2 adults, 2 sprogs growing fast, Vectra is starting to fail, missus has suggested a ‘people carrier’ . 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 4×4?

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 cool, cheap, reliable, 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.

This?

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 4×4 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.

cool, cheap, reliable, spacious

any thing that is reliable spacious and cheap is, by definition, cool.
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

Do you need that much.space & 7 seats? Because a decent estate is better.

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 big– 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.