Views on people carriers

[david1701]

MPVs are no better than 4x4's so why not put the suggestion forward for an alternative. MPV's just have less ground clearance, and get stuck more easily.

lol they're way worse, tyres that are any use off road have more rolling resistace than road ones (we all know that we're cyclists) and the gaps around the wheel arches and underneath suck aerodynamic balls. A decent land rover is about a billion times more fun than an any people carrier though, speaking as someone who's family at one point had the whole set (sans a forward control) with a series 3, freelander, discovery and rangerover before an outbreak of sanity hit and we spread out our cars into more sensible roles (no matter how comfortable and lovely a rangerover is an audi is just as comfy and much more efficient for the motorway miles), ditto a 4 door citroen for the freelander and an espace for the disco

 

[screenman]

SsangYong Rodius works quite well.

 

[4F]

We had a Hyuandai Trajet and the servicing / repair costs were horrific. I would never get a Hyuandai again...

 

[4F]

I liked the Trajet which seemed to be the cheaper version of the Galaxy however soon discovered it had a lot of common faults which all started to happen after the 5 year warranty period finished. I think all we needed was for the gearbox selector to go and would have had the full set.

 

[TheDoctor]

Strange. We've had three Hyundais now and they've been far-and-away the most reliable cars we've had. The odd fault (like an electric window that sometimes won't go down) but no show-stoppers.

 

[mickle]

we have a grande espace, does the job pretty well at being a foot longer than a stock espace giving actual legroom in the back and some luggage capacity loaded, pretty routinely has 6 people a bike (mine) and assorted luggage in it and for anything big the roof bars are a permanent (aero designed) feature.

We debated swapping it for a van and a tiny runaround (as anything over 2 tons drinks diesel) as most of the time it has a few people and a lot of stuff (its used as a business truck by a photographer a shop owner, a cleaning firm and a clothes company) but couldn't find one flexible enough.

I don't know about other people carriers but you can move the seats around to a lot of different places in the espace to give you options, one lives in the shed pretty much and most of the time and the others are 2-2-2- in linegiving a lot of shoulder room in the middle and leg room all round. But 2----- means we can fit 2 sofas in the back, 2-2--- or 2-3--- means you can carry more people and as much stuff as would fit in a big estate (more really as you can stack it higher).

Oh and another nifty feature I found a few months ago is that the spare is on a winched cable so you never have to lift it up to put it back in the boot which is dead handy as my mum drives it sometimes and the wheels are big enough to be heavy. I don't know how normal this is but every other car we've had has had the spare in the boot (****ing hard work on an A8 rim) or the back door (similar with rangerover wheels) or bonnet (which is just cool).

The Espace was responsible for the demise of Matra/Simca. And for that can never be forgiven.

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

The Espace was responsible for the demise of Matra/Simca. And for that can never be forgiven.

That sounds about right. My dad had an Espace Quadra (very rare 4wd version). He's had some "interesting" cars but that was the only one where the clutch pedal has snapped in half. (Among other problems). It would have to be when I was driving it as well.

 

[david1701]

Matra Simca?

 

[Sale Madrid]

Mazda 5 is worth a look. We're on our second one - very happy with it..

typical

 

[mickle]

Matra Simca?

Doh. Matra. I was confused momentarily by the Bagheera, Matra's last decent vehicle which was a collaboration with Simca.

Let's try to forget the Ranchero ever existed.

 

[slowmotion]

My sister's family have a Galaxy. Seven of us drove down to the Alps a couple of years ago and I was pretty impressed with how much luggage it could carry and still leave the passengers feeling comfortable.

Completely off topic: if you get a nine-seater vehicle, you get 100% discount for the London Congestion Charge. A guy round the corner from us bought one for his solo commute into The City, purely to stick two fingers up to the CC. I'm not saying I approve, so don't jump on me....

 

[TheDoctor]

Well, I'd certainly buy a minibus and drive it around central London to avoid paying the Congestion Charge.
Oh no, hang on, I got that wrong.
What I meant to say was - what an utter, utter idiot.

 

[subaqua]

My sister's family have a Galaxy. Seven of us drove down to the Alps a couple of years ago and I was pretty impressed with how much luggage it could carry and still leave the passengers feeling comfortable.

Completely off topic: if you get a nine-seater vehicle, you get 100% discount for the London Congestion Charge. A guy round the corner from us bought one for his solo commute into The City, purely to stick two fingers up to the CC. I'm not saying I approve, so don't jump on me....

unless its euro IV compliant it will cost £100 a day in fines. or spend the several hundred quid to get the particulate filter fitted.

the LEZ makes a mockery ofcommon sense anyway.

mitsubishi L200 non euro IV compliant £100 a day to drive in as its a commercial
Mitsubishi Shogun with same engine - no problems as its a private vehicle.

 

[Browser]

We've a Kia Sedona, bought on the strength of looking at and example of it plus much of it's competition which have already mentioned on this thread, and finding it best for headroom and interior space. These were the prime drivers for us as I am 6ft 5in, Mrs Browser is 6ft and the kids are fast catching up (my 12 year-old son is 5ft 8in. Rear seats in these are always a bit of a compromise and it's a thirsty beast around town as it's a 2.9 diesel. The newer version, released roughly 2.5 years ago, has the new 2.2 lump and six-speed transmission which is meant to up the fuel economy by 5mpg all round. That and the 7 year warranty makes them worthy at least of a look I would say.

 

[Linford]

[QUOTE 1902339, member: 45"]Thanks, but the Shogun doesn't fit the bill. Considerably more expensive, considerably higher MPG, considerably higher emissions, and a poorer driving experience. Ground clearance or snow capability isn't a requirement.[/quote]

Sounds like you are using your head and choosing something which will be fit for purpose