Cars, choices, apathy and inevitability.

[Captain Scarlet]

VW Touran?

 

[Crackle]

I hesitate to recommend it to you @Crackle as it would be just about big enough for what you ask but only just & not better than what you have.

If I were looking bigger I'd consider the Toyota Previa.

I did look at a Quashqai and like you said didn't think I gained much. It wasn't a +2 though.

The Previa needs an update. Low mpg and high CO2 rule it out. No point in changing cars and then going backwards in efficiency, it has to be better than we have.

On the MPV front, I've got the following that fit budget and mileage:-

VW Touran
Ford Galaxy ( though not so keen on the way Ford's drive despite what people say)
Toyota Verso
Peugeot 5008
Citroen C4 Grand Picasso
Alhambra (though not many in budget)

Not on the list:-

Espace + 807 (nothing available in mileage and price)
Zafira (drove one, didn't like it)
Sedona (again, the engines let them down)
Ford S-max ( we had a demo in work and again, didn't appeal, dull to drive)
R Class (out of budget, soooooo out of budget)
Renault Grand Scenic (no farking roof rails, I mean....)
Kia Carens (currently on this list on the basis of having owned a Kia)
Fiat 500l mpv (I had one as a hire car, not bad but just not as good as the others)

Phew! This thread has focused my mind. I feel equipped to face Mrs C now. Probably end up choosing none of them but hey.

 

[skudupnorth]

Although i am a Skoda man trough and through, the main family car we run is a VW Touran. Its is 10 years old with 120K + miles on the clock and is still doing a fantastic job of hauling a family of six around and the fold down rear seats are not a bad size compared to most which are just child sized......even i can sit in them without issues. Kids still love jumping in my 20 year old Skoda though and when it has four bike carriers on the roof,it has proved to be the best £150 i ever paid !!!

 

[BrumJim]

I think it may be just outside the budget, as currently set, which is why it never made the short list. Same with S-max and a couple of others.

Make a compromise on mileage and you should be OK. 40,000 miles is nothing for a car these days.

 

[mr messy]

Thought i'd add a black Sportline just for balance...

 

[Drago]

A VW counts as a *ankpanzer. It's be like an arbourist driving a Morris Minor woody.

 

[Gravity Aided]

Just stay away from VW Routan, as its' just a rebadgered Chrysler Minivan.
Mitsubishi Outlander, or Shogun, perhaps?
They make Outlander Sports in Normal.
http://www.mitsubishi-cars.co.uk/

 

[Piemaster]

Is the Zafira duller than the Touran? We might have to flip a coin.

I'm confused now. I thought you were trying to find the dullest thing possible

 

[The Jogger]

Land Rover Defender 110

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classif...earchad/used,nearlynew,new/usedcars?logcode=p

 

[Drago]

Or better still, something Japanese that won't break every hour or rust when he does a wet fart.

The above suggestion for an Outlander is a good one. 5 spacious seats, 2 extra occasional seats, huge cabin, mahoosive boot, and a decent 4wd system. I loved mine, but wasn't using it enough to justify the cash tied up in it.

Shoguns are luvverly, but are in one of the top car tax brackets. You've gotta really want one to pay that. That's part of the reason I went for the L200 instead, as the commercial vehicle tax rates are lower.

 

[Bollo]

Practical AND affordable? Bentley have done it again.......

 

[theclaud]

[QUOTE 3643169, member: 259"]For context, I've included a picture of Crackle's current car.

[/QUOTE]
His lawn is coming on nicely, then.

 

[4F]

[QUOTE 3643169, member: 259"]For context, I've included a picture of Crackle's current car.[/QUOTE]

Bonnets slack

 

[threebikesmcginty]

[QUOTE 3643169, member: 259"]For context, I've included a picture of Crackle's current car.

[/QUOTE]

That looks like a John Salt painting.

 

[Arjimlad]

A happy C4 GP owner here. We have a manual 1.6 diesel version owned for nearly 5 years.

We have boys of 11 and 14 and a daughter aged 4. It takes us all on holiday with a roofbox, 2 bikes on the roof and 2 or 3 on the towbar mounted carrier. That's with bike gear, walking boots and winter clothing luggage and the four bags of food my Mrs loaded us up with. When parents come to visit it is useful to be able to all get in one car to go out.

It has done several trips to France similarly loaded up especially on the return journey with 50 bottles of wine.

It does about 45-50mpg ordinarily and about 40mpg with the load up. Done about 50,000 miles so far.

Bad stuff : -

A little cam on the clutch pedal which operates the auto handbrake release failed when my wife was driving it to work. Bristol ground to a halt near J1 of the M32 until the Police moved the car. Citroen gave us a free service when we complained.
Last year the garage identified one of the rear shock absorbers had given up the ghost. Probably due to carrying too much wine back from France.
It's had new brake pads at the front.
The boot latch handle cracked but I got the spare part easily and replaced it myself following instructions on a Citroen owner's forum.
You cannot put a strap-on rear bike carrier on the boot without damaging it (DAMHIKT)

We really like it and I would buy another one, but as said above, the manual not the auto.