pippyrips

Short and sweet – what is the best 7 seater people carrier available at the moment and why?

Thanks!

Andy M3

It depends who and how often all seats are used?

S T U

I had a 7 seat Zafira GSi. Half leather Recaro interior fully movable seats. Rear 2 fold flat into the floor. Brilliant handling and 200 horses out the box as well as being very, very easily tuneable

skinters

Pretty sure the ford s-max is the current king by quite some margin - certainly a different ball game to the Zafira I suspect. My mate was debating S-max or an X5 at twice the price and for what he wanted, there wasnt much between them.

Mark A

iTrader: (1)

My 2p worth

Depends what you mean by best

Best handling Ford wins everytime

Otherwsie Citroen is massive but some of the plastics feels cheap, but a much nicer noise on closing the door than the wife's Grand Scenic. I like the Renault but then it's leased and we've just swapped to Honda, because of reliability(fine for the first 2 years and the service from RMD was sh*t). Both French cars have nice clever touches.

Looked at the Mazda 5 but only really 6 seats.
Touran is nice but I felt it much smaller than the french 2, but good quality, and still expensive.
Never looked at the Ford (Wife refused)

Mark

scoobysmiff

iTrader: (2)

I have just ordered a Ford S-Max, for me it was the good looks (debateable i know, but i like it) it has best write ups for driving and quality and I wanted a decent diesel engine so i ordered the 2.2, what more could i ask for

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

We have the new Galaxy which is a basically the same as the S-Max but with a higher roof and less sporty handling, its superb, a lot better than our previous Sharan which VW still sell, prev gen Galaxy was the same car, as was the Alhambra, they were ok but the new Galaxy is leagues ahead.

Most manufacturers are abandoning full size MPV's as everyone seemed to want 4 by 4s.

The Galaxy has seven proper seats and is plenty big enough without going to a Grand Espace or Voyager.

We looked at the S-Max, was nice but with three growing lads , plus a biggish dog it seemed daft to limit the available room for the sake of sporty(ish) looks, an MPV is an MPV, a sporty one is like having a jazzier orthapedic shoe.

Andy M3

pippyrips

Thanks for the tips guys, just to be a bit more specific:
a) this is for my boss (female) who has 3 young boys
b) She is a bit of a snob when it comes to cars
c) ideally she is after 7 proper seats though only 5 would be used regulary
d) performance and 'handling' as less of a priority than good interior spec.


keep 'em coming!

hail-hail

Q7

5 seats and massive boot or
7 seats and reasonable boot.

ditchmyster

iTrader: (7)

Mazda bongo 8 seats 2 double beds absolutly love ours check out Bongo Fury!

scoobz72

My other half has a 97 Galaxy 2.3 ghia. Its great and very comfy to drive. Its versatile and practical. The climate control works very well and visibility is great.
The other we considered was a Vauxhall, not a Zafira though.
We plumped for the Galaxy due to the good reviews on What Car.

TopBanana

We're looking at changing our Volvo V70 for something bigger - with two kiddie seats in the back there's not much room for our 12 year old in the middle. Is there much more room width-wise in these cars, or will he end up sitting on the row behind?

scoobystiv8

Discovery 3 SE or HSE. Seats 7 adults, huge inside
well equipped
badge appeal, status.
excellent driving position. can look down on everyone.

The 4.4 V8 is the one to have.

Andy M3

That's what I would have if only 5 seats were in regular use

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

4.4 V8, hmm, one to have, yes, in an ideal world, in reality it is massively thirsty and not that fast, remember, unladen these things weigh 2.7 tonnes.

about 15 mpg, top group road tax, even fairly wealthy people start to blanche at that nowadays, plus, imagine the depreciation, if indeed you could sell it on.

The diesel one would be a better option but to be honest I would avoid massive four by fours seeing as the government has declared war on them, potentially retrospectively.

j4ckos mate

4.4v8 is the one to have,

are you sure mate that would spung money on depreciation rfl, petrol.

id buy a vito before id get one of those things.

i would say galaxy or 7 seat picasso, or retrospective vasectomy

hodgy0_2

toyota landcruiser amazon

the most awsome car -- as used by the UN, Taleban etc

perfectly at home on the school run or with a 50. caliber machine gun on the back

Graphite

Awesome machines - especially the V8s 292 bhp - a joy to drive and so well equiped...

Even the V6 Diesels are pretty good - now with the power of the old V8s at around 180-190 bhp - and could be 'tweaked' if required

One amazing huge 7 seater I test drove was the Merc GL500 0-60 in 6.7 sec - not much slower than a New Age WRX - and automatic too - so ANYBODY could do it Had a go on a handling circuit with it -it was fantastic

hodgy0_2

I spoke to an AA man the other day -- says he recovers 2 Landrovers (discos RR sports etc) a shift -- every shift

mostly the computers shut down -- just takes them to a dealer where presumably they get rebooted

they do look lovely though!!

Gazz300

Q7 Rob. If she is your manager she obviously has lots more cash than you and you are not short of a tenner.