs (I went for an Octavia myself but I don’t have kids).

I wasn’t that keen until I took the bike with me on a test drive.
Stupid amount of space and the floor storage is clever.
Visibility is better too

Friend has an SMax and I’m not convinced, especially as he is currently spending £2500 on a new engine after 60,000 miles. Wider than we really want as well.