Which MPV to choose

[Cleggy the Spyder Man]

Hey all

After what is looking to be a rather sad demise of our C8  we are going to have to purchase a new family motor

budget up to 10k

must be able to hold 3 kids car seats

got to be fairly cheap to run

In the running

C-max (S-max seems to be out of price range with reasonable mileage)

Fiat multipla - car of the year a few years back but does it fall to bits

Nissan X-trail - not sure if this qualifies for the lower road tax as per the CRV?

Nissan note  - dont know if this is big enough as not seen one

Grand scenic -

Zaffira - not keen on those rear fold out seats for safety reasons after watching a test on 5 recently - so is out

Volkswagen touran - looks ok but a bit vanish

Honda FRV - I currently run a accord tourer with the same engine and this has been a good solid car

Honda CRV - both my brother and mum run these and they are good and solid

Seat Altea - know nowt about these

The same old debate is - do I get a newer european vehicle such as a fiat with some manufacturers warrenty left on it or should I plough the money into an older Jap motor?

Your thoughts would be appreciated fellas and ladies  

[speedy jon]

the cmax is only a 5 seater so might have trouble fitting the 3 child seats in.

[John Loudon - Sponsorship Liaison]

Forget the Fiat MultiPla - they are pig ugly

Yes - I know you have one Pete G  

[oioi]

ive got a similar problem (although marginally less budget)

problem with the frv and the multipla is that they are 3+3 as opposed to 2+3+2 layout.

what about toyota verso?

definately nothing french!!!!!

[barney]

we have a 6speed cmax,tdci..happy with it,good mph even with *cough* enthusiastic driving..

servicing costs dont seem to be of the "are you sitting down sir" type.

only downside ive found is the rear parcel shelf is crap,and you need to be a midget with dislocated wrists to work on it (only part ive replaced-starter motor change took 3 hours...)

had a renault scenic before,happy with that ,but only if its got a cast iron warranty as parts can be of the OMG variety...and the electrics...jeez..

would love an s max to,but as youve said too much money unless theyve got millenium falcon mileage..

Barney

[Barry Ashcroft]

Nissan Squashpie, I would think you could find one for your budget. We have one and it's great I can easily see us still having it in 5 years

[RichP]

You might struggle with the 3 kids seats in the Cashcow, but they're good - I'm on my second. Residuals are ok and they've just been voted best family used car.  Go for the 2.0 diesel - I've had that and now have the 1.5 - it's a slug in comparison but does ad 10mpg to the fuel economy.

I've had many x-trails and have to say that I much prefer them. The new ones are too big, but if you find a good example of the previous model you won't go far wrong. Without driving too enthusiastically you can get reasonable mileage from them.

I've had one Note and for a family car it was a bit too compact for me.

[JeffC]

Ive got a zafira dti 150bhp sri in stock at the mo and I find it very harsh,certainly not a car I would want to own , Ive  also got a dti saab which must have the same runnin gear as it feels equally as bad  

swmbo had a Touran for a while we had the 1.9 which was tooooooooooooooooo slow, the 2.0tdi sport will prob be ok    had a Altea and wasnt keen on that, dash was wierd from memory    

have you looked at the Golf plus they are quite sizey designed around a family and they drive ok  

[Cleggy the Spyder Man]

cashcow    - had not thought of that - we intend to look at choosing the type of car at the weekend so this is added to the list

yup c-max is possibly too small - the three kids seats only just fit width ways in the back of the honda crv so could be very tight

again not thought about the verso so will add to the list

with the problems with the c8 I have had I am defo thinking more on the lines of a Jap car

x-trail I like the look of - so will be high up the list - have you had any problems? what sort of MPG did you get?

have not considered the gold plus - TBH the thought of owning one does not exactly fill me with joy    but I suppose that can be said for many of the cars in my list  

thanks guys - keep them thoughts coming - I am defo all ears on this one

[adamnreeves]

I had a scenic a few years back. Bought it from new and had nothing but problems with it. Power steering failed within 2 weeks of having it. They also had to replace the steering column! Electric hand brake thing failed. My mother has a peugeot and had nothing  but problems with the electrics. My son had another peugeot and had electrical problems also. So I would noy buy anything french.

My vote would go to the Japanese. I like the Nissan Cashcow.

[Cleggy the Spyder Man]

ok confirmed no citroen *(that was a given anyway   ) peugeot or renault

Julie had a megane when we just had one nipper and it has to be said that was a very good car though with no problems at all - maybe we were lucky by the sounds of it  

[Major Stare]

SWMBO has a Renaut Scenic 1.5dci.  VERY economical and so far very reliable. It has 3 proper rear seats, weve had 3 kids fitted with no problems.

We tried a C-Max, rear seat is a bench seat, you wont get 3x kids seats fitted.

Had 3 Zafira 150bhp Sri's company cars, (blown two up in under 20K miles). Three seperate rear seats but the middle one is too narrow to mount a car sear. Been nothing but problems.. avoid!!

Worked for FIAT a few years back and and had a Multipla. It was excellent. Proper seats (x6), roomy etc. never missed a beat. More reliable than the Zafira'mentioned above! Id have one but it doesnt have 5star crash test.

Quash... you wont fit 3x seats.

Honda... 6 seater, reliable, dull, overpriced, un-economical, stopped making them.

Mazda 5?

Toyota Versooooz zzzzzzzz

[RichP]

X trail was good - I've had 5 or 6 but to be fair they were all company cars and I only have them for 6 months at a time. However I did have a choice and kept going back to them. If I was to buy my own I'd go for something 2004 / 2005 or so but top of the range with leather and sat nav. 2.2DCi is good, and more efficient than the new 2.0 engines they now use. Wipe clean seats - kid friendly. The load space is great and the back seats fold flat to form a plastic floor  - huge space. MPG is of course not as good as a car - probably mid 30's - 40 if you molly coddle it I expect. They're fairly quiet, and make good tow cars if you ever need to drag the kits around.

I'm not aware of any issues with them - they're very reliable. Point of interest - Cashcow and new x-Trail are on the same platform, although you'd find the new x-rail much bigger and more thirsty.

[RichP]

Can you get an old XC90 for that money? That would be tempting.

example

[Rory's Dad]

I'll add another vote for the Multipla.  I have a company car leased for 3 years and after the first chose a second Multipla so six years in all.  Heaps of space and the 2 litre diesel has bags of torque - they just look a bit odd       .

Nice sticker in the back when they first came out "...just wait till you see the front!"

Rory's Dad