Which people carrier to buy/avoid for around £4-5k

hudgebadger

I have 5 children up to the age of 7

When we bought our first people carrier it was a MK4 Espace.
Never again, please avoid them like the plague! In the 9 months we had it we spent nearly £3000 on it in repairs.
It also did only around 30 MPG and the road tax was £220 a year from memory, and the insurance was high as well.
Also worth pointing out is that everything on the Espace is electriaclly based, from the handbrake through to the ignition (push switch) so if anything goes wrong it costs a fortune to have it reapired

We have since traded it in and bought ourselves a SEAT Alhambra.
As most people know the Alhambra is based on the same shell as the Galaxy/Sharon, the only major difference being the engines that are in them. So the Alhambra has a VW 1.9 diesel engine. I get around 46 MPG in mine and it is 10 years old. It does lack the finesse and the styling of the Espace but I do like it very much, and not to mention the cheaper road tax and lower insurance.:D

Both the Espace and Alhambra have 7 seats that are ideal for placing little people in, and the Espace also has the option of being able to configure seats to face each other in the passenger section.

We have friends that also have a Chrysler Voyager and they are pleased with it to. The only major problem is the low MPG, but apart form that they seem hapy with it.

Hope this helps and good luck

JimmyTheWig

bigjl wrote: »

Addison Lee are getting rid of the last of their 08 plate Sharons at the moment.

But they have priced some up for mid £5000 mark, the most expensive I saw was £6100.

Nothing under 6300 on the website now.
Good thinking, though.

davidjwest wrote: »

How old are the children OP?

Eldest is 7.
Not looking good for the Grand Scenic in terms of space by all accounts.

Shame, but thanks!

davidjwest

Alhambra is a good choice, forgot about those, thanks for the reminder hudgebadger, it's basically a Galaxy but cheaper

We might go for an 8-seater next time, just in case

As K4kate mentioned, Toyota Previa would be the favourite I think.

hudgebadger

davidjwest wrote: »

We might go for an 8-seater next time, just in case

Tansit van or snip then

gingerdad

we have a petrol zafria and its great for our need bought it last year for 6k 07plate 48k on the clock, hasn't missed a beat yet. it only does very short runs each week, but did 2k in it in the summer through france and it was okay. but with 4 kids you'd struggle for space.

JimmyTheWig

Ok, a few more questions...

What do people think of the Toyota Estima? And does "Super Charged Engine" mean high insurance and not really suitable for a sensible middle aged (next month) dad and his learner driver wife?

How reliable would an R-reg car for £1300 from a dealer be? It's from the bargain basement arm of a very reputable dealer.

Or what about £900 for an R-reg from a dealer? Does 100,000 miles on a petrol mean walk away?

davidjwest

JimmyTheWig wrote: »

How reliable would an R-reg car for £1300 from a dealer be? It's from the bargain basement arm of a very reputable dealer.

Or what about £900 for an R-reg from a dealer? Does 100,000 miles on a petrol mean walk away?

Depends what it is really, I had a petrol Nova 1.2 that did 220k before I got rid of it.

If it's from a dealer get as long a warranty as possible.

JimmyTheWig

davidjwest wrote: »

Depends what it is really, I had a petrol Nova 1.2 that did 220k before I got rid of it.

If it's from a dealer get as long a warranty as possible.

Just spoke to the dealer of the first one (£1300). It's sold as seen. They don't do any warranty on their cars under £2500.
Apparently mechanically it's fine but bodywork leaves a little to be desired.

I don't think I could risk it, but I'm tempted.

davidjwest

What is it? Long MOT?

hudgebadger

JimmyTheWig wrote: »

Just spoke to the dealer of the first one (£1300). It's sold as seen.

The old saying goes " a fool and his money are easily parted" ( I am not saying that you are a fool )
That and with the bad experiances I have had with cars
I would walk away, rather than spend lots of money on bits that need doing on it in 3,6,9 months time.