Looking for Family Car with 7 Seats

Furp

So we are looking for a new Family Car for my wife the budget is €20-25 so most likely it will be second hand which is my preference but my wife would prefer new. We have one car to trade in although value is probably only €1500 max.

It would be a cash purchase, but this is what we need. A Car that can carry up to 3 Adults including driver and 3 Children, 2 in booster seats ages 2 and 3 and one in a baby seat, plus all the paraphernalia that goes with young kids.

I was hoping that we could get a car but the more I look, chances are it will be an MPV.

I was thinking the Opel Zafira is a good choice especially because of the flexibility of the seats and that we might be able to stretch to buying one new but I'm not sure yet. Also I'm not adverse to going over to the UK and seeing if I could get a better deal on something else maybe the Ford S-Max.

Any other recomendations.

Henry Ford III

Your budget will take an S-Max out of the picture.

The problem with small or even medium sized MPV's (Zafira etc.) are that with all 7 seats in use there's very little room for any luggage, and my own view is that safety is marginalised (rear seats passengers heads are inches froom the back window).

Have a think about buying a used full sized MPV. A 2.0 diesel might be best?

prospect

Yipes,

Double post.

Sorry.

prospect

Agree with HFIII regarding boot space.
I have a colleague with a Renault Grand Espace (huge!) and it has no boot space when all seats are inposition.

One piece of advice:
Try sell your car privately. Even if you only get €1000 for it, you may be able to negotiate €2000 cash discount on a €20K-€25K car, so it is worth €1500 to you for selling privately.

Celticfire

Don't laugh but have you thought about a Ssangyong Rodius? Of all the 7 seater's we looked at in our price range this was the only one that could fit a buggy and a weeks shopping in the boot with all the seats in place.

You might be able to get a second hand one for the top end of your budget.

Guy:Incognito

prospect wrote:

I have a colleague with a Renault Grand Espace (huge!) and it has no boot space when all seats are inposition.

The only way I've found around that is to use them in 6 seater mode, that gives you a channel up the middle for luggage etc.

Course that goes out the window if theres 7 of you, but in that case you need to stop having sex and leave the house more.:D

crosstownk

I have an Opel Zafira. I'd no choice in the matter as it was a company car and I needed something with more than average boot space. The flexibility of the seats is good but could be better. The middle bench folds up and the whole middle seat slides forward. This, coupled with the rear most seats folded down makes for massive boot space - basically a van. I play in a band and carry 2 keyboards (one full size), associated stands and rack full of amplifiers - the whole lot weighs about 170kg and the 1.6 engine can pull it no bother. But it would be nice if the middle seat was 60/40 - the backrests are but the seat is not. Folding up the rear seats is a relatively simple affair, but like most 7 seaters, when all seats are in operation there is little boot space - you would have enough room for buggy, but not a whole lot more. You do have the option to use only one of the rear seats and still have a bit of boot space, but this is not really practical. All 7 seats are fitted with inertia reel seat belts and you will have to slide the middle seat forward in order to allow passengers into the back.

I'd say for you budget that the Zafira is the best bet - but if you plan to carry a lot of luggage/baby paraphenalia, then you could possibly consider a roof box.

I have a 1.6 engine, which has adequate power considering I drive the family around most of the time and don't need anything more powerful. It preforms quite well both in city driving and on motorways and doesn't suffer too much from strong crosswinds as some MPVs can. Driving around Dublin I get around 530 - 550kms from a tank (€55 approx to fill) and on long distance motorway driving I get about 700kms.

All in all its not a bad car and is well worth consideration if your in the market for this sort of vehicle.

Sorry about the long post - I hope it's of some help to you.

ninty9er

Every time something like this comes up I recommend the Previa. It actually has a gagantuan boot with seats in place (well you'll ahe to stack but It'll take a double buggy a cot and bags). You can drop one of the rear seats for extra load too. It's also the only MPV to come in 8 seater variant AFAIK.

Previa

The most practical option is probably a Merc Vito/V-Class though if you could find one

finnbar

We have 2 aged Landrovers, a 110 which seats 12(!) and a Discovery..mum's of course which seats 7. Great as both accom. kids separetly from shopping, prams, wet dog(irish wolfhound) etc. I would nt change to any other car now. Long gone are the days of 2 seater sports cars. Landrovers are great for camping and you dont get stuck and they are extremely safe. Great deals in auto trader. Good luck.

BrianD3

As regards safety of the 3rd row in a rear end collision - here's a crash test where a Renault Grand Scenic is rammed in the rear at 60 km/h with a 70% offset. As can be seen, the occupants of the 3rd row are well protected.
http://www.oeamtc.at/netautor/html_seiten/crashtest_heckcrash2004/heckcrash.html

But as the others have said with all the seats in place the boot is tiny. 200 litres in the case of the Grand Scenic which makes it smaller tha the boot in a Clio.

If you want to avoid this problem, a VW Caravelle might work!
http://cbg.ie/Car_detail.asp?CBGID=561625&ID=841905

Furp

Stekelly wrote:

The only way I've found around that is to use them in 6 seater mode, that gives you a channel up the middle for luggage etc.

Course that goes out the window if theres 7 of you, but in that case you need to stop having sex and leave the house more.:D

Thanks Stekelly...

I have thought of the SS Rodius and although this will be for my wife, the only reason really for the 7 seats is that we have two kids at the moment and the possibility of another one coming. So a five seater would be fine if it was just my wife and the kids, but if I want to be in the car as well we need a minimum of 5 full size seats, then there is the mother-in-law whom my wife needs to look after and that brings us to minimum of 6 seats and not much boot space.

We were also going to have a look at the Fiat Mulitpla, but when i mentioned Land Rover to my wife she would not feel comfortable driving a car that size.

So the dilemma now is that we need a car that can carry up to six be small on the outside and Tardis like on the inside!

Thanks for all the suggestions I'll add them to my research in the coming weeks.

unkel

finnbar wrote:

We have 2 aged Landrovers, a 110 which seats 12(!)

Dolmus, anyone?

finnbar wrote:

Landrovers ... are extremely safe

Eh? I'm afraid they're not safe at all. Probably one of the least safe vehicles on the market today. I'd rather hit a brick wall sitting in any modern supermini than in a Defender

unkel

Furp wrote:

We were also going to have a look at the Fiat Mulitpla

So did you have a look at one?

Furp

unkel wrote:

So did you have a look at one?

No not yet just building up a list of Cars to go look at, although I will be trying to evaluate as many as I can before we start going around to showrooms.


Also of interest is the Peugeot 307 SW, the Fiat Doblo, and the Toyota Corrolla Verso.

ninty9er

Furp wrote:

No not yet just building up a list of Cars to go look at, although I will be trying to evaluate as many as I can before we start going around to showrooms.


Also of interest is the Peugeot 307 SW, the Fiat Doblo, and the Toyota Corrolla Verso.

Both of these are 5 seaters really, though you can get 6 in a Corolla IIRC

prospect

ninty9er wrote:

Both of these are 5 seaters really, though you can get 6 in a Corolla IIRC

Peugeot 307SW is available as a 7 seater.

crosstownk

prospect wrote:

Peugeot 307SW is available as a 7 seater.

Correct, but the pain in the a$$ with the 307SW is that the rearmost seats don't fold flat in to the boot floor - in order to have a decent amount of boot space you have to remove them. Removing is a simple affair, but then you have to leave them behind you.

prospect

crosstownk wrote:

Correct, but the pain in the a$$ with the 307SW is that the rearmost seats don't fold flat in to the boot floor - in order to have a decent amount of boot space you have to remove them. Removing is a simple affair, but then you have to leave them behind you.

Agreed.
It is the 'affordable' option though.