Sorry folks, but I need some advice...
Following the arrival of baby no.3, I am now considering getting a weekend car for the family as the Vectra estate is just not big enough. Therefore, I have a list of requirements:-
6/7/8 seater
petrol or diesel - no fancy diesel systems though
auto or manual - no fancy stuff here, just something reliable
Must have sliding door for access to seats
I'm thinking Kia Sedona, Chrysler Grand Voyager, am also looking at American Dayvans, eg GMC Safari, Chevrolet Astro.
Budget is the critical factor - from £1k upto about £2.5k ish
Now does anyone want to suggest to buy, suggest to avoid, things to look for?????
All help greatly received, just don't suggest I buy a Mondeo.....:-)
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Based on what I've read over the years here - Kia is the way to go. Check out Technical on Chrysler Voyager - barge pole scenario.
Edited by Pugugly on 16/09/2009 at 22:33
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my mate has a gmc safari. he had to park it up in his workshop because getting bits from the states was getting more and more expensive, it drank petrol like it was going out of fasion and his kids had trashed the crappy american 'quality' interior plastics.
a guy at work has a kia sedona and is happy with it. it is a budget car at a budget price.
a friend had a voyager and hated it, kept breaking down and bits falling off.
you pays your money and takes your choice.
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yeah, have read the CBC and even the Kia has its problems, but I guess that comes with the banger money territory!!
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Yep, Kia Sedona.
I'd avoid Espace, but the 806/Synergie/Useless of the same model weren't a bad motor at all.
Slightly smaller...Berlingo, Kangoo.
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806/Synergie/Useless
I like the corruption of Ulysses!
Avoid extra cheap FIATs in black, a big private hire firm in London had a lot of these on their fleet, most of them registered with a DU prefix. Once they were sold on, a lot of subsequent owners scrimped on maintenance - so these vehicles tend to be particular dogs.
Hth.
Dave TD
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Have a look at Mazda 5. If it is too new then look at the previous model Mazda MPV
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I thought Mazda5 but it was too new for the price. Forgot about the previous model.
But whether or not it's big enough is down to the OP.
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I had a Useless for a few weeks before replacing it with the Espace - it wasn't bad - certainly not useless - and if it hadn't been for the fuel bills I might not have replaced it. I think we paid around £500 for it.
I find the Espace is much better to drive, and until the last MOT it proved very cheap to run, but the Ulysse was comfortable enough, had more space inside and was faultless for the few weeks we had it.
The sliding door's a plus but not essential for us as our kids are at an age where they can get themselves in and out and get their own seatbelts on. That said I usually leave the middle seat in the second row out for easier access to the back seats.
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It has been claimed that sliding doors(particularly on the offside) are unsafe-they encourage rear seat passengers to leap out into passing traffic.With a conventional door,most people would be more careful.
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Are sliding doors really necessary?
I have 3 kids and an MPV, which doesn't have sliding doors. I have never had any problems getting them in and out, so while it might initially be appealing, I am not sure how vital it would be for day to day life. It also limits what you might be able to find.
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I have had an MPV with standard doors and rented them with sliding doors. Much prefer sliding. Easier to get in and out in a car park and the kids need help to close them so you always check if the seatbelts are on properly etc.
With three kids MPVs are useful, but if the children are happy with each other, a Berlingo is actually more useful, cheaper to run and nicer to drive.
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I can support the recommendation for the 806/Synergie/Ulysse, having run an ancient, high mileage 2.0 petrol Ulysse for a while recently.
The only mechanical item I had to replace was the idle control valve, a 5 minute DIY job having bought the part off fleabay.
The car had just under 150k miles on it, and ran very sweetly. Always surprised my how perky it was for a big vehicle. My son loved the view from the back seat.
They were based on a commercial vehicle's running gear and are pretty durable and easy to service/fix as a result. I quite miss mine. In some ways it was a much nicer drive than our current, and much more "modern" VW Touran 2.0 TDi.
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well, what can I say? Once again the backroom comes up with the answers!
So, the Uselesss/806/Synergy (lets spell it right, this is england....!!) aren't as bad as we are led to believe, so they're on the list.
As for the comment abou sliding doors, the problem is in car parks, opening the doors to let the kids in is often a challenge, its bad enough me trying to get in!!, so thats the whole point.
So I'm keeping an eye on evilbay, and autotrader and hopefully something will appear!
thanks for the responses folks!!
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Mrs ND drives a Sedona.
Plenty of space, a little bit of boot (get a pushchair/pram in) and very comfortable.
With the 3 kids in the back we have driven to South of Benidorm in Spain from Norfolk. Kids perfectly happy. If you can get one with a built in DVD then you will find it even better if going on longish trips :)
MPG? around 30 - 35 on diesel.
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Another vote for Synergie/806. We had a Synergie that was very reliable - replaced it with a C8 6 years ago, and that's still fine. Wifey insisted on sliding doors for car park use.
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had an 806 diesel for 7 yrs ? (P - 52) did around 150k, then started to become expensive, new clutch new engine eventually swapped for an Espace, had more trouble in 6 months than I did in 7 yrs. Don't know what you'd get for that price thou -100k car?
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