Good Morning All, I'm after some advice on a new car. Due to changes in personal circumstances I need a car with space for 2 adults, 4 children aged between 3 and 9, and a dog.
Current cars are an L reg petrol Escort and an M reg Peugeot 306 diesel - plan is to replace the Escort and keep the Peugeot, as I have a long commute for work, and having just one car may be difficult as I'm often away from home and local public transport varies between unreliable and non-existent
Total budget will be £2500 plus whatever we can get for the Escort (not much I suspect, short MOT, below average condition).
So - any recommendations? We're after something reliable and cheap to run, and having had the Peugeot something that's good to drive. I've nothing in mind at the moment - open to suggestions.
Edited by Pugugly on 24/07/2008 at 12:32
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You want a 6 seat car with luggage space that's reliable and costs less than about £3000? If that is possible, "good to drive" may not be part of the equation.
One option is to consider a converted van. A friend in similar circumstances has bought a 10yo Nissan Vanette diesel, in v good condition for about £2000. Sophisticated it ain't (diesel engine between the front seats!), and it's probably not a great drive, but it is mechanically simple and should be cheap to maintain, and it has bags of room. I wouldn't want to take it on the motorway, but it's great for local journeys.
Brief rant: when I was a child, 4 kids of that age were routinely accommodated in the back seat of ordinary cars, and I never heard of any of them being injured that way. Unfortunately, EU regulations now make child seats compulsory, and you won't fit 4 of those add-ons in an ordinary car ... and if the powers-that-be catch you transporting a pile of children without them, even on a short journey, you risk losing your licence (as recently happen to a man in North Wales who took a short journey at 20mph with, IIRC, about 7 kids in the car).
This is deeply unfair to hard-pressed parents of larger families, who are now banned from making their own assessment of the trade-offs between cost, safety and the environmental impact of driving a monster wagon. But that's what happens when safety laws get too intrusive :(
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It has to be a Sharan/Alhambra/Galaxy, surely? TDi for preference.
The Escort is worth pennies, BTW, unless you can get a new ticket on it.
Edited by oldnotbold on 24/07/2008 at 11:59
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We had a Galaxy, a 2001 2.3 Petrol. We removed one of the rear seats and carried a large Dog Cage there, on top of which we could strap luggage using a net.
Your budget / age requirement would rule out all but the highert milage Diesels (200K +). The Petrols will go to the highest road tax under the new changes (£455) unless you can find an X-reg. I have to say though that the Galaxy was the most unreliable car I have ever had (and was a regular bottom end performer on the JD Power Index). There is an excellent website for owners. The early Galaxy only had a centre lap belt, OK if you're using a baby seat, bad for older kids.
Some other choices for reliability, Toyota Picnic, Honda Stream, Kia Karens (early models), Mitsubishi Spacewagen, Mazda Permacy.
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Citroën Synergie - or "syringe" in the trade :-)
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FIAT Multipla - 107 under £3k currently on Autotrader.
56k mile W plate for under £1500.
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HI AshT,
on ebay last night and saw a 1996 Espace (petrol though) at £1000. It is in the NE of England, but if interested, go to ebay, click on auctions in the buying preferences and put in TS25 as the postcode and it should come up. It may fit your bill. As an aside, it isn't my car, not anyone I know, was just daydreaming last night whilst the wife was snoring (sorry, just resting her eyes).
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Thanks for the advice and suggestions everyone - I think an older Galaxy, Synergie, or 806 will fit the bill. Are there any major differences between the 806 and Synergie? Based on my experience with the 306 (over 200k miles on the clock, still running perfectly) I'd prefer the 806.
Not keen on an Espace to be honest, had a Renault a few years back and the reliability was not impressive. Older Japanese vehicles don't appeal either - had a Nissan some time back and the cost and availability of some parts was offputting. I looked at a couple of Multiplas this afternoon on ebay - not keen on the seating arrangement as you only get 6 seats.
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Get a Zafira. £2,500 will buy you a clean tidy example and it will cost you a lot less to run than a big car.
As to size my 18, 15, 10 and 8 yr old still fit in comfortably with one of the seats down so your's will have a good few years life in it.
You also get to take the seventh seat with you - ideal when you go and visit the MiL as she can then come out with you too :)
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Anything big with a large petrol engine in can be had for very little money at the moment.
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Get a Zafira... You also get to take the seventh seat with you - ideal when you go and visit the MiL as she can then come out with you too :)
Could you also get the dog in the OP specified if the seventh seat was occupied?
I guess it depends on the size of the dog but can't imagine anything bigger than Paris Hilton's handbag warmer fitting behind the rear most seats of a Zafira.
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A tall thin dog yes - otherwise solves the MiL problem!
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I looked at a couple of Multiplas this afternoon on ebay - not keen on the seating arrangement as you only get 6 seats.
??? But you specified 2 adults plus 4 children....which part of 2+4 doesn't make six ?
Plus a full width boot for the dog. I can understand why you don't like the Multipla but to ask for a six seater then say you don't like a six seater ?????????
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Plus a full width boot for the dog. I can understand why you don't like the Multipla but to ask for a six seater then say you don't like a six seater ?????????
A Multipla is the wrong sort of six-seater if you have 4 kids, 'cos the stupid new EU regulations mean you aren't allowed to drive with a kid under 12yo* in the front seat ... so you have four kids fighting over the three rear seats. Not good.
* I think it's 12yo, but no doubt someone knows the rules more precisely
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As I understand it the rule is that you can't have a kid under 12 (or under a specified height) in the front unless they are in an appropriate seat. The seat is the key thing.
www.childcarseats.org.uk/law/index.htm
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Any seven seat MPV will do the job *provided* the rear two seats fold down (or come out) separately so you can fit the dog cage (I *think* some of the Japanese 7-seaters fitted a two-seat bench in the rear).
Child seats aside, the Multipla may not be a contender as the boot space is very shallow and tall. Fine for piling in suitcases stood on end, not so good to fit a labrador...
Check first if you can get a cage big enough for the dog, get its dimensions, and take a tour of a few dealers' lots to get a feel for what cars meet your needs. The usual sound backroom advice holds: at the age/mileage you'll be looking at, buy a car in good condition, don't get too concerned with what model it is.
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have a look at the Honda Shuttle as well, quite a few under the 2.5k mark. Bulletproof engine and build. Only come in a petrol automatic version though, can be a bit thirsty if you like to press hard with the right foot!!! Also quite a nice drive. We have had one for the last 3 years and can't fault it (other half is a childminder so normally had 3 or 4 kids in it). Only down side might be room for the dog, with 3rd row of seats in place (they fold into the boot floor if not required), but still think it might be worth a look at.
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i had a shuttle for 3yrs and agree the thing was faultless and bullet proof.
plenty of space and well put together. pretty quick aswell with 150hp.
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Just an update to this - after weeks of looking at cars that weren't worth half the asking price, and being messed around by more than one seller on Ebay, we looked at the £500 and under section in the local paper. We saw a Fiat Ulysse last week, viewed it on the weekend, drove it, inspected the documents, made an offer, and I'm now the owner of a 1998 2.0 S. A month's tax, 8 month's MOT, some service history, recent clutch and tyres. Paid £450, so we've enough to put aside some money for repairs. So far, so good - no problems, it drives well, and the kids and dog are all safely accommodated. Not tried fitting the MiL yet though! Thanks again to all for the advice.
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The Ulysse is a Citroen/Peugeot badge-engineered car, so you'll find lots of bits in scrapyards and pattern parts in motor factors. Probably not a bad choice, and if you get 18 months out of it then you'll have done well. £450 is probably rock-bottom for that model with any decent length of MoT, so no depreciation to worry about!
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