My gut feeling is to avoid giving any advice at all, then when their next experiment in these dangerous waters costs them dear you will neither be implicated or feel responsible.

A carefully bought previously well cared for old model Galaxy/Alhambra with the 1.9pd Diesel would be as good a bet as any, but getting to any good ones before the East European lads who use them to ferry themselves to work in groups will be no mean feat.

Edited by SLO76 on 14/08/2017 at 14:38

I know a couple in their thirties who decided a few years ago they needed a people carrier. This has nor been a success! The first was a grey import diesel Lucida that blew its engine after a year and was sold for peanuts. After that they got a Galaxy automatic diesel on HP. Now after an expensive year (injectors and other issues after the relatively short warranty expired) it is another non-runner. The engine shakes more than the Austin Cambridge I owned forty years ago did after a plug lead fell off! Also, purely executed previous bodywork repairs are showing through. They still insist they need a people carrier and it must be diesel for economy. So what model would you recommend for a £5k budget? I cannot really think of one and would personally suggest a petrol Mondeo! Another car I know that is for sale is a Granada limo but dare I suggest it as an alternative?

Do they really need a people carrier and a diesel one at that? Questions to ask:

What are they carrying to warrant a large car? Do they need more than 5 seats? If not, then its worth looking at an estate or a larger hatch/saloon with a big boot that will accommodate buggies, shopping, holiday stuff, dog, weekend rubbish to the tip, etc. Note that these sort of cars slip through the air more efficiently than MPVs and thus use less fuel.

What sort of journey/annual mileage profile do they have? Low mileage (under 7k miles a year), medium (7 - 20k miles a year) or high (over 20k). Mainly or almost exclusively short trips under 5 miles (anywhere) or under 10 miles (urban driving) where diesels wouldn't easily get warmed up and modern common-rail ones would get clogged up with soot.

Do they need an auto? On larger cars, this saps quite a good deal of power except if you go for the unreliable double clutch boxes. A manual box would also save on the itinial price, as long as its not on its last legs (needs a thorough test drive).

A petrol-engined car, especially a normally-aspirated one (as long as it has been well cared for, though they are far more hardy than the modern diesels, older ones as that VAG 1.9 mentioned [I'lm sure SLO76 will chime in here with exactly the one to go for] are much better on reliability) may use more fuel, but the lower running costs (better reliability) can easily outweigh (as your friend has shown) the costs of modern diesels. This is especially true if they do low annual mileages.

If they must have a MPV (but don't need 7 seats), then perhaps (unless they do well over 20k miles or lug around REALLY heavy loads [I'm not talking kids and stuff here]) a 1.8/2.0 petrol Mazda5 might do (newer mk2s seem to do better on real mpg, around 33-34 average), perhaps also a Toyota Verso petrol. The Hyundai ix35 or Kia Sportage (2009 - [ix35] and 2010 - [Sportage]) might also do, however they only have 1.6 petrol engines and I'm not so up on diesels generally - I'll leave that in others' more capable hands.

Note - don't let them buy another grey import: to me, they are a recipe for disaster and why anyway - there's lots of UK cars around to choose from. They'll need to do their homework to find a reasonably local reputable dealer (can be independent) who is recommended by people they know and trust. Maybe worth them taking along someone with decent car/mechanical knowledge to check out what they look at - their previous disasters don't bode well for them choosing something appropriate that's in decent nick for a reasonable price.

I agree with the general consensus in that we need more information about what they're doing with their car. Do they REALLY need an MPV or would something like a Jazz fit the bill?

If they do need a large (seven-seater) MPV then £5000 probably won't get them very far. They'd be looking at an S-MAX or Zafira circa 2009 I reckon. If a smaller MPV would do, then they should be able to nab a five year old Meriva or C3 Picasso.

Edited by Bicycle_Repair_Man on 14/08/2017 at 16:17