Would appreciate if anyone could recommend a decent 7 Seater or at a push a smaller MPV for example a Renault Scenic. Got £2000 budget. Always liked the Honda Shuttle but put off my economy around town etc and apparent high insurance bracket. Had 7 seater 4x4s in the past but do not want to go down that route again.
Any real life MPV experiences or recommendations?
Also any recommendations on the best scenic to buy the original shape or the slightly newer one.
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It has to be said that £2k on a vehicle that may well have been worked pretty hard on a school run (lots of cold starts, short runs, clutch wear in slow traffic) is a horrible amount.
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How often do you need 7 seats? 2K will buy a reasonable Zafira these days, if you don't need 7 seats often, or are prepared to live with diddly luggage space in that configuration.
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Dint think the original Scenic came with seven seats - only the newer "grand" scenic?
Depends on how much space you need - if the sixth and seventh seats are only for kids, and will be ocassional then a Zafira would be a good bet, but otherwise how about a Galaxy/Alhambra/Sharan - full size seats and a bit more boot space.
Just had a quick look on flea bay and quite a few Galaxys - even a couple sub 100K. If you forget the mileage then you might even scrape a facelift 2000 model, but will probably have been a taxi in a previous life
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Zafira would be a sensible buy if it fits your criteria ! Cheap as chips with proven mechanicals - buy a petrol, went up to Preston in an 04 one the other day. Good car.
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We have a Shuttle, it just did a 1300 mile round trip to France last week, averaged about 31mpg, round town it is much the same as long as you don't get heavy with the right foot. Problem is the 2.3 Vtec loves to be driven with a but of gusto, which can see the MPG drop.
We have had our 1999 V reg for 3 years and have been very happy with it. I would get another tomorrow if I needed to, don't know of anything in it's price bracket that comes any where close to it. Try one and see for your self. Also, ours cost less then £280 fully comp with 4 named drivers on it per year, which I think is quite good.
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Mk1 Scenic was 5 seats only; you need the current-model Grand Scenic for 7 seats.
Do you need 7 seats? There are versions of the Toyota Picnic have 6 (2/2/2), not forgetting the Fiat Multipla (3 front, 3 back) that's not as popular as the usual 7-seater candidates so you might get a fresher example for your £2k.
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In recent years we've had Nissan Serena (8 seats) Honda Shuttle (7) Ford Galaxy (7) and currently run a Mercedes vito dualiner9(6-8). The ride and driving position in the serena and the vito is van like which is fine if thats your thing and the've loads of space. ours being diesels were cheap to run to with mid 30s mpg. The Shuttle was by far the best drive with a great, but thirsty engine never achieving even mid 20s mpg. The lower almost car like driving position is nice and the fold in/out rear seats were handy too. The Galaxy was probably the best allrounder we've had, high 20s mpg, average ride and all seats (very heavy) can go in and out in a multitude of positions. You should get a much better choice of Galaxys to pick from too as the Shuttles are quite rare now. All can now be bought sub £2k in good condition for miles and years.
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Thanks for the advice so far, much appreciated.
With regard to my mention of Scenic, I am aware that it comes as a 5 seater only and could probably live with this. But I have had renault cars in the past with no problems, but these scenic can have their problems. Any feedback appreciated on these cars?
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Unfortunately between about 2000 and 2004 Renault had a dip in quality which has been much discussed here. I had seven between 1980 and 2000 - all reliable - and theys eem to be better now. But in the price range where you're looking you need to look elsewhere. Don't be tempted by an Espace from this period either.
The advantage of Zafiras and Galaxies (or Sharans or Alhambras) is that there are lots of them around to give you a better chance of getting a good one.
Toyota Versos (Corolla or the rarer Avensis) are worth a look, although I can't remember when they started having 7 seats. You might get an early Mazda MPV within budget: I've never been in one but they're said to be dull but reliable.
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Go shopping with £350 and buy a Montego Countryman, Renault 21 Estate, Volvo 850 Estate or late '80s Mercedes Estate.
Pocket the remaining £1650 :-)
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>>Go shopping with £350 and buy a Montego Countryman, Renault 21 Estate, Volvo
>>850 Estate or late '80s Mercedes Estate
Of these only the R21 has 7 proper seats. If you're after one with just child seats, the Audi A6 also would suit.
I had a R21. Make sure you
1. own a multimeter
2. know how to use it
3. not buy one with toys.
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Have a think about the Fiat Ulysse/Peugeot 806/Citroen Synergie. The original Mark 1s were made up to about 2001/2 I think.
I owned a very high miles 1995 Ulysse and it was very reliable and cheap to run. Don't be put off by the usual reputation of the badges, these were esentially commercial vehicles converted to family cars and were pretty robust.
If you got a late example with FSH there's no reason it shouldn't be a good buy.
Should add that mine was a petrol 2.0, don't know if the diesels had any reliability problems.
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I had a R21. Make sure you 1. own a multimeter 2. know how to use it 3. not buy one with toys.
Good points, well made. If I remember right, most faults wouldn't actually stop you getting home, and the bouncing dashboard gauges from dodgy senders were good entertainment value.
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So this started as recommend a 7-seater, but now OP is saying he could live with a 5 seater Scenic?
So I think the first question really needs to be - do you need a 5 or a 7 seater as this will hugely influence recommendations at that price range?
And are you saying £2k cos you really have £3k but want to , quite rightly, have some money in the bank for potential repairs? Or are you saying £2k cos that is every penny you have, in which case I think you should be looking at a £1k - £1.5k car.
There is no point spending every penny on the car and finding a month down the line it needs a new switch, tyre, whatever and you can't afford it and the car is then off the road. Has been muted several times on this forum, that sometimes there is not much to choose from between a 1 and 2k car.
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>>Has been muted several times on this forum, that sometimes there is not much to
>>choose from between a 1 and 2k car.
It has actually been MOOTED. to argue. To Mute is to shut up.
Anyway, I 'd say that currently there is a huge difference between a 1k and 2k car. 2k will get you something 4/5 years old with high miles; 1k will take you to something 10 years old. No help if those 2k are OP's last pennies in the world.
In my view, buying something newer - provided you can (in BobbyG's terms) actually afford to, makes far more sense than ever (recently) before.
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