My mother-in-law is a sort of upmarket minicab driver in London and drives a Hyundai Trajet V6. Well, she did until an accident has probably written the car off. I won't bore you with the details, as I am not sure of them myself.
Anyway, she will have almost no money for a deposit for the replacement, but at least she had GAP insurance to cover the difference between the expected payout and the amount owing on the finance.
As you know, SWMBO has a diesel Trajet and we may let MiL have this on a soft loan. Our Trajet is only 14 months old so MiL is getting the benefit of a professional son-in-law!
So the question is....
Frankly, we probably don't need a car the size of the Trajet, but seven seats is very handy. We want automatic and whilst diesel would be handy, we probably only do 10,000 miles pa, so its not vital. So we are looking at the following vehicles: -
Zafira
Verso
Grand Scenic
is there anything else, and are there any recommendations regarding these vehicles including best value spec and engine/gearbox combinations? Any other comments (and no, you can't become my MiL!)
TIA
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Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
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E,
I despise the Zafira with a passion. To be fair, I'm basing this on the original one but I don't know how I managed to stay awake for so long it was that boring. Test drive one and see but I know they made revisions on the facelifted one.
You'll be buying new I take it, in which case, I'd say Grand Scenic. Best looker, probably the best toys, and the most interesting.
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I realise that isn't all that helpful but as a friend I had to share my experience with you.
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Oh and BTW we are also looking at the Avensis Verso which was last sold new about a year ago.
How do I get to see the technical specs as they are not on the Toyota website.
Adam, Yes, may buy new, but would also consider used if the spec was right. Only bought the Trajet new, because it was the facelift model and the older model did not have seven, three point seat belts. That is vital in a seven seater IMHO.
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Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
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E, I despise the Zafira with a passion. To be fair, I'm basing this on the original one but I don't know how I managed to stay awake for so long it was that boring. Test drive one and see but I know they made revisions on the facelifted one. You'll be buying new I take it, in which case, I'd say Grand Scenic. Best looker, probably the best toys, and the most interesting.
Buy a Renault brand new are you mad? Might as well burn £10 notes at the bottom of the garden. Nothing at all wrong with the Zafira, might not sent your pants on fire but it does what it says on the tin.
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Wot no Corolla Verso (7 seats, fold flat into the floor)?
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I will let you kinow what the 7 seat touran is like when i get it next week.
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Thanks RF. We had a look at the Touran before we bought the Trajet and with seven seats in place there was room for a box of hankies.
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Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
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>>So we are looking at the following vehicles: -
Zafira
Verso
Grand Scenic <<<
Which part of Verso do you not understand?
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Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
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Not sure if it's out yet, but the Verso (formerly Corolla Verso I think) is getting a new more powerful diesel engine. Worth buying new to get that if you can. Probably better to drive than a Zafira and less of a gamble than the Scenic (unless you live near a good Renault dealer).
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I would recommend the Grand Scenic but echo previous comments about not buying it new. There are loads of 6 months to a year old doing the rounds for huge savings!!
Note however that it does not have a spare wheel - only comes with some foam. For a woman driver, that may actually be the better option?
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An associate has a new Verso 7 seater (approx 9 months old) and had the previous Corolla Verso before, he recently had a Zafira hire car, old model 1.8, and commented that while it looked dated inside and out compared to the Verso it handled better, was faster and more fun to drive.
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Girlfriend's grandparents had a current-model Renault Scenic from new until earlier this year. They replaced it at 2 1/2 years before it came out of warranty because of persistent electical faults which the dealer couldn't fix.
After many years of driving Renaults, the replacement is a Corolla Verso with which they're very pleased.
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>>So we are looking at the following vehicles: - Zafira Verso Grand Scenic <<< Which part of Verso do you not understand? -- Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
Oh, it's just called Verso now. D'oh!
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Yeh, took me a while to realise. The Avensis Verso and Corolla Verso when phased out when the seven seater Verso (in between size) was released.
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Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
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How about a pre-reg kia sedona.
v.similar to trajet.
ok its a kia - and the diesel version is sloppy.
and yeah you have crap paint work, expensive parts and poor residuals.
but they are v.reliable. and for that reason alone they are a better choice than most european brands.
a hyundai matrix - while a big step down from a trajet - in 1.6 petrol version is adequate. u still get to feel high up - plus u have great visability. and the later ones have better build quality (compare a 02 plate with an 04 plate - try pulling everytihng off and the 04 will be a lot tougher, so im told! maybe another case of a manufacuter not telling peope about slight mods.)
u wont be dissapoint with a matrix - prices are excellent.
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I really wouldn't recommend you get an Avensis Verso, they were based on the old avensis and make the idea of a owning a mondeo TDCi seem pleasant.
The corolla Verso is much better but the rear two seats are for kids or short journeys only.
If you want any more info on the toyota side of things give me a shout.
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