Hello, new to this forum.
My wife and myself are looking at getting a bigger car for our expanding brood, we have an eleven year old, a two year old and another on the way. Our Renault Clio is going to be too small. What i'd really like is a 5 seater but with 3 proper sized seats in the back, most 5 seaters have a pretty small middle seat in the back. Trying to avoid going down the big 7 seater route as we want to keep costs down and have about £10K to spend. Any ideas much appreciated.
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10K would buy my 52 VW caravelle TDI a bit bigger than you wanted but an economical and reliable family vehicle.
Mark
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I'd go down the Touran / Zafira route personally, we fit a 17 year old, a 14 year old and a six year old in a Zifra A without (much) squabbling.
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£7k should buy a nearly new Kia Magentis, diesel if you want it. Lots of room in back and a modern car in all respects. Not the greatest fun to drive (but nor is a people carrier) and a few hundered pounds will get you a towbar and cheap trailer for trips to the tip. They are robust and reliable and will have plenty of warranty on it. About a million taxi drivers in asia cant be wrong. We service a couple of these cars and all they ever need is fluid, filters and brake pads.
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£7k should buy a nearly new Kia Magentis diesel if you want it.
I like these too WT no nonsense roomy competent cars like many Japanese cars of a few years ago, why do you suggest the Kia version and not Hyundai's Sonata as well if i may ask.
Or indeed the untried Cruze.
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Sounds like a Berlingo would fit the bill. Three proper seats, huge boot and cheap to run. Citroen's most reliable model. And yes, I've got one.
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Sounds like a Berlingo would fit the bill. Three proper seats huge boot and cheap to run. Citroen's most reliable model. And yes I've got one.
I'd go with Berlingo/Partner as well. Three in the family and nobody plans an early change!!
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Only suggested the Kia because we service 2 of these regularly. They are owned by a local chap I've known for years who uses them for airport taxi work. He drives one and his son in law the other. They have a sort of box trailer for when extra luggage in being carried. They do thousands of miles a month so we see them every couple of months for oil and filter and sometimes pads and discs. They seem to like them and I dont know of any problems as yet. We see some older Korean cars and they appear to be durable, the trim can be a bit of a weak spot but the Magentis trim seems to be holding up well. I would consider one of these as a good alternative to an older MPV from one of the better known makers, certainly your costs would be known, older MPVs can be a bad buy because a lot of them will have had a hammering. Im sure the hyundai version is much the same as the kia version.
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Thanks WT, your up to date mechanical knowledge of them confirms my knowledge of family and friends experiences of Hyundai's/Kia's, in that they are durable and reliable vehicles, sort of what a replacement Corolla/Carina would have been.
Exciting i can live without..;)
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>What I'd really like is a 5-seater but with 3 proper sized seats in the back...
This has come up a few times in the last year. Try a forum search to turn up the old threads; the words 'Touran' and 'Verso' may help your search. These and a few others (our family bus is a 08 Verso, friend has a 57 Touran; both giving good if unexciting service) have second-row seats with independent fore-and-aft adjustment, which makes all the difference when carrying three abreast.
Edited by WillDeBeest on 30/12/2009 at 21:00
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Surely the Citroen Zara Picasso should figure in your list of potentials.
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citroen berlingo multispace or if you want to pay 2 grand for a peugeot badge the partner tiepee
there is a new fiat doblo out in march so you might pick up a cheap pre-reg, but i had a good look round and they are few and far between. If you ask mechanics, the doblo has problems with electrics and the berlingo is the most reliable citroen on the road.
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Look carefully at the width of the car in the back. Your 11-year-old will grow to pretty well full size during the time you have this car, while the other two will still be in special seats.
I'd have a look at the two Citroens mentioned, the Picasso (Xsara, or newer C4 if you can get one within budget) being bigger and perhaps more suitable for the future. Also there should be a Kia or Hyundai of the right size.
One alternative thought - a Skoda Superb might be wide enough in the back and is worth checking out.
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Ford C-Max would be perfect surely?
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Ford C-Max would be perfect surely?
Definitely worth considering, £10k will buy something recent but they have a 40/20/40 rear seat. 11-year old will need an outside seat and should be happy as larry. Newborn's seat might need to take the other outside one (for lifting in/out), leaving the question as to whether the two-year old's seat can fit in the middle.
To be fair, this issue is probably true of other smaller MPVs. However, unlike many non-MPVs, you do at least get a rear seat that is properly shaped for 3 rather than 2.
You may also want to check out the ISOFIX status. My 54-plate definitely doesn't have ISOFIX mounts, although I believe it is not too expensive to get fitted (maybe part of the bargaining if buying from a dealer?) if you want it. If going down the belt route I have seen complaints that the C-Max belts are not long enough for some newbon seats. However we carry a Maxi-Cosi Cabriofix in ours without any problems. If using a base for the seat you need to check that the leg/ foot will reach into the bottom of the compartment under rear-seat passenger's feet - again I can say the Max-Cosi one is long enough, but you can't put the foot on the compartment lid as I belieive it'snot strong enough to take the force transmitted through the leg in a smash. Again, this may be an issue with other MPVs that have storage compartments in rear footwells. Hope that helps.
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