I have been looking out for a new car - 7 seater, fold down (rather than lift out extra seats), sliding doors, not too gigantic but not too small (must carry as much luggage as my Saab 9-5 estate)...nothing seems to fit the bill, or at least anything that gets anywhere near decent reviews. I don't understand why more cars don't have sliding doors??
We currently have 2 children, and getting them in and out of the car seats in tight parking spots (as most seem to be in the UK) is a complete nightmare - you are constantly worrying about bashing other car doors, and I have had to reverse out of a spot in one Waitrose car park before I could open the door enough to fit the car seat in. This meant leaving the baby sitting in its car seat on the car park floor!! not ideal!
any ideas on why more manufacturers don't put in sliding doors? any ideas on any cars that fit my criteria (only one I have come up with so far is Chrysler voyager or citroen C8 but both seem to have rubbish write ups)
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Mazda 5?
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OP needs a big boot and 7 seats. I would think using the rear most seats reduces boot space. But he should take a look at least.
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New Kia Sedona with electric sliding doors and folding rear seats. very nice to drive as well.
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OP needs a big boot and 7 seats. I would think using the rear most seats reduces boot space. But he should take a look at least.
Yes but OP also requires fold flat seats, and won't get that in a C8/Peugeot 806/Fiat Ulysse. Dunno about the Voyager, but I would imagine not also.
The 5 is the only one I can think of. If there are any others I'd like to know in case we ever need to replace our Touran!
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Sliding doors need a much more complcated mechanism and also encourage people to leap out into traffic without thinking.
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>>Sliding doors need a much more complcated mechanism and also encourage people to leap outinto traffic without thinking.
Indeed, this is why sliding doors are only used on expensive, high status, and desirable vehicles like my 2003 Peugeot Partner Combi. That complex mechanism--I believe Peugeot makes them from hand-whittled ingots--really impresses the ladies too.
The stepping out into traffic thing is an interesting point though. Swing doors create extra vehicle width when they are open, so drivers give the car a wider berth. Passengers are no more likely to step out into traffic from a sliding door than a swing door, but the traffic could well be closer.
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I agree the Mazda5 is a good suggestion. I like my Mazda6 a lot but don't need so many seats. The seats in the Mazda6 are Karakuri too. Pull a lever in the boot and you have a flat load space with no need to lift the seat base. Very clever.
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I had a look at a friends and the boot seems a bit small even with seats out...by the time we have pushchairs etc in, there isn't much room for anything else
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(only one I have come up with so far is Chrysler voyager or citroen C8 but both seem to have rubbish write ups)
I supose the reason they have 'rubbish write-ups' is that most motoring journalists do not live in the real world. They prefer the Nurburgring, and such places of irrelevance to the likes of you and I. Take that into account when reading write-ups.
For what it's worth, our C8 (bought new 5 years ago as a replacement for a Synergie - also has sliding doors) has been very good, such that Mrs BB will not consider any replacement without the sliding doors, which, as the OP points out, does narrow the choice somewhat (and makes choosing easier?) At present the replacement for our C8 will be ... another C8!
Current new cars with sliding doors:
Peugeot 1007 (bit on the small side)
Citroen Berlingo/Peugeot Partner (both old and new models)
Mazda 5 (the most car-like of the lot)
Citroen C8/Pug 807/Fiat Ulysee
Kia Sedona
VW Caravelle (bit van like)
Mercedes Viano (ditto)
Hyundai i80 (ditto)
Edited by boxsterboy on 31/07/2008 at 18:46
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We liked the mazda 5 - not too big and sliding doors are a huge plus when you have kids in seats. However, with number 3 on the way I don't think the 5 will be quite big enough for 3 seats, double buggy etc so we are looking at getting an S-Max.
the S-max looks good except for:
1 - no sliding doors
2 - cheap and gimmicky 'aircraft style' handbrake
3 - fake air vents all over the place - look at then up close, they are so naff!
Despite the above the S-max does have some good points and we will probably be buying one later this year.
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I once saw a Chap (in the village) sitting in his car and his drivers door was 50 yards down the road. An act of carelessness in opening it when a car was passing.
If he had been driving a front sliding door model and had stepped straight out...What if someone steps out and stumbles flat out onto the road, without a door to hold on to?
A conventional front door, opened carelessly, at least gives warning of a few seconds to approaching traffic, with the driver or passenger still safely in the car.
Also an electric motor powered front door could fail either shut or open.
A severe electrical short out and fire could be an issue closed, as could a fail open in the rain 200 miles from home.
What price KISS?
Edited by oilrag on 31/07/2008 at 19:43
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Perhaps it has improved in the last few years but the early Voyager, built in Austria by Steyr I think, only had a 1 * NCAP rating, unless it was actually Null Pointes! I don't recall! I thought that for the size of the thing 1 * was a pretty poor result.
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Thinking abut the whole business of opening doors, surely it would not be too expensive or complicated to fit as a safety feature 3 or 4 flashing LEDs - White to the front, red to the rear -into the edge of a sliding door so that they blink when the door is being opened/stay on until it's closed again? Couple of wires to the courtesy light switch and Bob's your uncle.
In fact, a red light showing to the rear for ALL hinged car doors wouldn't add too much to the light pollution of a typical urban street and might prevent a few collisions.
I remember the first car I saw with red lights in the door edge, which was a Lada 1200, about 30 years ago...
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"the first car I saw with red lights in the door edge, which was a Lada 1200"
Which probably tells you something about Russian driving habits! I quite like the Japanese habit of placing a rear door on the nearside only - seems sensible to me.
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hmm, excellent info, thanks. good point about the write ups too...I guess if you read all write ups on any car there are bound to be some criticisms in there somewhere.
I do like citroens generally - Dad used to have a Xantia which lasted forever (until the pneumatic suspension collapsed while he was driving along!). will maybe go along and do a test drive of the C8 and see how it goes!
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what you want is scissor doors. Now. that's the dog's.
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