8/9 Seaters

rovoagho

I know this comes up semi-regularly, but I think it's been a while and it's my turn now. My first step is to make a list, I'd appreciate additions / amendments. The naming on these things is all over the shop, albeit mostly via retarded sales people.

• Merc Vito / Viano
• Volkswagen Shuttle / Caravelle / Transporter
• Ford Transit / Tourneo
• Opel/Vauxhall Vivaro / Renault Trafic / Nissan Primastar
• Hyundai H1 / Montana / i800
• Citroen Dispatch / Peugout Expert / Fiat Scudo

This is to suit 3 rear-facing seats plus an au pair, plus a double-buggy and ride-on and all the usual paraphernalia. I'm pretty sure what I'm looking for has to be van-based, none of the large MPVs seem to have boot space worth speaking of. I'm only interested in Irish or UK models, no Japanese imports.

Tips from people that have done this would be very much appreciated, I'm coming across hurdles at every step. Finding these vans is incredibly difficult because they get listed all over the shop on sites, and the names are used interchangeably. VRT quotes seem impossible. And the prices are bonkers, I was hoping for €5-7k but the prices have gone through the roof inline with used in general.

Some things are simply ridiculous, for example it looks to me like the Trafic-based vans all have "bus" or "minivan" tags appended to their names, even if they're vans. That's plain retarded.

kmc25_1

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/used-cars/citroen/dispatch-combi

http://www.best8seatercars.com/

colm_mcm

Have a look at the Hyundai Montana too.

rovoagho

AKA H1 and i800. See my point?

Thanks, I knew I was missing a main one.

colm_mcm

Keep in mind a caravelle is different to a transporter with seats. Also some are factory jobs and some are conversions.

Values of these are quite low in Ireland, will you really save by importing?

Ssangyong rodius might also fit the bill. They're rotten looking but they are massive and cheap.

rovoagho

kmc25_1 wrote: »

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/used-cars/citroen/dispatch-combi

Excellent, thanks. I spotted a Scudo the other day, didn't realise it and the Citroen and Peugeot were another badge-engineering number. Added to the list.

http://www.best8seatercars.com/

I'll have a look through this but it looks a bit spammy. Seems to be only a half dozen posts on it.

rovoagho

colm_mcm wrote: »

Keep in mind a caravelle is different to a transporter with seats. Also some are factory jobs and some are conversions.

Transporter isn't really correct above, I've just included it because a lot of sales people call them that, like the Transit.

Values of these are quite low in Ireland, will you really save by importing?

I did some searching earlier today and it really is quite depressing across the board. Our budget has gone from 5 to 7 to 10k in a week.

Ssangyong rodius might also fit the bill. They're rotten looking but they are massive and cheap.

I wouldn't be seen in one if it was my hearse.

colm_mcm

rovoagho wrote: »

Transporter isn't really correct above, I've just included it because a lot of sales people call them that, like the Transit.

Some of them are actually transporters though.

rovoagho

colm_mcm wrote: »

Some of them are actually transporters though.

They'd be the converted ones though, right?

colm_mcm

I think there are factory transporter passengers too called Shuttles.
Caravelle has moveable seats where transporter shuttle seats all face forward

I think older t5 caravelles were only swb?

rovoagho

Shuttle is just a brandname for a spec. They go Kombi > Shuttle > Caravelle > Multivan, but you don't get Multivans here and I don't think I've seen T5 Kombis either. Transporter is the base platform. [The one you can move the seats around in is the Multivan, but that's called a Caravelle in IE and the UK. The problem is that sales people over here are ignorant, so they call them one of these names randomly.]

rovoagho

Taking my own thread off topic now, but check out this T5 conversion from my bookmarks. Not really suitable for me at this point in time, I've just saved it for future reference.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIG9P0lB1iA&feature=youtube_gdata_player

colm_mcm

That is awesome!