Best 5 Seater MPV for Under £1500...

Becciboobah

...I know this isn't a vast sum of money but it's been saved, it is our budget (Hubby has been agency working for the last 6 months so finance wouldn't be a great idea as at any point they could let him go) and we are now in need of a car to ferry the kids around at weekends since our old Escort bit the dust last week. I just don't know which one is recommended by you lot.

I like the Citroen Xsara Picasso but I know the clutches appear to be made of peanut brittle. The Renault Megane Scenic is also on the list but again, dodgy french electrics and phantom ECU faults/Engine management lights a problem.

I'm stuck on what else is a decent MPV for the money. And petrol or diesel? I've never had a diesel before and not sure if that's the way to go?

Any advice gladly received!

Gordon_Hose

VW Sharan?

davidjwest

For that money you're going to struggle to get anything that you have any degree of certainty won't break down and need expensive repairs any time soon.

Agreed about the Scenic, my partner has one, it's been a money pit and it's only 5 years old with around 50k on the clock.

Try to get something from a dealer with some kind of warranty would be my advice, but not easy for that money.

Becciboobah

Yeah I know but needs must as the devil drives! Cars are a mystery to me really. Owned a brand spanking new KA that on first MOT needed £300 worth of suspension work and after OH got made redundant the first time spent £600 on a P Reg Escort and needed nothing spent on it at all in 3 years. Cheap motoring but I know I won't be that lucky. If I could raise some more money I would but just impossible now factoring in insurance etc. Our combined pay isn't exactly anything to write home about!

freakybacon

Avoid anything french. At this price point buy on condition not age- ideally 12 months mot & some tax in the asking price. Mazda Premacy , Hyundai Matrix, Nissan Almera Tino may be a good bet. Has it got to be a people carrier? Why not a normal 5 door hatchback/estate? Consider Ford Focus, Mondeo, Skoda Octavia, Nissan Primera, Toyota Avensis. What cars are your local minicab drivers using? These guys rely on their cars for their living- chances are they will avoid anything that goes wrong regularly and is expensive to fix, and also they may know someone who knows their cars well, and knows what goes wrong and how to put them right. Do you do more than 15,000 miles a year? If not, then diesel engines are not necessarily going to be more economical, especially if they go wrong. May well be worth cutting your budget to £1000 and keeping £500 back in case of breakdown.

bigjl

Definately avoid cheap French cars, one awkward electrical problem and the car is uneconomical to repair.

Your budget isn't huge, so an older Jap car would seem a good idea, as suggested by previous posters.

Keep an eye on Loot and local Freeads as sometimes people want a newer car for no other reason than they feel like a more modern car.

There are some bargains about, but at your price a reasonable sized hatchback may be cheaper due to the premium attached to small MPV type vehicles.

My mate is selling a Honda Odyssey at the moment simply because he does has to do more shifts than he used to as he works 8 hr shifts rather than 12. The Odyssey is just a jap import Honda Shuttle but slightly better equipped.

Cars like that have many years of good service in them and can be a good choice as a family transport.

Diesel engines can be a bad idea due to the complicated injection systems and turbo's, EGR's etc.

If you do low miles then a Honda Odyssey is a good idea, my mate and I brought three over from Japan three years ago, sold two to friends and he kept one, the total amount of mechanical repairs have been a torn cv rubber boot on one.

They are Auto, have twin A/C the well proven 2.2 engine also fitted to other Hondas.
They are seriously underrated, and due to being petrol only they are very unlikely to have been run into the ground as a minicab.

You see the odd Odyssey/Shuttle on eBay and in the Autotrader etc. Anywhere from £1000 to £1500. My mate wants about a grand for his with a years MOT and 6 months RoadTax, I would rather have a well looked after older Jap car than buy a 8 or 9 year old Scenic or Picasso.

The same goes for older Primeras and Carinas or the Avensis, an older one that is well looked after should give you a few more years use.

There is somebody that has posted on here that wants to get rid of a high miles Focus Tddi, find that post and make him an offer of 6 or 7 hundred perhaps, that is an old school diesel, sounds like a tank but is strong and reliable, they still put that engine in the Transit Connect.

Avoid anything with loads of electrical gizmos and fancy injection systems as when they get old they are extremely expensive to fix.

optimus_primera

Agree with comments about modern french cars, however older Pug 405/406 estates are good cars, and the diesel engined versions of them are bomb proof.

bridgend_girl

i bought a vauxhall zafira 2004 reg in 2006 and so far i have had nothing go wrong. The only thing i have done is top up the oil and replace tyres. lots of friends have them and we have found them to be basic but incredibly reliable and cheap to buy. Vauxhalls are cheap for parts and insurance. It's not exciting to drive but it does the job, every day without any hassles.

Advice given to me by a friends who reconditions engines was never buy an old diesel as when they do go wrong it's very expensive to fix.

Becciboobah

Thanks Guys, the Jap point was interesting and no it doesn't have to be an MPV but we needs masses of boot room so an estate might be worth a shot. My mum's Avensis has done 273k and never failed an MOT....something has started to rattle underneath though now but even if it becomes uneconomical to fix, 12 years and 273,000 miles is one helluva workhorse!

Plenty to think about....Thanks again people :-)

avantra

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201103377858370/sort/priceasc/usedcars/price-to/3000/model/space_wagon/make/mitsubishi/page/2/radius/1501/postcode/gl116hx?logcode=p

jaydeeuk1

An old honda accord would be my vote. Or the old mazda 626. Or an old Primera, If they've all been looked after, they should all be going strong right now.