Popeye P1

Friend of mine needs to buy a 7 seater for a new business venture. Has to be diesel and have good luggage space. Wants to spend around 8-10 grand.

Either a ppl carrier or a car? anyone?

Redkop

Mitsi Shogun or Pajero [import]

TopBanana

Never had any direct experience, but he should look at a Peugeot 406 estate 7-seater ('family'?), Merc E-class 7-seater, Volvo estate 7-seater or an MPV?

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

Have had a Volvo 850 with 7 seats and a Sharan Diesel, both great cars but the VW has the edge as family transport, VOlvo went like stink but cost a LOT more to run.

DMC12

I think you'll struggle to get good luggage space and 7 seats at the same time. All the 7 seaters I'm aware of have a 3rd row in the boot. Cars tend to be worse the ppl carriers in this respect and getting into the 3rd row can be a bit awkward sometimes.

Luggage was more important to me so I went for the Fiat Multipla which will take 6 adults and their luggage in comfort. (and I got a cracking deal on a new one)

Otherwise the Ford Galaxy/VW Sharan tend to get quite good reviews as all-rounders and there are plenty on autotrader in your price range.

Cheers

Steve.

bantok

For 7 seats and enough luggage space to lay large suitcases flat, get a Chrysler Voyager LX.

Johnny50

I've heard a good few reports on Citroen Xsara Picasso's.

Pretty good value too. Only downside...it's French !

Mmmmm

Grand Espace has 3 rows of seats and a longer boot, giving more room . Reasonable resale. adequate performance and econonmy.Not bad to drive, pretty reliable.

Pug 806, 3 rows of seats large box shape, really a bit of a van , quite cheap, good diesels if a bit slow. get a 2000/2001 model for £10k

Fiat Ulysse, same MPV as above, cheap as chips, -it's a fiat.

Mercedes V Class, really a van again, the only cheaper ones I have seen are petrol 2.3s, but do have a bit of class, lots of room. Good build.

The 7 seat cars are a bit small for 7 adults.

The E class estate turbo diesel is excellent if the last two seats are for kids, although he would have to review his budget to get one, they are worth financing because the resales are amazingly good.
The 300TD or 320Td are the one's to go for. Built well, huge boot, pretty good handling, good ride, superb cruiser, good engine with good performance 8.5s 0-62,will do mega mileages no problem (saw one with 245k on still in good nick) good economy given the performance, great resale (one of the best cars at holding its value).

4 by 4s all tend to be quite expensive and expensive to run by comparison to MPVs, any repair bills can be higher due to the transmissions and drive train, they are less economical and thier braking and handling can often be inferior compared to the MPVs (there are exceptions). The 4 by 4 systems and increased ride height also often reduce the room available compared to an MPV.

There are some old land cruisers 4.2 turbo diesels around 96-97 for 10k these arn't too cheap to run but are reliable and huge with 7 seats (rears are fold downs). Shoguns aren't that roomy by comparison.

The Nissian Patrol is also a huge beast and should be in budget for a 98 or older, these again are huge, don't know much else except they are supposed to be reliable.

The Mercedes E Class is the best thing by far but it may not have enough seating room and be too expensive (£15k+)

I'd take a Grand Espace as the MPV if I could get one for the money.

Good luck with his choosing