My OH's sister's family are returning to the UK and they need an mpv on a shoe string. They have 3 kids and a grandma to transport so they need a minimum of 6 seats. They definitely want a diesel for some reason. They don't want italian which is a shame as I think the multipla would have been ideal as it seats 3 across so you wouldn't have had either grandma or one of the kids in the boot. Obviously they want something as new, reliable and low mileage as possible.
Are there any legal restrictions on types or ages of passenger you can have in rear ward facing seats in these mpvs? If you have either or both seats in use is there any boot space left?
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If you want boot space you need a larger MPV (Galaxy etc) - the bootspace in a Touran with the rear seats up was woeful - the small pushchair we had wouldn't fit and that goes in the Aygo easily Of course with 6 you only need one rear seat up which gives you some space.
Your idea of a Multipla would be my choice. Maybe when they realise the boot problem they will change their mind.
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Should get a reasonably tidy Zafira for that money, still a little luggage space with 6 seats up. Buy a roof box if you need more luggage space. If they insist on a diesel then there's the 2 litre DTi, which can have oil consumption issues as stated in the c-b-c.
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I'd forgotten about the oil consumption issues. They're looking at an ex police one as its cheap and on a 55 reg with around 100k on the clock.
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As I don't buy diesels it's not something I looked into in great depth, but I got the impression that if they'd been run in properly ( i.e. seen the full rev range after the first few 100 miles) then it was unlikely to be an issue, may also be related to manufacture date.
ex police is a whole new can of worms though, judging by previous discussions about that sort of vehicle on here :-/ Personally I'd look for something older but private owner.
In terms of the 6 seaters then I've never sat in a Multipla, but I have sat in a Honda FRV and I don't know how anyone can drive one of those any distance when you're constatly knocking elbows with the person in the middle seat, and it's not like I'm a particualry big fella ;-)
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I had two Zafiras in the past, both diesels and they were fine, clocking up 15k per year. I sold one to a friend after 3 years, and they ran it for a further 3 years with no real problem until the clutch gave up - but the lady who drove it after us hardly ever got into 4th, never mind 5th.
Previous mention wa sgiven to lack of boot space, but with one seat folded flat you can have a reasonable load area.
If kids are very small you could retro fit a dicky rear-ward facing seat in an estate car.
There are no restrictions as to who (age or height) can sit in the third row of a Zafira, but I would avoid putting in a baby as it would be difficut to fasten a harness and grannie who might not be so nimble. It's why we went with Espace as a replacement, but good one's are likley to be more than £3k.
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After experieces that I had with police-owned vehicles,I would not touch them.High-speed pursuit vehicles with properly trained drivers may be OK but local vehicles-no way.
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Just had a quick look on Autotrader, quite a few Zafira 2.0 DTis in the 2 -3 K price bracket, a lot with big milages ( 150K+), a few around 2.5K with around 80K on them. Couldn't find one quickly with FSH though. I have had our 5 year old in the rear seats of ours a few times, not too fiddly getting the seatbelts sorted out; would be tricky with a really little 'un or granny as mentioned above.
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Well. Zafira was discounted because it stunk of fag smoke. Also there is a further complication in that grandma is in a wheelchair so that won't fit in the zafira anyway. It might fit in a multipla. The only sensible option was a hiace with 8 seats and a decent boot but the fuel consumption is woeful so that's out. Hmmmm. It was a 3 litre diesel auto.
I am wondering whether they would qualify for motability or other financial help as this grandma is blind and in a wheel chair and the family are basically returning to be her carers.
If there is something exactly like a hiace but which gets 35 mpg + then I think that would be the thing to go for....
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