We have a budget of around £6000 if pushed and are looking for a replacement vehicle for our current car. As a family we drive about 8,000 miles a year, most of which is engaged in the school run. We holiday in the UK so it would be nice if the new (to us) vehicle has the capability to carry two adults, two children (aged 11yrs and 8yrs), one Labrador and all luggage for a journey of several hundred miles each way if necessary.
A large towing capability would be an asset, but this will put us into heavy 4x4 territory, an area that we're trying to leave due to congestion charges, the new London LEZ and other anti-4x4 legislation that is crippling us.
We're not bothered if the vehicle has electric windows, air-conditioning, a radio, central-locking etc as our present car has none of these things so we won't miss what we've never had!
The only essential criteria is that the drivers headroom must be in excess of 1030mm. (At a motor show I sat in the new Discovery 3 which has the drivers headroom listed at 1030mm. When I sat behind the wheel with the seat in its lowest position, the top of my head was touching the ceiling of the car). I have tried the older style Discovery, but the roof-line drops down onto the windscreen so as to make the vehicle dangerous for me to drive due to severely restricted front vision.
Unfortunately It's difficult to locate specific technical information about 'older' vehicles. manufacturers don't seem too keen to assist either. If anybody can suggest or recommend a vehicle that they may feel is suitable, it would be appreciated.
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I think you sit low in most Vauxhalls, so maybe you should sit in a Vectra and see if you're comfortable.
If you fit in an Octavia, you might get a newer one for your money, and both hatchback and estate have lots of room without being too long and unwieldy for the daily grind.
Maybe go to a car supermarket if there's one near you and try sitting in a whole lot of diferent cars.
Edited by Avant on 02/01/2008 at 23:04
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I'd get a supermini and hire something bigger for the holidays, probably work out cheaper that way
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re OP ppoint about older vehicle data, the AA site has a lot of old car tests with full dimension data for example.
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Parkers will give you dimension for some older cars to an degree, but not headroom - I'm not sure I've ever seen that on generic sites. It's well worth considering an Octavia estate diesel - if you can get a 130ps model in Elegance (or even L&K) spec you're getting a lot of car for the money, and the load space is huge. I always found them very airy inside but I can't say if the headroom would be enough.
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Nissan Cabstar double cab dropside (or tipper). Takes 6, all the luggage you need, and can tow a lot. No idea what the "congestion charge" or "LEZ" would be. Plenty of headroom. Not much bigger than an ordinary car, so easy to park. You should get a good y2000+ one for that price. Looks like great fun.
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Look at the Toyota Corolla Verso: lots of headroom.
madf
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For cheapness, reliability, headroom, luggage space, no thrills economy, reasonable comfort, practical city driving (dual sliding doors) you could do worse than look at the Balingo or sister variants. There has been several threads discussing the virtues of these cars. I think the diesel variants are favoured.
Not sure what the towing capacity is or what your requirements are (horsebox or boat or caravan?) but perhaps there is some room for compromise?
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Duncan, you got there before me - this is definitely pointing towards a Berlingo / Partner / Kangoo type vehicle as this will not only match the versatility required, but also won't be overloaded with luxuries either.
On a separate note, re the requirement to take luggage on holiday, always worth considering hiring a roofbox (for the luggage not the dog!) for that 2 weeks of the year if that then allows you to get a more practical, economical car for the rest of the year.
2007 Seat Altea XL 2.0 TDI Stylance
2005 Skoda Fabia vrS
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Citren dispatch/Fiat scudo/Pogeuot expert window van, a bit bigger than berlingos etc., lots of room, economical, often seen used as taxis, so they must be fairly tough. They don't look too bad, either.
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While I don?t know the exact headroom dimensions, I would be very surprised if the 2002 /2007 Mazda6 didn?t meet your requirements in this respect.
Models without a sunshine roof may be your best bet.
Clk Sec
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You can't be priced off the road if you have £6,000 to spend. You could achieve everything you say you need at a fraction of that price. Volvo 940, for example, at £1,000.
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You can't be priced off the road if you have £6 000 to spend...
I was thinking something similar myself..... Different perspectives, no doubt.
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Two cars which are not so popular, but very versatile, that I would suggest are;
Toyota Picnic (Ipsum), a six/seven seater, depending on the variant. This is a smaller MPV, sliding middle seats and removable rears, same engine as original RAV 4 in petrol form, so quite lively and good for towing but benefits from MAD spring assisters.
Hyundai Trajet, very versatile being a two to seven seater (the seats are cumbersome to remove, but it's not the kind of thing you would do on a daily basis, I would suspect). Somewhat larger than the Picnic, but as you are quite tall and your kids won't get any smaller, the extra room would be useful. A heavier car with a good stable footprint for towing, but also a bland and anonymous car, but if you want comfort and practicality, at a lower price, I can highly commend it.
Hyundai and Toyota do well in the reliability surveys. Both are available in diesel, but my experience is the petrol version of both.
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Priced off the road? I was expecting an unemployed single mother with three children living in the middle of nowhere in Wales who was struggling to find a replacement for her 15 year old Fiesta.
Not somebody looking for a gas guzzler! ROFL.
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Mods should rename the thread title. I though someone can't afford rising fuel cost any more ;)
On a serious note, did you consider Hyundai Tucson (Santa Fe is best but you won't get it for £6k and I think only the newer model has 7 seats)?
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Guys and Girls, many thanks for your suggestions so far. Point taken re: the 'priced off the road issue'. I accept that £6000 is a decent budget, but when penning the original thread, my mind was on the forthcoming £25 per day London congestion charge that my current vehicle will incur, as well as the not-too-distant London Low Emission Zone charge that would see me having to pay £100 per day for the privilege of driving from outside my house anywhere, at any time of day or night, 24/7/365. Apologies if any of you genuinely felt misled.
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