2nd hand 7 Seater People Carrier?

Arpa

Help!

I know this may be the most boring of car choices but I need something for the family runs. Issue is...my budget is about €4000 - €6000. Obviously second hand, preferably Diesel. Have found a few possibles on the car sites...but I have never looked into buying a people carrier before and my head is dizzy. Some say Citroen Picasso, others the Vauxhall Zafira, Ford Galaxy, Renault Espace...there's so many and it might come to down to budget eventually but I need advice. I would love something practical but still with an interior or drive feel that doesn't make me want to clench my knuckles on the wheel for having made an awful choice. Please help boardsies.

George Dalton

If you can find a good Alhambra/Galaxy/Sharan 1.9TDI then they are definitely the best option for your budget in my opinion.

The hard part is finding a good one. A lot of them get awful abuse and minimal maintenance so you need to be very careful or you can end up with a money pit.

Cee-Jay-Cee

Are you doing big mileage? If not then I recommend a Toyota Corolla Verso 1.6 petrol. They do 40mpg easily and more on long runs, are cheaper to tax and have low maintenance cost and very reliable engines that generally never give trouble. They are also available in 1.8 petrol which are nippier with the same running costs and same fuel economy.

Arpa

Nah, the mileage will be minimal. Around Dublin, to the shops, family/friends etc. I just wanted a 7 seater because there will be two baby seats, the other half and that leaves very little space for granny in a standard saloon. Nippiness is not a major factor considering the above, it will just be used for lazy city driving and the odd run on the M50 so nothing too taxing, but would still like it to have a little bit of a kick.

I like the idea of the Toyota for its reliability. I had a Yaris in the past and never had an issue. (I have to improve my car history coolness factor) but necessity demands practicality.

Also came across a couple of Galaxy's within my budget but as you said George, have to be careful not to buy a piece of scrap metal. Thanks for the heads up.

Will keep looking...a lot of people seem to be warning against the French cars for some reason.

George Dalton

As already posted above if you aren't doing much mileage then you may be better off getting a petrol. With any €4-6k diesel MPV you will run the risk of expensive bills like turbo or dual mass flywheel replacement. The same money spent on a petrol MPV will get you a newer and/or lower mileage car which also has the added bonus of having less parts to go wrong, eg no turbo so no turbo repair bills! The trade-off is higher fuel costs but if you aren't doing the mileage this won't be that big an issue.

A Mazda 5 should be available within budget and could be a good option.

MAJJ

With the driving your better with a petrol. Would others agree?

Then that will narrow it down a bit.

Arpa

Ok sounds good. Petrol it is then. Thanks lads...I'll have a look at the Mazda 5 as recommended. I'm just trying to take into account a couple of factors...cost being the main issue as my wallet will be dry by the end of the month with two kids, mortgage, bills etc, but also because there'll be two kids safety is an issue, so I'm gonna have a look at the ncap rating too.

Hopefully the saving made initially will allow me to splash out on something more fun in the future so I don't feel my gonads have been removed completely.

Any other suggestions are appreciated, but for now I'm off to do some comparisons with the info you guys gave...cheers!

supervento

might be worth considering... surely good value

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/4748953

TheBlock

I just picked up a Toyota Corolla Verso last week that I'm very happy with. Looked at all the usual suspects, Mazda 5 (Didn't like the Middle Seat, and believe the sliding door can give some trouble) Grand Scenic (was nice but Mechanic mate didn't have a lot of good things to say about them). Would have liked a Galaxy or S-Max but budget wouldn't allow. I reckon you should get a decent 06/07 in your price range for cash.