Triggaaar

I'm searching through threads, and reading reviews, but everyone's situation is different, so I'd like some advice please.

I'm keeping my Scoob, and the wife is getting a car to serve us and two baby twins. She'd like it to be small and pretty (she doesn't like MPVs at all), but we have to be realistic. Budget isn't clear, not sure if we'll buy new or 2nd, we just want to find the car most suitable to our needs.

Espace, Galaxy etc are out (too big).
Like the new Citroen C4 Picasso, but there are no deals yet, so it's a fortune.
There are great deals on new Citroen Xsara Picassos - not as nice as the new one, but main concern is my friendly dealer thinks French cars are too expensive to maintain (cam belt change etc). I'm not sure which models this most applies to.
Tested the Peugeot 307SW 1.6 diesel, 110hp. It looks nice (not an MPV), is practical (5/7 seats), but the engine didn't sound good to us (straight after trying the 110hp citroen), contrary to the good reviews that particular engine gets.
Fiat Multipla received good handling reviews, is really practical, but has been rejected by my wife due to its looks.
The Vauxhall Zafira seems decent - practical, cheap to maintain, but it's not great looking (not completely rejected by the wife, but it would be a hard sell).
Wife's not interested in looking at the Focus C-max, and if the JD power survey is anything to go by, we're not missing out on much.

So, in summary:
car suitable for 2 adults, 2 babies
not too big
not ugly
not too expensive to service/repair

Any advice?
Thanks

KiwiGTI

S-Max or Toyota Corolla Verso (excellent car)

FlightMan

With kids, you'll want to take safety into account. Don't forget to look at:

The Official Site of the European New Car Assessment Programme

r32

Mariva?
Lotus Elise?

Triggaaar

I've not seen the Toyota Verso before, I like it. Although I don't need the 7 seats, it's shorter than most of the 5 seaters. It's more expensive than most of the others, but I guess you can't have the best car for the best price.

I haven't looked at the S-max yet, I just assumed it would be too big, since the C-max is available. EDIT - I've just checked, and I think it is too big for us - 40cm longer than the Toyota.

Also not really checked out the Mariva, as the older models I've seen on the road aren't too attractive, but they should be cheap enough to maintain.

Thanks for the safety link, I won't buy one without checking it.


Is there a good place for comparing the cost of maintaining some of these makes?

jonc

I have 2 year old twins with another one on the way. I had been looking a number of MPVs with a similar criteria ie compact MPV. Looked at Zafira (old model), Touran, Scenic and Grand Scenic, Picasso and CMAX. The Mazda 5, Verso, new Zafira and Honda FRV were out of our price range. We wanted diesel.

We settled on CMax 2.0 TDCI Ghia '04 plate with 22k miles for £8500! Good punchy engine and economic. Got 55MPG on a recent 250mile journey. Has good comfortable driving position, no aches or pains from that 4 hour journey. The ride is smooth and handling pretty good for an MPV (built for comfort not speed!), better that all the other MPVs we tested by a long shot though the Touran was also pretty good. The build quality is not bad either, not to far off from the Touran and there are no sqeaks or rattles to speak of.

The wife loves it as it so easy to drive and the kids love it as they now get a great view from the higher seating position!

Have a look on Home - What Car? Helping you buy better, they have quite comprehsive video reviews of all the MPVs mention in this thread.

Reffro

Seat Altea has to considered. Cheap enough and roomy, plus I think it looks good too.

supna

Nissan Note or
Nissan Almera Tino (This is what we bought) It got discontinued when they brought out the Note so cracking deals to be had. SE model comes with Full colour display and reversing camera and alcantara (sp??) and leather seats.

Drove the Altea but found visibility very poor

Jay m A

iTrader: (2)

Is the Honda Jazz too small?

Jamescsti

I was going to suggest the Seat Altea too, not bad looking as MPV's go IMO

EBRWRX

Am I the only one that hates the terms MPV, Sedan and the worst of all SUV ? It's bad enough that we've let McDonalds take over the world. Let's have British terms back in the fold please.

KiwiGTI

What about the Honda FRV or even CRV?

The S-Max is in a totally different class than the C-Max apparently.

But take a look at the rseiduals on the Verso - they really hold their value better than anything else.

KiwiGTI

What are the British terms?

Saloon? - based on the French salon.
Coupe? - French again

Jay m A

iTrader: (2)

How about jellymould? We can claim that with the Sierra

R 14NS R

just got my b class mercedes, 200 turbo, would reccomend trying one, but i do work for merc.

big boot, loads of room, bit different.......take a look

Triggaaar

Thanks for all the advice, really helpful!

Sounds like a good deal on the C-Max. Don't think the wife will go for it though.
And talking of things she won't go for, I've just been to a vauxhall dealer.

Mariva - loads of space for its size. If the specs are right, it's about a foot shorter than the C-Max (which is the next shortest I've checked out), and there's enough boot space. Good deals, cheap to maintain, but it's not the pretiest.
Zafira - again, great space inside for it's length, and those flexible seats would be great if you needed them - but I probably don't.

Seat Altea - sweet. Would never have found this one, thanks Reffro. It sounds like a cross between a standard hatch, and an mid MPV, which could be just what the doctor ordered. I like the pics online, the spec & price, I'll just have to go to the dealer. There's also a new, slightly bigger, Altea XL, in case the first is too small.

Honda CRV - personally not wanting a 4x4
Honda FRV - wow, a great looking 3 + 3 6 seater, I really like it. Having twins though, it's not that suitable for me, as the extra front seat isn't needed (wouldn't want to split the girls up would I).
Honda Jazz - think it is too small, and not as nice to look at as the FRV.

Dr Hu

My wife has an Altea - just coming up to 3 yrs old - its a 1.6 Reference petrol - I can honestly say its been a great car - so much so, we don't really want to sell it - But we are seriously considering a VW Touran (new shape just launched) - as it has 7 individual seats - the Altea is really roomy for the kids , but just occasionally we need an extra seat for Grandma(!)........Its barmy that Seat have just released an Altea XL - which has a bigger boot *(it was big anyway!) but not gone the 7 seat route - crazy...as we would buy another Altea tomorrow.

Anyhooo - the Altea is great - can't go wrong with it - looks good, goes well, & handles well for a psuedo MPV... the Touran is more 'Vanny' as my wife called it, but the new Touran is better looking than the old as it has the new VW corporate nose & chrome grille.

Ho Hum - choices, choices.....buying a new car every 3 years....meh!

jonc

If you're not gonna have anymore kids, they you should be able to get away with an medium sized estate. However, it's a little more difficult to get kids in and out of the car.

Triggaaar

Far too early to tell if there'll be more kids. If I was, I'd really be tmpted by the Honda FRV, but it is expensive (no 110bhp diesel, just the 140bhp).
A med sized estate would definitely do, but as you say, it's bending lower to do those seat belts, and they're also a bit longer (we have to park on the street).

Dr Hu, how is the height of the Altea for seating the infants?

jonc

If I had a bigger budget, of the ones I tested, it would be the Touran 2.0 TDI. However thats not to say we're not happy with the CMax, we got a great deal, but I think the Touran is currently the best compaq MPV at the moment.

This may be the answer to your needs, though you have to wait a while..
Spy Shots: BMW MPV Revealed

Dr Hu

Great, the Altea is highish - in fact my wife doesn't like driving my Impreza as she says it is like sitting on the floor compared to her Altea....

Mark A

iTrader: (1)

My wife and kids use a Renault Grand Scenic 1.5 Dci. I love the design and modern features like automatic wipers, no hand brake & auto headlamps.
So far it been very reliable, returns about 45mpg on all the stop start driving of the school, dancing & drama runs.
I compared it to the VW and felt the whole 5/7 seater concept was done better by Renault.

Build quality is OK but not in the VW league
The drive is fun for a biggish car and the 1.5 once on turbo is amazing for the size. The engine works well with the 6 speed with only 1st being slightly too low

I pay £214 as a lease which I think is good.

It will never win any prize in qudos car park but that does not matter.

Mark A

Triggaaar

The Touran doesn't look like a compaq MPV in online pics, but that could be deceiving. It has some style, but it's a little square for my wife's taste.

The impreza is like sitting on the floor compared to a normal family car. But I take it you're saying the seats in an Altea are higher than a normal family car (mondeo, focus estate). I will go see on tomorrow.

Triggaaar

I've just had a look at the Altea, and I think it's great. There's also a fantastic deal on at the moment. But my wife thinks the boot isn't big enough to fit the buggy in (can't try it, as we don't actually have it yet). Looking at the specs, it would have to go diagonally, on it's edge, and there's still no guarantee it'll fit. Very annoying.

Reffro

Did you look at a new or used Altea. The new ones have sliding rear seats whixh allow you to extend the boot. Also you mentioned the Altea XL, but if you can live with the challenging rear end, did you look at the Toledo. Altea front with a larger boot.

Triggaaar

I looked at the new Altea. I can get a good deal on the model I like, but no good if it's too small. I didn't mind the XL rear in the showroom, but I'd have to check. I saw the Toledo, but didn't look. I assumed there would be more to it than a bigger boot - or that makes 3 identical cars, with different sized boots. I'll check it out anyway, thanks.

I tried the Honda FRV today, the front 3 seats work surprisingly well. It's just the cost that's a problem. Oh, and the whisling turbo! Does that get quieter with age, my scoob was never that bad, and I don't even notice it now.

jonc

Rear leg room is still important, even for kids. Putting child seats will signicantly reduce leg room for the kids, expecially when they start using their legs, they will practice their walking skills on the back of your seats!! Very anoying, especially when they have dirty shoes! Also some rear facing seats take up a lot of room.

If you have your child seats already, I would advise you to take one, front or rear facing, which ever one you decide to use, to the showroom. Borrow one if you don't have one yet, they are all of a similar size. Then you can set your driving position in the car and then see if the car seats fit. Otherwise you may end up sitting in a cramp position to accomodate the child seat, especially a rear facing one.

We took our car seats to every one of the MPVs we looked at. We didn't do this for our first car and ended up with a cramp driving position when using the rear facing seats. When our twins were old enough for the front facing seats, they ended up constantly kicking in the back!

Volks

This is very true, one of the reasons that I changed from an A3 Sportback to a Passat was the Maxi-Cosi rear facing baby carrier, complete with the ISOFIX base only just fitted into the Audi. In fact, it was too big to go behind the driver`s seat with me in (a strapping 5 foot 8 iches!) and had to go behind the wife, even she had to move the seat forward a little bit.

I`m sure the Altea is big enough though. Some good deals on them too, you can get a 2.0 TFSI with DSG for under 16,000 if you really bargain hard.

TopBanana

We have the same seat and the same problem! The Ford S-Max looks really good, shame there aren't any used ones about.

Volks

There are used S-Max cars around, the trouble is they are still in the Ford network and they are asking silly money for them.

I`ve been trawling autotrader for a while and FRV`s and Alteas appear good value used.