Any advice on choosing a family estate car?
My missus and i have got a 4 month old baby and are fed up trying to fit all the baby stuff into a peugeot 306. The pushchair will only just get in the boot, let alone trying to get in all the other stuff.
We are therefore looking for a medium to large estate car that is reliable, loads of space, (flexibility with seats would be good), economical etc.
I hate to admit it but i have had a look at MPV's because of the flexibility and the load space (with the back row of seats out). It goes against every moan i have come out with about mums dropping off at school, their 1 kid in their espace.
So please help. My missus hates volvos, so i have no chance getting one of those, no matter how much sense it makes. Not a big fan of fords or vauxhalls, or french. Would prefer a Japanese if poss.
Budget is about £5k - £6k. Diesel would be good but economical petrol better.
Any (constructive :-) ) advice would be appreciated!
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Have you considered a Toyota Avensis or a Nissan Primera? (old shape in each case). There should be lots in your price range.
The Primera is supposed to be better-handling, but all the ones I've been in have far too harsh a ride for my tastes -- The Avenis is much more comfortable.
Otherwise, I'm sure lots of folks will be along to suggest a Mondeo :)
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You should buy.... a Nissan Primera Estate. It's not as good as a Mondeo Estate at all, but it isnt a Ford so you can keep telling yourself 'Its not a Ford!' as you glance at the cheap plastic interior to make you feel better, I guess.
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Have you driven a Picasso? They are the same size as a Xsara estate (also a possibility).
The Picasso has good reliability and capable of 50mpg with ease.
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I'd certainly look at midi MPVs rather than estate cars; from personal experience it is much easier to wrestle several Kg of stroppy toddler into & out of a zafira compared with an omega estate.
The extra height of the zafira middle seat makes it much easier on one's back than a lower slung estate car. My ex. neighbour in basingstoke has just got shot of her Picasso, on the basis that rear luggage is very limitedonce ou've got a buggy in there.
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MPV's of any size are better, simply because they are a little higher and so you do not ruin your back reaching in and out strapping junior in. Trust me! - I have three children aged 7, 5 and 1 and know what I am talking about....
An alternative is a car based van, such as the Kangoo or Multispace - they are a little higher than the cars they are based on, have huge amount of room and can be had with petrol or diesel engines. I have driven these and a Doblo on holiday fully laden and found them to be great a ferrying kids around at little expense.
Another alternative is the small 4x4 e.g. RAV4 or CRV, but these are expensive and thirsty and very popular. We had a CRV when we had two children and whilst I wasn't convinced, my wife was delighted.
--
Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
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What you want is clearly a Nissan Primera Estate. Don't let anyone put you off.
What you need, on the other hand, might be something else. It is probably an MPV. Probably a Zafira, but that's a Vauxhall - or a Picasso or a Scenic or Berlingo or a Kangoo. But they are French. At a pinch, an estate might do - in which case the two best ones to go for would be a Volvo or a Mondeo (a TDCi to be precise, but we'll not go there.) But you and your wife just have toooo many prejudices.
In fact, this is the problem with the Back Room. Too many people coming on and asking advice about what car to buy, who, because of irrational prejudices, *want* an MPV or a hot hatch or a coupe or a 4x4, when what they really *need* is a Ford Mondeo TDCi.
;-)
p.s. Best of luck. Do let us know what you get and how it turns out.
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p.p.s If you do want to explore the MPV route, for the sake of your back, you could certainly get a Mazda Premacy for that kind of money. Japanese, reliable, has tended to do very well in the JDPower owner satisfaction surveys.
You might just get a Toyota Corolla Verso, but they tend to start at about £6000.
You could also look at a Honda Stream. There are quite a few 2001 ones on autotrader at £5995
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Oh, and I forgot the Nissan Almera Tino. Also does well in JD Power surveys.
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Thanks for the advice guys, had considered the avensis, but will have a look at the nissans.
The ford thing goes back to my old man. One of his pearls of wisdom was to never buy a ford. I must say i have driven the mondeo (yes it was a TDCI) and was very impressed (ok laugh at me now) but i think that will be out of my price range.
Very funny re: plastic dash etc on nissan! I know my feelings about fords are probably now irrational!
My company has a focus TDI which i drive now and then and that is ok, but has a big turbo lag. Is this likely to be just a particular problem with our car or is it common on the focus TDI's?
Wish i could stretch to a couple of grand extra, but with the missus not working, that would leave me with naff all for other important stuff like beer!
As for the MPV, half of me wants to go for one, had seen the honda shuttle (but 2.3 litre auto petrol - thirsty?). Only problem is that my missus will end up being one of those women who drives a 7 seater but will only have one kid in it. (At least for a year or two anyway....but thats another story).
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Focus Tdi was the old engine, sounded like a skeleton having fun in a filing cabinet.
New TDCi engines are about the best you can buy.
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What about an Octavia? ten thousand million private hire car drivers cannot be wrong. But oh, have you considered a Japanese car?
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How about an early Mercedes C250 Turbo Diesel?
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The ford thing goes back to my old man. One of his pearls of wisdom was to never buy a ford.
This is becuase up until about 10 years ago, Fords were rubbish.
With the Mondeo and Focus, though, things are considerably improved and they are now sound, reliable buys.
As has been said, Focus TDI was the worst engine in the world, TDCi is leaps and bounds better. TDCi in the Mondeo better still.
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If you want a large Japanese diesel estate for £6k, your options are fairly limited: Primera or Avensis. Either would be an excellent choice.
I would also suggest the excellent Skoda Octavia TDI estate. My brother ran one as a company car for 3 years and was delighted with it. It was economical, spacious, very well made and very comfortable.
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My mate's Octavia TDI estate is significantly less roomy that a Mondy - but he tucks in with the lorries on the A14 on the 40 mile trip to work and has achieved 74mpg carrying 2 passengers!
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Late to this one, but another vote for the Octavia, we had a hatch and our pram fitted in lengthways in the boots, leaving lots of room for all the other stuff.
Good economy from the TDI, get the SLX or Elegance to get the climate control and all round leccy windows (we found rear electric windows with an override to be essential once number 1 figured out what the handle on the door does!)
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Sorry should have been more specific about the focus......i think it must have a TDCI engine in it because its on an 03 plate. I think we just have one that has either been poorly serviced or the turbo is on the way out.
As for the Skoda, yeah i have considered one of them. Some friends have them and they swear by them......only trouble is they seem to be rare as anything..........I think people are holding on to them. Can you get them for the money i have to spend......I have seen some but they have about 115000 miles on them, which i know is nothing to the engine, but its the turbo i would be worried about. How many miles are they good for?
As you can all probably tell, i am not a mechanic!!!!!!!
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Late to this one, but another vote for the Octavia, we had a hatch and our pram fitted in lengthways in the boots, leaving lots of room for all the other stuff.
I'd take the pram with you and try out a few cars for ease of stowage. Baby travel has come on some in the thirteen years since we were there but the ability to stow the "pushair" lenghthways was a huge bonus when we changed the BX saloon for an estate.
Endorse Espada's reccomendation of the Berlingo/Partner, though it probably fails the pushchair stowage test. Sliding doors must be a boon when strapping in recalcitrant toddlers and it has the new fangled baby seat mounts in the rear.
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Citroen Picasso 1.6 SX Y reg ish for your money in good order.
I have seen X reg ones at dealers for aroung the £4 to £5k mark.
FiL has the X reg which is great to drive. The only thing I don't like is the width of the windscreen pillars. They're no wider than usual but their position relitive to my head makes for a couple of blind spots that take some getting used to.
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