Fosters

I'm quite keen to get a range rover (penultimate shape) and the wife is quite keen to get another kid
Would I be able to fit 2 kiddie car seats in the back as well as a kid on a booster seat in a RR?

what other non MPV cars/AWDs are wide enough to do this?

If I had to MPV () the only one I remotely like is the Toyota Previa - anyone had one? are there any MPVs people thoroughly recommend?

RON

Get a Scoob and tie a knot in it!!!!!!!!

Devil's Refugee

Rav4's currently are a fave.
Or try one of those Scenic RX4's (dunno what the write up is about it tho, so the 4wd system might be just a bit of a gimmick)

Range Rovers are lardy and expensive.

Merc_Cosworth

Having a vast repository of toilet cars on our car fleet, and having the dubiously taxable benefit of actually being a company car driver, and therefore having access to just about all of em fairly regularly. The following I've driven...

Chrysler Voyager - no no no no no no! unholy alliance of american build, european economy, lame performance, noisy, nasty thrashy tinny toilet wagon.

Toyota Previa - ditto. Only slightly better built.

New Range Rover - hmmm. Bigger than some artics I've driven. If you can stand the looks, then its ok.

Old Range Rover - iconic clap trap. Big petrol engines the best.

Land Rover Discovery - not at all. not even if you want to drive jessica to the gymkhana every weekend.

Audi A6 - wide, smooth, quiet, and now very cheap. cavernous boot. V6 tiptronic is nice.

Ford Galaxy. - just don't. Same as the VW Sharon, Seat widget, etc

If you really really have shed loads of cash to throw away. I'd look at a Mercedes ML series (prob 270 CDi)

My boss has one, drove it - expecting to despise it. Pleasantly suprised. The only 'off-roader' I driven that feels like a car.

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

Dont Forget the Volvo 850/V70, had one and it has an integral kiddie seat in the middle which allowed us to put another seat either side, did all the research at the time.

As for the M class, we had an ML320, wife just didnt like it, it was slow, didnt have any more space than the Volvo and wasnt much fun to drive, it was however fairly luxorious, sold it and got a Brand new Sharan which is slow (Tdi) but does 35 to the gallow which is about double what the ML did, even the ML Diesel aint that economical and to be honest the VW feels better built !

I would have gone for the new V70 but for a specced up Diesel it was getting on for 30k and no discounts to be had.

Patt@firstime

Fosters,

Can comment on big car but have no kids. I have always been a fan of the Range Rover, had a 2000 X plate until about July '02, it was a DHSE which I bought for the extra MPG if I were to have another (which I will) I would defo go for a petrol as MPG on diesel is still shocking, not that much better than a 4.0 IMHO.

Would have thought you would have no probs atall in fitting three kids in. If you do though, the boot is HUGE

Matt

gregh

I'd say none of the cars in the list bar the Volvo can do 3 kiddie seats in the back.

I suggest you need to take the said 3 seats with you and visit some dealers

Greg

Merc_Cosworth

What about the Forester????

Surely the nearest thing to an Impreza

GaryC

I've just got a Merc M-Class ML430 (4.3 V8). Looked at Range Rovers but £1000 per year for a warranty is there for a reason, and needs LR servicing at £1600 per 30,000miles

The M-Class is a worthy contender. The ML430/500/55 is a beaut, but the diesel is slow, and the 320 not much quicker. Also the build quality on the 270 and 320 can be poor - the V8s are a lot better built.

Cost? mine is just under 3 years old, and cost £24k (new cost was £45k). MPG is not great, but I get c350 miles from a 70litre tank (c£50/52), that makes it better than my old impreza for £/mile Granted I do a lot of motorway mileage and around town mpg is frequently shocking.

Still quick for a big car - 290bhp V8, is shames the standard warm/hot hatch brigade away from the lights, but performance is not what it is about. Such a gentle ride and so relaxing on longer journeys and such a great feeling being higher up. Add in the safety strengths and it is a compelling arguement.....that also comes with a V8 soundtrack

As for fitting three child seat, you could probably fit four if you had an extra seat belts I have had four adults in the back in comfort.

GaryC

look here for more on the ML430

Scoobynet ML430 thread

Scaramanga

What about a Fiat Multipla?
If they are wide enough for three adults across the front, should be more than enough room for the kids in the back......

Not sure about the styling, but then again I did buy a bugeye so don't trust me too far

S/

Scaramanga

Or a Caterham with a trailer.........

Fosters

Multipla - are you nuts?!

I think it's going to be a 'horsey, drive over anything that doesn't shop in Waitrose' Range Rover 4 litre penultimate shape... hopefully for a 'we shop in Tescos' 10K or less!

I love RRs and the bits are cheap... hope I won't need too many of 'em!!!!

by the end of the year, this plan is!

GaryC

Fosters, I very nearly went for a Rnage Rover as I two really do like them and their quintisential britishness. I looked at two, a 2001 4.0 and a 2000 4.6. Both nice cars, both fully loaded but I was scared off by maintenance costs and mass unreliability. I spoke (direct and through web forums) to 25-30 owners and all had had problems, and all said not to even think about owning one without extending the warranty - which costs £1000 per year furthermore the LR extended warranty demands you get the car serviced at main dealers which again costs £1600 per 30,000 miles

Add into that an average 25 days per year off the road, some with as many as 3 months in the year, mostly with electrical problems as everything is electronically conrolled, and the (elec controlled) air suspension is a favourite glitch which renders the car undriveable

Granted, most said they loved it and would never own anything else, but I just couldn't take £2600/yr before depr/insurance/petrol/etc AND an average 25 days a year off the road

In the end I went for an ML430. Far quicker than even the 4.6 RR, just as well specc'd, more modern shape, better MPG (even a 4.0 will only get 20mpg ave max most ave 18mpg 4.0 - 15 for the 4.6) servicing that costs less than 25% of the RR, and in 4 months and 8000 miles hasn't missed a beat. The X5 was tempting, but BMW dealers have slunk back into being the slimiest pieces of excriment on the planet and stupidly propping prices of used X5s up whilst offering sod all for (BMW) trade-ins. They offer £3k less for my old BMW than the Merc/RR dealers did, and were asking £10-15k more for higher mileage 4.4 V8 X5s than I paid for a 4.3 V8 M-Class The X5 is better on road, worse off road and is more car/less SUV in styling etc - Overall a better car, but not £13-18k better

As I say not trying to slag the RR. They are great motors, but just REALLY look into it before buying.

Fosters

OMG

uhmm, I may have to rethink this

GaryC

That's exactly what I thought when I found out about the real cost of a running a RR. I was gutted as had built my hopes up, really fancied owning one and had found a really good car (2000 4.6 Vogue, Sat nav with terrestial TV + dvd, full electrics and leather, 35k miles, £27k (exactly half it's purchase price ). As I say, most the owners I spoke to adopted the TVR-esque "Put up with it, and I wouldn't have anything else".

In the end, once I drove the ML430 I was more than happy it was as good/more suitable for my purposes. It isn't as good off-road, but far better on-road. It didn't have sat-nav, but had everything else, plus will cost me £1000's a year less and is quicker.

One word of warning, the 320 (V6 petrol) and 270 (diesel) are no where near as well built for some reason. I drove a 320 and was totally put off, but the 430 is far better screwed together and has surprised many 'US-built merc, crap build' mentality pals.

If you are around the North-West you are welcome to have a look.

The only way I would look at a RR now would be to go for a far older 4.6 (97 P-reg - needs to have the post-97 twin exhaust as the single exhaust stranged the engine) with the 2000 lights package it looks just like a later one. These can be picked up for £14/15k. You will still have the reliability issues, but it is worth the gamble when you've only laid out £14/15k - even if it costs £2000 per year in maintenance, the lower depreciation would still make it a viable proposition!

Devil's Refugee

Are there any 4x4's worth the hassle then ?

I quite fancy the Merc, looks solid and (hopefully) reliable.
But the poor mpg really puts you off sometimes, even with the diesel option.
It would seem that all Land Rover produced goods are duff; Freelander, Disco and RR, with exceptionally high running costs.
Not what you really want if you have a family.

ianc

do you want a performance car, a soft roader, or an off roader?

The forester would be a combination of the first two if tuned well, or an octavia 4x4 tuned is fun also, and *will* fit three child seats across the back (three 3-point belts also).

IC