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Best 7 seater for max of £2,500K

Gizmo
in General Automotive Chat

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My daughter in law is looking for a 7 seater and keeps getting drawn to the Espace :o as apparently, they are about the cheapest,

this is for a 51 plate 'car' but can anyone honestly say buying a 10 year old French car is a good idea?

It also needs to be 'not too big' if that is not a contradiction with a 7 seater, but please NO recommendations for a Vauxhall Zafira :no:

It really needs to be around £2k (£2.5k max) so doubtful that the budget would stretch to a Sharan/Galaxy?

Over to the masses for your opinions and ideally real life experiences running of a budget 7 seater.

Why not the zafira? My gsi has been by far the best car I have ever owned apart from being a little thirsty!!

You can get some early sharans for that sor of money.

Err.. why not a Zafira.

My Mum has had one for about four years and at 8 years old with 70k on the clock it's been absolutely faultless!

Sure it's a bit old fashioned now. But they are pretty small for a 7 seater and still have a flexible, practical interior.

Oh, and with a full service history it'll be for sale (£1750) in a month or so when her new Yeti arrives. ;)

By contrast my Dad has had five Galaxies on the trot and the early ones were terrible for reliability. Windscreen channels fill with leaves and the water builds up and runs in... to the well under the front seat where the ECU lives. Result is the devil taking control of the central locking and all electric windows, even while the car is locked at night.

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She has seen the Zafira in the crash test on 5th gear? and is not too keen on the rearmost seats being right on the back window.

By contrast my Dad has had five Galaxies on the trot and the early ones were terrible for reliability. Windscreen channels fill with leaves and the water builds up and runs in... to the well under the front seat where the ECU lives. Result is the devil taking control of the central locking and all electric windows, even while the car is locked at night.

Interesting! so it's the same issue as the B5/B5.5 Passat and MKI Superb then :dull: easily fixed IF (and that's a big IF) it's done before the water ingress has happened!

Do you know what year they suffered up to? or are they all the same?

The big issue is she wants something small(ish) but without the rear seats being right on the tailgate!! - I know you can't have both!!

any 7 seater will have the back seats at or close to the rear screen.

Is 7 seats necessity it for space?

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They need a 7 seater for the 4 kids, at present they have to take 2 cars when they all go out together (2 of the kids only come at the weekend)

They need a 7 seater for the 4 kids, at present they have to take 2 cars when they all go out together (2 of the kids only come at the weekend)

What about 6 in a Multipla? Wide enough for child seats? (doubt you'll get the Honda FRV at that money)

Toyota Verso

Edited by alberg

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Fully agree with the Seat, they are just that bit rarer tha the VW and Ford badged ones.

The Toyota is too dear £4k is the cheapest (within 100 miles of Dover - which is as far as she would travel)

I have found a localish Sharan on a 53 plate (103PD SE) for £2.5k, this is what I have suggested all along (VW, Ford or Seat) but I am unsure if she will find it too big for her to drive yet - she is not the best at parking, and will definitely need parking sensors fitted to it :giggle:

If you think a Sharan is big, the Espace is even bigger, and you either hate of love the central instrument cluster of the Espace.

My brother had a citroen synergie for donkeys years and it never let the family down. However as is common with ALL 7 seaters, the rearmost seats are right by the back window and the boot is tiny when all 7 seats are in use.

They sold it to downsize and now have a zsara piccaso which they have had for a couple of years now.

She has seen the Zafira in the crash test on 5th gear? and is not too keen on the rearmost seats being right on the back window.

Interesting! so it's the same issue as the B5/B5.5 Passat and MKI Superb then :dull: easily fixed IF (and that's a big IF) it's done before the water ingress has happened!

Do you know what year they suffered up to? or are they all the same?

The big issue is she wants something small(ish) but without the rear seats being right on the tailgate!! - I know you can't have both!!

On the Galaxy (and it should be the same as VW Sharan and SEAT thing as they are the same) the issues were on the old shape that ran from the start (about 1995?) to the facelift in 2000. The later ones are better.

As for the rear seat issue, pretty much any rear passengers in a 7 seater are going to get a rough time in a smash. Even in the larger ones like the Galaxy they are rather close to the rear of the vehicle, there can't be much space for a crumple zone and quite often they'll be in it.

Otherwise you may be looking at a 4x4. The rear seats are generally much better protected in those, but there goes your size restiction!

If there are 4 kids have you considered a Multipla or honda with 6 seats in two rows of three?

That way you actually get a boot to use too.

KIA Sedona?

How about a Suzuki Grand Vitara XL-7? You will be paying the same or similar amount of tax as the Espace.

Ir if you can stand the looks, the Ssangyong Rodius, acres of space behind the 3rd row seats.

Edited by My_Yeti

Old + French is generally not a good combination.

I agree that the Koreans are worth looking at, they're unloved so you might pick up something newer for the same cash.

And what's wrong with a 4x4?

The size argument doesn't really hold any water - fiancee picked up a S reg Discovery 7 seater in reasonable functional condition for that money...

it's shorter and narrower than the Sharan/Alhambra/Galaxy/Espace.

Parked next to my Astra, there's maybe 10 inches difference. and that's not a lot really.

Course, being a Discovery 1 means the two rear seats are side ways, so no good for child seats..... but being a big and up high, and with a big hunk of pig iron towbar on the back as a buffer for rear shunts....and it's a LR, so it will leak/break at will..

any 7 seater will have the back seats at or close to the rear screen.

Is 7 seats necessity it for space?

Not the original Toyota Previa :D I had one on LPG (did have some flakey issues but it was an older system - new systems are rock solid)

I got rear ended whilst stationary, by a Ford Cargo at 25-30MPH and all that needed to be replaced was the hatch :D :D

The nicest thing about the old previa is the distance between the bumper and the very back seats, its almost like an estate.

She has seen the Zafira in the crash test on 5th gear?
And they say it is not just the Zafira with this issue. Even though they state similar results with head rests up they ran the test with them down. They also did not have the crash test dummies in any kind of booster seat (which would give further protection). I would like to see the results of a 7.5 ton truck hitting the car from the side, probably just as messy.

If you read the EuroNCAP results for a 1999 Renault Espace it gives marginal protection for frontal impact on parts of the driver and is not happy about the centre lap belt.

http://euroncap.com/tests/renault_espace_1999/60.aspx

Some side impact tests

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9916248/ns/dateline_nbc/t/how-well-will-your-minivan-protect-you/#.Tm3lGnO6BBE

and then you can compare an old Espace with a new one, which would stop you buying the older car.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQS-7heF-og

SWMBO and I were looking into 7 seaters earlier in the year as she is starting up working as a childminder and having 2 children of our own the Rav wouldn't be big enough.

We looked at the Zafira's and decided they wouldn't be practical because of the entry into the rear 2 seats.

Here's a list of 7 seaters that could be considered

Ford

S-Max

Galaxy

VW

Sharan

Touran

Toyota

Verso

Mazda

5

Vauxhall

Zafira

Renault

Espace

Seat

Alhambra

Land rover- discovery or classic

Kia Sedona or Carens

FIat multipla or Honda FRV ( both 3+3)

Qashqai+2

Peugot 307SW

Renault Grand Scenic

CItroen Grand Picasso

Something to consider is the size of the rear doors, we test drove a Verso and while it ticked everybox it was a windy day and the doors are huge and were tough to hold in the strong wind, also, the bigger the doors the more difficult it will be in parking bays.

The mazda 5 is great with this as the rear doors slide :thumbup:

Matthew

My wife drove a Mazda 5 that we hired for a couple of days and loved it. The sliding doors are a real bonus for getting kids in and out at car parks (see also the Kia Sedona for this).

Downsides:- cost, middle seat in the 2nd row is not a full sized seat. Also, some models have a big issue with rear tyre wearing on the inner 10-20%. Not economical, even in diesel.

We have a Verso now and this has been one of the cars I regret buying. It's an 04 plate, so not one of the first, but at 60k the radio is busted, the door card is disintegrating, engine making some alarming noises and a noise from front nearside that we think is a wheel bearing. I hate driving it too. "Toyota build quality" my ar$e. My Octy is far, far better built than that heap of carp.

It could be just a Friday car and other models are ok, but ours is a POS.

We've also looked at the Citroen C4 Grand Picasso, but even children had to be amputated at the knees to fit in the third row of seats. Whoever the Citroen designers had in mind for the third row, didn't have any feet. That and my in-built hatred of French cars, and I went and looked at something else. :dull:

The Kia was fine for the money, but dealer service was the worst I'd ever had. And we bought it new! :S :o

Early S-Max models had some quality issues too. (Although I'd still have one, just because I like the idea of a family car named after my favourite method of punishment! :evil: )

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