7 seaters

OldmanMondeo

Ok, I need to get a bigger car. To much rows in the back over room. It is time to bite the bullet and get a 7 seater. Now I am not to up on these, I know the Galaxy, S-max, Grand C-max and the platter of French mpvs and the Zafira. I was thinking of something around the 20k mark & diesel. I want to keep the tax down if possible, so nothing bigger than a 2ltr on the old tax system. I also want to steer clear of the French market and the Zafiras. What else is out there to suit my needs? It needs to be reliable as I am doing around 40k per year.

exador

SEAT Alhambra ! VW engine ..Not sure what price they are fetching but I know two people that had these and were happy with them. As far as I know they are 1.9 diesel VW engine

mcgarrett

exador wrote: »

SEAT Alhambra ! VW engine ..Not sure what price they are fetching but I know two people that had these and were happy with them. As far as I know they are 1.9 diesel VW engine

+1

On my 3rd Alhambra best car i've ever had.

exador

mcgarrett wrote: »

+1

On my 3rd Alhambra best car i've ever had.

are they cheaper second hand than the Galaxy ?

volvoman480

Before anyone laughs, I'm going to suggest the Kia Carens. I own one of these nifty little wagons and I wouldn't part with her for love nor money. She's due her first NCT in August and she's still under warranty. Apart from the mrs burning the clutch out of her while driving with her foot on the pedal, this car has been faultless for us. Ours is '07, just turned the hundred thousand mark, not massive mileage I know but aside from routine things like brake pads and the timing belt (done last week) this car has never left us down. I've found a couple of good '09 examples on autotrader for about 15-17,000. That's inside the new tax system too.

Just something for you to think about.

volvoman480

Before anyone laughs, I'm going to suggest the Kia Carens. I own one of these nifty little wagons and I wouldn't part with her for love nor money. She's due her first NCT in August and she's still under warranty. Apart from the mrs burning the clutch out of her while driving with her foot on the pedal, this car has been faultless for us. Ours is '07, just turned the hundred thousand mark, not massive mileage I know but aside from routine things like brake pads and the timing belt (done last week) this car has never left us down. I've found a couple of good '09 examples on autotrader for about 15-17,000. That's inside the new tax system too.

Just something for you to think about.

lods

Kia Carnaval or Sorento

volvoman480

In fact, the car is so good, I had to post it twice.......

OldmanMondeo

Cheers, forgot about the Alambra, it is on the same platform as the Sahran and Galaxy. I looked at the Kia's, well inside my budget, but feck me they are ugly. I know mpvs are not the best looking cars anyway, but I will be steering clear of the Kia's.

ninty9er

Left of centre and a little ugly...well...ugly

Ford Tourneo Connect - Lot of them used as taxis. You'd get a new one if you stretched the budget €3-4k.

Mitsubishi Grandis is the other one I always recommend on these types of thread and if I was spending my own money on an MPV it'd probably be a Grandis.

Rare enough. The only downer is that the 08 ones on Carzone are relatively poorer than the 09s spec wise. Probably worth the extra few quid or maybe get a 05/06 and save half of the money.

colm_mcm

+1 on the grandis

The alhambra is based on the old galaxy, which was pretty much based on the mid 90s galaxy, which means in terms of design is decades behind the current galaxy or s max.

crosstownk

I currently have a Citroën C4 Grand Picasso Exclusive. It's a great familymobile.

Plenty of space, three individual seats in the middle row. Massive boot space with the third row folded.

Airplane tables for the middle row passengers (kids love this). Pneumatic suspension in the rear that softens the ride and helps keep the little ones asleep on long journeys. Built in dog guard if you have a wuff wuff. Lots of driver bells and whistles too (auto lights, wipers, handbrake, cruise control, climate control, etc.).

It's a 2011 model, 1.6HDi EGS 110BHP, tax band B.

johnos1984

crosstownk wrote: »

Pneumatic suspension in the rear that softens the ride and helps keep the little ones asleep on long journeys. .

I think the salesperson told you some porkies

My sister has one and I agree with everything else you said.

LOVELY car to drive and be in

crosstownk

johnos1984 wrote: »

I think the salesperson told you some porkies

My sister has one and I agree with everything else you said.

LOVELY car to drive and be in

The Exclusive version has pneumatic suspension in the rear. The VTR+ has standard springs.

johnos1984

crosstownk wrote: »

The Exclusive version has pneumatic suspension in the rear. The VTR+ has standard springs.

My apologies , hers is a VTR+

Gophur

ninty9er wrote: »

...............

Mitsubishi Grandis is the other one I always recommend on these types of thread and if I was spending my own money on an MPV it'd probably be a Grandis.
....................

colm_mcm wrote: »

+1 on the grandis

.................

Be careful with a Grandis, they use the same VW 2.0 engine that was problematic in almost every installation. (assuming you are not considering the 2.4 litre petrol)

Yakuza

I've been driving a Qashqai+2 for the last 17 months, no issues so far (only put up 10k on it, though). You should get an '09 for around the 20k mark, but they are fairly rare. The diesel €302 to tax for the year (€156 for the facelift model that came out earlier this year), a 1.5l engine so insurance shouldn't be too steep either.

SomeGuyCalledMi

Very happy with my s-max. They are very cheap up north so I'm told.

SuperGrover

I recently bought a Mazda 5. Nice car, folding rear seats and all that. It's a 1.8 petrol, not sure if there's a diesel version.

Worth checking out...

DonJose

I've got a Galaxy thats 3 years old and just did 100,000km. Never had a single problem with it, just back from a 5,000km drive around Europe. The car is so spacious and comfortable. Advantage are it had 7 full sized seats, some MPVs have 5 full sized seats and 2 tiny seats in the back. All the back seats fold flat so plenty of room to fit stuff. I drove the Kia and Hyundia versions and they are like driving a tractor compared to the Galaxy. I've had people ask me was my Galaxy a petrol as the diesel engine is so refined. Test drive one, you won't find better.

coxy123

+1 for the Alhambra...brought one in from the UK three years ago - no issues whatsoever with it...slight tendency with squeeky brake sound but this is intermittent. 7 seats are the business-mine don't fold flat when not in use but this is only a minor irritant.

si_guru

I have a C4 GP - with Pneumatic suspension and EGS.. love it.

My brother has 2.0TDCi Smax.. loves it.

My Dad had an original Galaxy for 10 years! Now has a C4 GP with EGS. and loves both.

You need to look at middle row of seats.. some cars have 3 and some only have 2.5.. a problem if you have 3 baby seats. Or two baby seats and want to tip a side seat to get into row 3.

OldmanMondeo

Forgot about this thread. Thanks for the advise, but due to economic conditions, the kids will have to squeeze up for a while.