Hi
Mrs G (who has never forgiven me selling our Merc CLK for my Jag XJS) is now looking to replace our big MPV.
Currently it is a Mitsubishi Grandis, as 7 seaters go, one of the best, but too big, and too thirsty to be worth taking off the drive these days given that we rarely if ever need the extra seats these days (though i did yesterday).
Looking to change it for something smaller, under 15ft to be usefully so. It needs to be something that has been around a few years so that we can find a 2 - 3 year old one.
The children are growing up, the eldest (18) rarely comes with us, and the youngest (9) no longer needs booster seats.
The number of occasions that we need 6 or more seats is now very small, and on those occasions we could take two cars.
We want to be able to seat 5 in comfort and carry luggage for 5 in a small(ish) footprint. On looking at 5 seaters, even some quite big ones, it is clear that the centre seat in the back is not suitable for a long comfortable place to be, knowing that Mrs G misses terribly the Merc CLK (for occasions when children are not in tow) and that the Merc C Class is mechanically siimilar, I am suggesting a C Class estate. Budget of £10 - £12k should get us a tidy example od a 200CDi.
We have both seen merc B classes and the "format" looks appealing, plenty of space for 5, Merc levels of refinement, except reading www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?f=2&t=75...2 makes me wonder if they missed the mark on this, failing to deliver Merc levels of refinement in a 5 door format
Common sense tells me a Ford C Max would be a good bet, but Mrs G is seeking something a bit "plusher", and is NOT keen, can't even get her to look at them on Autotrader. Golf Plus doesn't seem to come with full leather and all the toys (judging by current EBAY and Cargiant offerings).
Incidentally, we did look at the new Pug 5008, on the basis that if it raised the bar considerably we might talk to the dealer about trading in the Grandis, but the Grandis has leather seats, DVD etc etc, and we were getting in to £22K territory on the 5008 and the material qualities here and there felt cheap and not very nice compared with the 3008. If it had been aroud long enough to get a 2 year old used one the 3008 would be very interesting indeed.
so whats around in the Merc / Jag area of plushness and luxury, that really does seat 5, and is under 15ft? Anyone carry 5 people in a Merc C Class estate? or BMW 3?
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Passat is pretty wide inside.
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Most cars you are considering have a lump in the middle of the back seat where the fifth person would sit. We had the same problem when deciding we wanted more space than the Outback and ended up with a seven seater XC90.
However your answer may be the Mercedes A-class. It fits all five of us quite well even for longish journeys and four people in some comfort. You can get it with lots of toys and is much nicer than the B-class.
Ah - forgot to read about luggage - then you are looking at an estate unless you buy a small MPV.
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Skoda Octavia estate, Laurin & Klement spec? They usually have leather and all the works.
But if Mrs GG won't look at a Ford, I doubt she'd be happy with a Skoda. Which is an incredible shame and illustrates nicely the other thread about badge snobbery, if my assumption is correct. There can't be many plusher feeling places than an L&K, and at a bargain price in comparison with over-rated, over-priced things like C Classes.
Not having a dig at the good lady by the way, my missus suffers from a similar affliction. Hates Fords and estates (which are naff apparently), despite the fact that the best, most useful, most reliable car we ever had was a Mondeo estate.
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Skoda Octavia LK is a good suggestion, she'll be fine with the idea, it is not a badge issue but all the focus based variants have a cheapness about the materials that she detects, I'll have a look and see of there are any LKs around within reasonable distance. We had a Merc CLK as you know and that plushness of the materials and refinement of the drive she really liked.
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VW Touran? Ive cleaned one with a leather interior and it seemed quite plush plus three proper seats. Not a massive car either.
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Something like the Multipla? (Not sure how this will fit the "luxury" criterion - but it all depends on how you are defining luxury.)
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I'm no good with lengths, but how about a nice Jag X-type estate to pair with your XJS?
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X type is 4.7m long - 15ft 5 inches
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Make sure it's got parking sensors and the job's a good 'un. :)
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You would need to be good friends to be comfy with 3 in the back seat on an X type.
As with other similar vehicles the middle seat isn't a proper seat - it merely fills the gap between the two proper outer seats and has a seatbelt fitted to allow occasional use - and someone will have their back against the rear armrest.
On the plus side get one of the models introduced in September 2008 and anything above SE will have all the toys you could desire.
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The Merc B Class is a good choice. It's very spacious, more so than the C-Class, and nice to drive for one of these tall hatchbacks. The interior is also well designed and made, better than an A-Class if not quite as good as a C-Class. However you need to avoid the diesel models as they are like tractors. Also, the automatics I've driven have been CVTs so suffered the elastic band effect and I don't think they do a normal automatic. Best one I've driven was a B200 petrol with a manual transmission, a very nice car.
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