any - best 7 seater for under £1,000 | Motoring discussion | Back Room Forum

Tue 4 Aug 2015 12:14

any - best 7 seater for under £1,000 - brignac

Tall order I know but let's have a go. My sister who lives at the end of a rough track in a very hilly part of Italy needs to buy (in the UK) the above?

I have told her it's mad but she is where she is.

She is considering a Mitsubishi Shogun/Pajero - all the ones I have looked at look like time they are disasters in the making - ancient diesels, complex, with auto gearboxes waiting to go wrong.

I have suggested the Mazda MPV - a 2000 year car can be had in budget. It has the 2 litre petrol engine - a far better bet IMO - although poor MPG nd may struggle up the hills 7 up

Others that spring to mind are the Fiat Doble - easy to fix in Italy - not many 7 searters in budget.

The Toyota Avensis Verso the same - but reliable.

Ideally she wants a diesel as it is much cheaper in Italy than petrol, but no good if it goes kaput. I feel petrol is the way to go.

Any others I have missed - anyone got any suggestions?

thanks

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Tue 4 Aug 2015 12:36

any - best 7 seater for under £1,000 - RobJP

Shogun / Pajero at that age and price bracket will basically be one step from being scrap.

Anything diesel at the price bracket is the same. People sell them because they're going wrong.

Remember the very last episode of 'old' Top Gear ? Hammond bought a 4.0 petrol Jeep Cherokee for £250 ? Yes, fuel consumption is going to be terrible, but that's why they're cheap.

A friend of mine used to live up a steep, very rough, track here in North Wales. The track would kill cars - any car, virtually - in a few months. As such, he used to buy something in the auctions for £250 (or less), and run it until it died. Get the scrappie out to pick it up, and go back to the auctions.

In her case, I'd suggest the same approach. Buy the cheapest car possible that will get up the hill and has the required seating.

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Tue 4 Aug 2015 12:36

any - best 7 seater for under £1,000 - Brit_in_Germany

The Picnic is the forerunner of the Avensis Verso - essentially the same car but a different name and slightly different looks - and will be cheaper.

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Tue 4 Aug 2015 12:58

any - best 7 seater for under £1,000 - brignac

Picnic could be good - I thought they only had six seats...I will check

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Tue 4 Aug 2015 13:08

any - best 7 seater for under £1,000 - brignac

Kia Sedona 2.9 D - any views on this?

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Tue 4 Aug 2015 15:37

any - best 7 seater for under £1,000 - RT

Hyundai Terracan - based on the previous generation Pajero/Shogun

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Tue 4 Aug 2015 19:44

any - best 7 seater for under £1,000 - Avant

I'm curious as to why she wants to buy a car in the UK - it'll be RHD and the chances of a £1,000 car making the trip back to Italy are surely no better thn evens.

Does it need to have 7 seats? The Fiat Multipla had 6 and will be cheap - but there will be lots more of these in Italy than in the UK, where they never sold all that well.

As always with cars at this end of the market - buy on condition rather than make and model.

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Tue 4 Aug 2015 22:36

any - best 7 seater for under £1,000 - alan1302

I'm curious as to why she wants to buy a car in the UK - it'll be RHD and the chances of a £1,000 car making the trip back to Italy are surely no better thn evens.

I've had a couple of cars well under a £1,000 that would get to Italy...and back again without thinking about.

Is odd about wanting a RHD model though.

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Wed 5 Aug 2015 00:37

any - best 7 seater for under £1,000 - Nickdm

- It's probably because used car prices in the UK are generally an awful lot cheaper than our neighbouring countries. (Was certainly the case compared with France a few years back).

And we probably have more stock and more to choose from.

And maybe the OP's sister doesn't speak Italian...!

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Wed 5 Aug 2015 00:51

any - best 7 seater for under £1,000 - Sulphur Man

Honda Stream. The pre-facelift cars were 7 seaters, the post-facelift, 6 (Honda reconfigured the middle seats from a bench to two perches from some reason.

The 2.0 iVTEC Sport version was a great car. Exposes the lie that the Ford S-Max was the first decent-driving MPV by half a decade.

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Wed 5 Aug 2015 14:11

any - best 7 seater for under £1,000 - Benet

If the Stream is anything like as good as my Shuttle (1999 vintage and still getting us across Europe every summer) then I couldn't agree more! I would suggest buying a Shuttle but there is no manual gearbox available, or at least not in the officially imported ones. It definitely sounds like she needs a manual.

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Wed 5 Aug 2015 01:09

any - best 7 seater for under £1,000 - Brit_in_Germany

RHD can actually be an advantage driving on the right in mountainous terrain, allowing you to better judge the edge of the road. Didn't Austrian trucks or post buses used to be RHD?

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Wed 5 Aug 2015 10:34

any - best 7 seater for under £1,000 - Brit_in_Germany

Having checked, here is a picture of a Swiss RHD post bus:

http://preview.alturl.com/45d9t

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Wed 5 Aug 2015 14:08

any - best 7 seater for under £1,000 - brignac

Thanks for suggestions. Stream looks a good one I hadn't considered, and the Hyundai. Yes it has to be 7 seats - so Multipla no good.

Yes cars here a fraction of the price in Italy - hence the purchase in the UK. Driving RHD is not a problem as you soon get used to it.

I have since seen plenty of Pajeros of this age on the road so maybe there are some reasonable ones out there, although I take the point about people only selling them if there is a potentail problem.

I'll show her what I can - and pass on any wisdom - and it will be up to her, I guess

thanks again for ideas.

Edited by brignac on 05/08/2015 at 14:10

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Wed 5 Aug 2015 16:58

any - best 7 seater for under £1,000 - Alanovich

Mk1 FIAT Ulysse, Peugeot 806, Citroen Synergie (all the same cars under the badge). Cheap, reliable, roomy, easy to fix in Italy. 2.0 petrol manual would be my choice, lowest possible spec for least electrical gubbins to go bang.

I had a LHD one (Ulysse) for a few years which I bought in France, and had originally been Spanish registered. Built like the commercial vehicle it is, very robust. Not much to go wrong on them.

Brilliant vehicles, very unfashionable here (UK) so very cheap.

Actually, thinking about it, I sold it to a bloke from London who was taking it to keep at his Italian holiday house.

Edited by Alanovich on 05/08/2015 at 17:03

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Wed 5 Aug 2015 17:49

any - best 7 seater for under £1,000 - brignac

Thanks - do you really mean a Mark 1 - they are surely pretty old these days - how about the 1997 model - which I'm guessing is mark 2. Plenty around in price - could be a good call

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Wed 5 Aug 2015 19:38

any - best 7 seater for under £1,000 - RT

Post vehicles are often RHD in LHD countries as it allows the postie to use property boundary post boxes without getting out of the vehicle - it's a requirement in parts of the USA.

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Thu 13 Aug 2015 11:20

any - best 7 seater for under £1,000 - Alanovich

Thanks - do you really mean a Mark 1 - they are surely pretty old these days - how about the 1997 model - which I'm guessing is mark 2. Plenty around in price - could be a good call

I tend to think the Mk1 is a bit more old-stylee robust, but it's just a personal prejudice. Mk2s might well be fine. I liked my Mk1 and if you could find a well looked after one I'm sure it would give great service.

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Thu 13 Aug 2015 22:57

any - best 7 seater for under £1,000 - daveyK_UK

Problem with the 806/synergie, it can be a pig to work on if you have an engine problem as its right under the dash,

A 2

.3 auto Honda shuttle is highly recommended

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Thu 20 Aug 2015 11:45

any - best 7 seater for under £1,000 - brignac

Struggling to find a decent car - have found a Ford Galaxy 110 TDI 2002 with 200k on the clock for £900.

Any views on these? The car-by-car lists endless faults which had put me off - but I see plenty on the roads - I presume a 200,000 miles car would have most faults ironed out by now - any thoughts?

thanks

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Tue 1 Sep 2015 16:58

any - best 7 seater for under £1,000 - brignac

In case anyone is interested. She bought a 121K, 16 year old Toyota Previa with FSH, and seems pretty happy. It has the 2,4 petrol, auto but made it to Italy without a problem.

She plans to LPG it if it looks worthwhile, and she can raise the cost. A happy outcome so far

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Thu 3 Sep 2015 00:04

any - best 7 seater for under £1,000 - Avant

Thanks for letting us know.

Another example of the principle that nothing soldiers on quite like an old Toyota. As it's got reasonable mileage and FSH, it could go on for years.

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Thu 3 Sep 2015 12:38

any - best 7 seater for under £1,000 - Mike H

I'm sure she's aware, but being UK sourced she'll doubtless need to officially import it, and pay the appropriate taxes, if Italy is her permanent residence. Here in Austria, the rules state that when you import a car, it should be re-registered within a month, although it hasn't really been policed until recently. There has been a crackdown on permanent residents failing to re-register cars, and the finance police (yes, they exist here!) can impose hefty fines. A lot of ex-pats put great effort into avoiding re-registering and paying taxes, but it's really much easier to do it properly.

The taxes can make it marginal whether it's worth importing an older car, although I agree that used car prices seem somewhat higher.

Edited by Mike H on 03/09/2015 at 12:39

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