Which people carrier?

hoanymole

Hi everyone,

I am in the process of buying a second hand people carrier. And to be honest I haven't a clue about cars and would love your advice on which one to go for.

For my budget (c €5k) I am looking at older (08/09) motors. It would be for low enough mileage, school run and maybe some longer distances at the weekend, nothing crazy.

Most popular seem to be the Ford Galaxy or S-Max but harder to get within budget.

But there are some tempting bargains of the Opel Zafira, Citreon Picasso and Renault Scenic. However, a couple of car sales people have put me off these. Can they really be that bad? I see plenty of older models on the road.

Any advice much appreciated.

Thanks,
Ed

NIMAN

Look out a Honda FRV if you can find one.

Great bus.
More a normal sized car than the big MPV.

Can seat 6 and sit have good boot space.

bazz26

First of all how many seats do you actually need and do you need to boot space also at the same time as carrying little people?

MPVs like the Galaxy are full size 7 seaters with a boot while MPV's like the Zafira are 7 seaters where the 3rd row of seats eat's into boot space if in use.

Gregor Samsa

Go an test drive a range of them. People carriers are about utility first and foremost, and you won’t know if they fit your criteria until sit in them.

For us, we needed 6 seats (2 patents, 3 kids, one grandparent), but we also had to fit a double buggy. The 2.0 tdci S-Max did it comfortably for us with just one of the 3rd row seats up. We could even squish the buggy in with the 7th seat up if necessary.

My wife had her heart set on a Quasqui +2 until we saw how small the 3rd row seats were and how the boot totally disappeard when they’re up. We didn’t even bother test driving it once we saw that.

The Picasso was just too tight on space for us, and the 1.6 litre engine that’s so commonly in it is too small for the size of the car, especially given that it’s ususlly laden down with people and luggage and we regularly transverse the country. That said, a friend of mine with 2 kids and a dog loves her Picasso, and the engine isn’t too small for her driving style and habits.

Your criteria might be different, so something else might suit better.

hoanymole

Thanks for the info, very useful.

We definitely need six seats as we have twins and two toddlers.

It sounds to me like the Galaxy or the S-Max are the way to go as the boot space is very limited in the others.

Any more info would be much appreciated.

Cheers,
Ed

Jaden

We have 4 kids, and the FRV was the logical choice.

It drives like a car, and not like a van with windows, which is how other MPVs feel (I'm looking at you Hyundai Tragedy).

Fit's 6 easily, with good boot space for a double buggy. The only issue is that you won't get one newer than 08 when they stopped making them.

It will break our hearts to give ours up, we're squeezing every last bit out of it we can.

eldamo

we have a zafira and I think it is great,
but, we only have two kids,

My wife minds an additional 2-3 kids a day or two a week, and then it is a really tight fit. Practically zero boot space.

Bawnmore

We've a Zafira too, but only 2 kids. Carried 2 adults and 4 kids last week, and had plenty of room for buggy and bags with one of the seats up in the back row. Almost zero room if all 7 seats are used though so keep that in mind.

Haven't had it long, but love it so far. 06 and picked up on the lower end of bangernomics money.

NIMAN

Jaden wrote: »

Fit's 6 easily, with good boot space for a double buggy. The only issue is that you won't get one newer than 08 when they stopped making them.

Honda made FRV up until 2010, did they not?

wingnut

Galaxy or Touran seem to be the most reliable options

js35

NIMAN wrote: »

Honda made FRV up until 2010, did they not?

They did I’ve seen a few 2010 registered ones around

Mc Love

Ed* wrote: »

Thanks for the info, very useful.

We definitely need six seats as we have twins and two toddlers.

It sounds to me like the Galaxy or the S-Max are the way to go as the boot space is very limited in the others.

Any more info would be much appreciated.

Cheers,
Ed

S Max can seat three seats with isofix in the 2nd row. which is handy, but yeah it seems like you'll need the extra row

wingnut

Mc Love wrote: »

S Max can seat three seats with isofix in the 2nd row. which is handy, but yeah it seems like you'll need the extra row

Go for the Galaxy for sure over the smax if you will be permanently using one of the rewards seats.