I need to sell my 2000 Beetle and buy a new car.
I have two kids and two dogs (basset hounds - big but low to the ground!).
I want to buy a car with six potential seats as I take my elderly parents on holiday twice a year but also a car where when the back row of seats are out provides good boot space for the dogs.
Our other car is a Freelander and I find that there isn't really enough space in the boot for the dogs on long journeys.
Most of the time, however, the new car will just be used for school runs - so I don't want to buy something too huge and difficult to park.
Things I've looked at so far include Citroen C8, Renault Grand Scenic and Landrover Discovery.
Any bright ideas or views would be much appreciated.
Best regards
Nicky B
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Its really got to be the new Honda FRV (see road test on main page of this website). The 6 seats are in a 3 plus 3 configuration so no loss of boot space. The Fiat Multipla also does the job but is old and dated now. I've owned two Hondas and you will find Honda owners tend to be contented with their cars. Suggest you test drive one. Unlike Citroen, Renault and Landrover they won't let you down.
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Either the FRV or the Multipla were my first thoughts, but when I sat in the FRV I did feel as though I was pressed against the door.
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What's the budget? You can buy three Grands Scénics for the price of a new Disco...
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Budget up to about £25K. If Disco would have to be recent used - have priced them as I also have a Freelander so am in touch with garage
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Its really got to be the new Honda FRV (see road test on main page of this website). The 6 seats are in a 3 plus 3 configuration so no loss of boot space. The Fiat Multipla also does the job but is old and dated now. I've owned two Hondas and you will find Honda owners tend to be contented with their cars. Suggest you test drive one. Unlike Citroen, Renault and Landrover they won't let you down.
Our 10 year old Xantia failed to let me down again yesterday. You just can't rely upon these French cars to act true to type!
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If the C8 isn't too big for you then maybe you could look at the Ford Galaxy, Seat Alhambra, VW Sharan and Touran and the Vauxhall Zafira. A colleague is making the same decision and he favours the Galaxy for the extra space but you do have to physically remove the seats which are heavy, whereas with the Scenic, Touran and Zafira they fold up in to or on to the floor.
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Hi Neil
Would prefer seats which folded up or onto the floor for ease and because we don't have a garage to store them. I looked at the Touran which I liked but found that the seats when up took up a lot of boot space
Nicky
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£25k? Then the Espace might be an alternative. The seats don't disappear in to the floor because the back two are full size not just suitable for children but you can position the middle and back rows so many ways that it might work for you. The seats in the new Mitsubishi Grandis do fold away.
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If you want to take 6 people on holiday, luggage space for 6 also needs to be factored in. A roof box is a possibility but without a garage to store it becomes impractical.
The 4x4 options tend to waste lots of space with complex mechanicals which are unnecessary unless you actually plan to drive off road or tow horseboxes.
I had a Ford Galaxy 1.9 TDi and found it fairly reasonable for 6 of us on holiday, plus a car fridge (great for the summer of '03). I have traded in for the Touran 2.0 TDi which is a far better car but it doesn't have the capacity for 6 to go on holiday with luggage: you really do need the extra space. The Touran is a 5+2 car whereas the Galaxy etc are real 7 seaters; taking out the 7th seat is easy enough and it can be stored out of the way when you are on holiday.
The only problem with the Galaxy is that it consistently scores near bottom for reliability and driver satisfaction. I'm not sure that the C8 is much better and the Renault Espace tends to come close to bottom. What about the Mitsubishi Grandis?
Good luck!
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NickyB,
I wonder if you have considered how a couple of heavy dogs will be in the back of the car when you brake hard or in a collision. Some of the mpv's I've looked at have very soft seat backs and would not provide any resistance to a dog-missile.
IIRC the ROSPA talks of an unrestrained 25kg dog travelling forwards with the force of 9 12stone men in a 30mph crash... I like the look of an mpv too but haven't yet been able to train the dog to stop struggling when I tie her down to the luggage ties in the boot with stout rope :)
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How about a new Caravelle T5 you cant get much more space and flexibility.
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discovery td5 is now getting big discounts now that the new one is here taking it below 25k,
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When I was out looking to buy an MPV I checked out the Mazda Premacy - it has good room inside, is supposed to be very reliable and is not too big. We valued reliability and 7 seats with good luggage space more than gadgets/gizmos so bought the larger Mazda MPV but liked the Premacy very much. Best thing to do is try as many cars as you can and choose the one which best suits your needs. I'd have thought you'd not need to spend anything like £25k unless you really want to that is :)
Ps we have 2 young kids (one who has special needs) and regularly travel with up to 3 elderly family members. If you're going to be doing this a lot I'd bear that in mind. We've found the extra height of our MPV is very helpful to older folk when getting in/out of the car. Sliding rear doors are also very useful for assisiting access to the middle/rear seats - much more important than we first thought if I'm honest and I wouldn't be without them now! IIRC the Premacy doesn't offer these though.
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As a former (happy) Disco owner, I would always plump for one. £25k
should get you a good last facelift model fitted with all the bits, and include a pretty good maker's warrenty. SWMBO owned a Y plater - problems in 18 months heavy use (including towing and off road use) ? Oil leak from the transmission....
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