Scenic, C-Max or C4 Picasso?

rudboy

Hey guys,

Have to take the plunge (2 kids another on the way) and buy a mpv:mad:! 5 seater should do, probably around 9-10k, the wife drives a ford fiesta so she wants the C-Max. I swore i'd never get a Renault but people have been telling me most new(ish) cars are the same you can be lucky or unlucky, also Nissan have Renault engines in them...any advice/ideas/prejudices or other options appreciated. Cheers

El Kabong!

Scenic, I like them and had a Grand but you are taking a chance.
C4 Picasso.... again a bit of a chance, especially the 1.6 diesel. Family member has a Grand and has an oil leak now in the 1.6 around the turbo so a bit worried.

C-Max. Had one myself 1.6 petrol. Liked it alot. So if she is expressing an interest then go for it and be done with it.
Again, watch out for problematic diesels. might be cheaper in the long run to just stick with a petrol.

BenAndJerry

I'm in exactly the same boat as yourself - 2 kids and one on the way. Wife has a focus (which doesn't fit the two car seats and one boaster seat we have - perhaps it might fit different seats mind).

I am thinking of the 7 seater option to give some flexibility with having an extra passenger from time to time. Have you considered the C Max Grand? I like the idea of the sliding doors. I'm also considering the S Max but I believe a new model of it will be out in early 2015 - I don't like the idea of buying a car that's due to be upgraded in 12 months odd.

qashqai +2 is another option but again I heard it's due to be replaced soon.

Decisions decisions....

The_Honeybadger

Multimac.co.uk do a full length 3 or 4 child car seat that will go into the back of a normal car. Might be worth a look.

The scenic or c-max only have two and a half seats, the middle one is very narrow so make sure you try out the seats in the back of the car before you buy. The Picasso has three full seats. Kia careens might also be worth a look, the new model is nice if it's within budget.

Scottie99

We've had the Grand Picasso for five years, never had an issue.

shedweller

mickeyk wrote: »

Multimac.co.uk do a full length 3 or 4 child car seat that will go into the back of a normal car. Might be worth a look.
.

They are some job alright. The €1400 price tag hurts though!

rudboy

Didn't know that about the C-Max and Scenic only having half seats, cheers will look at that...

The_Honeybadger

shedweller wrote: »

They are some job alright. The €1400 price tag hurts though!

Yes they are expensive as far as child seats go but small beans in comparison to trading in a perfectly good car for an expensive new model and the depreciation that will come with that.

I would imagine they would have good residual value too in years to come once you don't need it any more. I don't have one but was considering it when we had our third child. My old car needed to go anyway as the boot space was inadequate so went for a mini mpv instead.

dr.fuzzenstein

rudboy wrote: »

Didn't know that about the C-Max and Scenic only having half seats, cheers will look at that...

They're more like a slightly fatter version of the Megane and Focus, not all that much extra space.
Can only talk for the CMax, I have the 1.8 TDCI, it would have to be the pre-08 on of those, because after that Ford took the insane decision to replace the indestructible timing chain with an oil-immersed belt, gave it a service interval of 200 k km and it fails after 100k km.
Has done 260k km so far, needed a clutch after 250 k km but besides an iffy fuel line and regular servicing, hasn't gone wrong.

shedweller

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

They're more like a slightly fatter version of the Megane and Focus, not all that much extra space.
Can only talk for the CMax, I have the 1.8 TDCI, it would have to be the pre-08 on of those, because after that Ford took the insane decision to replace the indestructible timing chain with an oil-immersed belt, gave it a service interval of 200 k km and it fails after 100k km.
Has done 260k km so far, needed a clutch after 250 k km but besides an iffy fuel line and regular servicing, hasn't gone wrong.

An oil immersed belt? Thats probably the worst combination in the history of engineering!

dr.fuzzenstein

shedweller wrote: »

An oil immersed belt? Thats probably the worst combination in the history of engineering!

http://touch.boards.ie/thread/post/67828082

Thread about it here, sorry for the mobile version.
Before that, no problem.

shedweller

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

http://touch.boards.ie/thread/post/67828082

Thread about it here, sorry for the mobile version.
Before that, no problem.

That made for an interesting read. So basically if a lad was going to buy one of those it would have to be from a ford dealer and you would have to get it in writing that there was a fsh.

dr.fuzzenstein

shedweller wrote: »

That made for an interesting read. So basically if a lad was going to buy one of those it would have to be from a ford dealer and you would have to get it in writing that there was a fsh.

It's what dealers do to get out of paying for the shoddy design of their chosen brand.
"Oh, you got lightbulb changed by another garage? Sorry, we won't do anything for you".
Which is why I won't go the new car route, in order to get anything out of them, I would have to get everything done by main stealer and unless the car is brand new and the damage is catastrophic, its not worth doing business with these greedy people.

Yakuza

BenAndJerry wrote: »

qashqai +2 is another option but again I heard it's due to be replaced soon.

+2 variant will disappear when the new Qashqai comes out next year (it's being merged into the X-Trail range) so the current (facelifted) and original +2s (09-11) are the only ones that'll be around.

Have you looked at the Peugeot 5008 or the Honda FR-V?

BenAndJerry

Thanks Yakuza.

No, I've not looked at either the Peugot 5008 or the Honda FR-V. My wife is a big fan of Ford (for no reason other than she has always driven them and is a creature of habit) so she favors the S Max.

I see Citreon are launching a new Grand Picasso c4 for the start of 2014 so I wouldn't mind seeing that - I'm not too taken by the photos I've seen so far mind.

Going to look at the S Max again tomorrow - need to make a decision soon as we need extra space for January.....

Zubeneschamali

BenAndJerry wrote: »

Going to look at the S Max again tomorrow - need to make a decision soon as we need extra space for January.....

S Max was best by miles when I was looking at these yokes in 2007, and I haven't seen anything new come out to catch it.

Mine is a 2.0, I don't think I'd fancy a machine that big with a 1.6 diesel.

dr.fuzzenstein

Zubeneschamali wrote: »

S Max was best by miles when I was looking at these yokes in 2007, and I haven't seen anything new come out to catch it.

Mine is a 2.0, I don't think I'd fancy a machine that big with a 1.6 diesel.

Waiting for the 1 liter petrol? ;-)

Zubeneschamali

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

Waiting for the 1 liter petrol? ;-)

I'd prefer the pedal-car version.

BenAndJerry

We're looking at the Zetec model which is 2 litre diesel .

Zubeneschamali - you ever have three car seats across the middle row of your S max? Going to bring our car seats to make sure they fit....

Don't really fancy putting one of the kids in the rear seats all the time as if someone goes in to the back of you there isn't much between the back of the car and the back of those seats.

Thanks guys.

Zubeneschamali

BenAndJerry wrote: »

Zubeneschamali - you ever have three car seats across the middle row of your S max?

Yes, there is shedloads of room. You can also push the chairs forward and back individually to stagger them a bit, makes it easier to get at the buckles.

Zoney

Are there any large family cars might do the job here as well? I'm sure there must be a reasonable choice out there, and they're not necessarily more expensive to run, look a bit nicer and don't have to be hard to manoeuvre tanks either.

I hope to avoid getting an MPV until more than 5 seats are needed. Have a Laguna atm (oldish, just a first car) and it fits three car seats/people across the back (so far tested only with 2 babies and an extra Mum!). The boot is big and accessible (buggy fits end to end in one side of it). There's also good legroom for adults in the back. If you leave some passengers at home, you can cart furniture home in it too (fold down one side or all of the back seats, big hatch to fit stuff in - brought a flatpack cot for example). It seems it's pretty safe too.

I'm sure the same is true of other similar car profiles (presume Mondeo liftback is like that for example).

dr.fuzzenstein

The CMax may be no Ferrari, but it's far from a tank.

Zubeneschamali

Zoney wrote: »

I hope to avoid getting an MPV until more than 5 seats are needed. Have a Laguna atm (oldish, just a first car) and it fits three car seats/people across the back (so far tested only with 2 babies and an extra Mum!).

If you fit in an estate, the Superb is, well, quite good.

But one bench seat moulded for two adult bums with a bump and folding armrest between is really not ideal if you want to put in 3 car seats. 3 individual seats are much better, which means an MPV or a Peugeot SW.