Few years ago me and three friends got a taxi to the airport, 100+ mile trip in a Ford Galaxy, and all of us are around six foot and i was in the back and even the guy in the middle was perfectly fine with the Galaxy's seating. And you can trade a third row of seats for a bigger boot in most of them.

Not many around for that sort of price now though, a diesel one would be preferable, but you can probably get a petrol one for around a grand in decent nick.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201110381534418/sort/priceasc/usedcars/price-to/3000/body-type/people_carrier/model/galaxy/make/ford/radius/1500/page/1/postcode/ip119ad?logcode=p

You can find quite a few Toyota MPV's on auto trader for a low price. Estima's and Lucida's etc but most will be getting on a bit now but plenty of diesels for around a grand and Toyota's have a great reliability record.

A big saloon or something i think is fine for a short trip but just the fact you dont have the bump in the middle of the back seats on the floor in an MPV really makes all the difference in my view.

Sulphur Man- great idea there actually such a underated car! I am sorely tempted by this bargain motoring at its best;

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201113383093218/sort/priceasc/usedcars/price-to/3000/model/shuttle/make/honda/radius/1501/page/1/postcode/sw1a0aa?logcode=p