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Trusty Volvo is getting long in the tooth and as the family expands (along with my waistline) I've started looking for a cheapish and reliable alternative. I'm not really interested in kudos, bells and whistles, high speeds, and complex gadgets and don't think any of the current crop of affordable estates (excepting the Omega which I have concerns about) provide the space I'll require for moving people (up to 7) and 'stuff'. Also, I tend to keep my cars a long time and rarely drive more than 6k pa so economy isn't a big factor. With this in mind I had a look a several petrol 2.0 GSi Trajets yesterday and was pleasantly surprised by what looked like quite good build quality, plastics etc. and a very practical and functional interior. Haven't had a test drive yet and do have some concerns about people carriers in general but does anyone out there have any views on whether a car like this would be a good long term bet? Drive the Deal quoted just under £13k for a new one and at this price it seems very good value for money.
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Great cars - far better than the 51 plate ford galaxy 1.9 tdi in terms of reliability, value and spec we swaped ours for. The drive isnt as fantastic, neither is the cornering (the glaxay does have VW underpinnings) however, the interior is certianly more strong maybe more boring but the quality of the seats is superior.
Go for it, or even the kia sedona (i heard of someone recently getting a sedona petrol from france was right hand drive but price new was £10,500). the space wagon also tempted me except for the price.
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Well Duk had my test drive in a 2.0Gsi petrol manual. First impressions were as you said, very solid if a little boring - sounds a bit like me perhaps :) (at this point HF & RTB rush to my defence...)
Anyway I was very pleasantly surprised at the ride - I'm not into hard suspension and it felt good to me. Took a mate who has an A4 with me who said the experience in the back was very nice, good comfortable seats with lots of room.
The clutch and gearbox felt very sweet and I felt totally comfortable with them after just a few minutes driving.
Driving position suited me very well and I found the view out from the front very good indeed.
All controls simple to use and no complicated and distracting gadgets
to worry about. Layout nice and simple.
Interior felt very solid - no squeaks, rattles etc. little engine noise but some road noise from the tyres. Don't know if this is due to the tyres or the car but it's not a big problem for me either way.
All in all, nice and smooth, power as I expected not quite up to my 2.0 turbo but very good for a car of the size/weight with 3 adults in it.
Not sure about the cloth seats - looked ok but appear as though they might wear quite easily. The leather seats I tried in another car were nicer but I'm not sure they're £1400 nicer !
The car I tried was a 1 owner 03 plate with 3.5k on the clock priced at 11,799. New one of same spec available from DTD for c. £13k.
Dealer's view on my choice of engine given my driving and low annual mileage of just 3-6k (but likely to increase a bit as the kids get older) was that it was not worth paying a premium of c. £2k for a diesel but the 2.7v6 might be worth a try (if he could get hold of one!) Given all the extras on the latter (auto, sun roof, leather, alloys, cruise control), the price differential isn't that big but I'd imagine depreciation on that car would be much higher and I'm not really into stuff like alloy wheels. I don't tend to change cars much and all being well I'd be looking to keep my next one for at least 5 years so it may not be such a problem anyway.
All in all I'm quite impressed and it seems exceptional VFM in comparison to other similar vehicles.
It'd be interesting to know if anyone out there has any other thoughts on this.
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Just take note of the three star (considered marginal these days) NCAP safety rating
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Would agree that the NCAP rating isn't brilliant but the Chrysler Voyager has only got 2 stars and Volkswagen Sharan has 3 stars (same design as Ford Galaxy).
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The NCAP ratings aren't spectacular but it's still probably a safer car than any of those I've owned before with the possible exception of the volvo which has no airbags, abs etc.
The other major issue is reliability and from the few surveys I've seen it appears Hyundai reliability is good and getting better overall so that's reassuring too.
Servicing costs IIRC were quoted at £160 and £240 on alternate years or every 10k.
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If safety is important Vman, a 5* Citroën C8 LX isn't much more (about £14,800). Citroën parts and labour tend to be cheap and reliability isn't necessarily disastrous, even though it's French. The LX also doesn't have the expensive and troublesome sounding electric sliding door of the higher spec versions, and should be an easier resale prospect so you should get most of the extra back in five years' time anyway.
The only MPV I've ever driven is a Sharan and I liked it very much, but there are concerns about reliability and it's an old design, plus the C8 is cheaper and probably better.
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I've been importing used 2.7V6 Trajet autos from Singapore 2000/2001s with around 50,000 miles.I think they are very good MPVs,plenty of room,lots of toys and everything seems to work and according to my punters they continue to work.
Parts are readily available and reasonably priced,reliability will beat any of the Euro brands,they are very easy to get into all of the seats.I have also had some Kia Carnivals(Sedona) with the 2.5v6 also a very good MPV,again i don't think you can really go wrong with either.
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As it happens I test-drove the Trajet petrol and diesel last year, and ended up buying a 2-year old Galaxy TDI instead. The petrol Trajet has little torque at low revs and really struggles to accelerate from rest. The diesel is vastly better. Both suffer from a very bouncy ride, especially at the rear unless most seats are occupied. If you use it 1 or 2-up for most journeys eg commuting to work, you may well find it very uncomfortable. The interior plastics also look and feel as if they came from cars of 1 or 2 generations earlier - hard to the touch and very solid-looking, worse that the plastics in my parents 1974 Volvo estate.
However, as you point out, drive the deal offer extremely competitive proces on brand-new ones, and they come with a 5-year warranty. If you are seriously considering one, do take a test-drive over roads that you know and use regularly, so you can judge its ride comfort against your present Volvo.
Then try a used Galaxy/Sharan/Alhambra over the same roads and notice the difference!
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Thanks for the feedback David, IET and TLucas - very helpful. I'm in no hurry really (unless volvo dies) so will do some more test drives of course. My test drive encompassed all types of road ranging from the A2 to narrow side roads and I didn't find any problem with the handling or ride but these are of course subjective points. We had 2 adults in the front and one in the back who currently drives an Audi A4 and he had no problems with the ride. As I said the performance of the 2.0 wasn't anything to write home about but I'm no boy racer (or middle aged one for that matter) so it was perfectly adequate for my needs. If I wanted a sportier better handling car I wouldn't be considering an MPV at all so I can see how someone with a different driving style might notice the car's shortcomings in this area rather more then me however.
Given that the space, ride quality, handling etc. were fine for my needs, reliability and practicality are probably the most important factors along with overall cost. All being well I should keep the car for quite a few years so I'm not too worried about depreciation either.
A mate of mine (co-incidnetally also a 940 driver with 2 young kids) is looking at Toyota Previas so I'll probably tag along with him sometime and see how they compare.
As regards the C8 or the Pug version I have this great fear about the reliability and complexity of such cars. This is another thing that appeals with the Trajet. Bells, whistles and gold pated knobs are fine but when they go wrong they can be a very costly nightmare so I'd come to the conclusion that it might be best to steer clear of these. Given what you say though I'll probably do a few more test drives just to see how the competition stacks up. Who knows what the outcome might be. Thanks again for your thoughts everyone.
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I should also say that the car will never be used for commuting or anything like that - I'm lucky enough to be self employed and able to work from home if/when I want to (which isn't very much these days). This will be the situation for the forseeable future and we always have Mrs V's 5 door Felica for running around town etc. I suppose therefore it's fair to say the new car will be mainly used when we all go out somewhere for the day, holidays, when we need to take friends/relatives with us and of course when I'm running around the place filling the car up with DIY stuff. It really shouldn't have a very hard life.
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Hyundai Trajet impression:
Tootle tootle tootle ......
I'll get me coat ........
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Previas are hugely expensive, as are the spares! They are also even larger than the Trajet. If you are doing a now annual mileage, I would suggest you seriously consider the diesel rather than petrol. I know from experience that low mileages in petrol cars can cause exhausts to rot through very quickly, plus on short journeys petrol engines run rich,washing oil off the piston bores and producing greater wear than in diesels, where there is no mixture to adjust. If you are happy with the Trajet's ride quality and the interior trim, (and its complete lack of any image, if that bothers you) then go for it! The DTD prices do tend to make it look very tempting....
If buying used, go for the diesels badged "CRTD" (or is it CRDT?) as they have a few useful mods over the original spec diesels.
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Thanks very much for your imput once again IET. Image really is of no conern to me whatsoever but the point about low mileages is a good one and I hadn't thought of it. Thus far my 940 has lasted very well indeed on short journeys but I know it can be a problem and I think my Rover 820 suffered badly due to it. My mileage is likely to increase as the boys grow up (and are no longer content with a walk round the local park for a day out :)) but I wouldn't think it'll ever be more than 6-8k pa. The last diesel I drove was a Toyota pick-up about 20 years ago and it was great covering 50 metre sand dunes etc. but not too much fun on the road. I'll try a diesel Trajet anyway and see what I think. BTW I'm not interested in buying a Previa for the reasons you mentioned, I just thought it would be extra comparison to add interest to my quest. The advice I've had here is sound and I guess I should try out several cars before I make any decision - after all I want to keep this next car for quite some time.
I'll let you know what happens anyway - cheers Vm.
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