Best MPV/Estate?

ConFused.COM

Greetings all,
I am currently in the market for a replacement family vehicle with about £11,000 to spend on it, so will be a second hand one – I have two kids (aged 2 & 5) a dog and also own an allotment so need something with space that is durable and dependable. Therefore I have narrowed searches down to an MPV or estate.
Having owned a Ford Mondeo Mk2 for the last four years with a string of minor faults (but as the car is 11 years old it’s understandable) I was looking to go for a Japanese or German car for better reliability, however having done lots of research I have to say I cannot find one with more ‘virtues’ than the current fords, plus repair bills seem much higher (although perhaps not so often needed. The SMAX or Mondeo Estate are looking tempting right now, plus my local independent garage states that Fords after 2006 are of much higher build quality than before.
The VW Touran seems to have mixed reviews and is not the most striking looking inside and out (plus no spare wheel – the same down side to the SMAX), the Toyota Verso is appealing but has limited boot space (although can never find the exact load capacity listed anywhere) plus is less economical than the SMAX and the Passat also seems to be problematic.

Would really like to make this car last the family for 10 years…would appreciate any feedback from anyone who drives these cars or if someone has a great family car that they could recommend….but seems like ‘hobsons choice’ to me.....and if you get a good 'un or a Friday afternoon car....


Thanks in advance!

MX5huggy

http://www.skoda.net.r66.co.uk/carview.aspx?id=602304452

Buy that, I've had one 14 months the boot is huge, got enough puff for every day gets 44mpg on motorway.

KTF

A lot of the space in an MPV is above your head so I would go for an estate over an MPV.

I recently changed to a KIA Ceed estate after years of VAG stuff and am very impressed. Plenty of space for all the stuff you mentioned you want to carry. 11k should get you a nearly new one with the remainder of the 7 year warranty as well.

Example: http://used.kia.co.uk/vehicle/1457635?r_num=9&ls.sort=price|asc,series|asc,model|asc&ls.expand=transmissions&ls.logged=false&ls.c.priceranges=8059&ls.c.modelgroups=8241&ls.c.transmissions=8556

forgotmyname

Japanese or german for better reliability.. Not so much anymore. Half the cars are clones or other brands.

MK3 Mondeo, Mazda 6, Jaguar X-type. All the same underneath. Saab and Vectra same. Most of the VW, Seat
and Skoda's are the same under the skin.

Mondeo estate, Ticks all the boxes for me.

EycplUK

Mondeo Estate , Diesel Tdi , cant go wrong m8 !
Anything from `06 upwards , use ours for Mobility Scooter transport , takes that plus 2 large cases and my fishing gear :T

poppasmurf_bewdley

Mk 4 Mondeo Estate. I have one and it is ENORMOUS inside. It's actually bigger than the last Granada.

I have the 2 litre diesel automatic and I'm getting 46 to the gallon day in, day out.

wannabehermit

If you're happy with the Mondeo, why not just stick with a mk4 estate?

I'm currently driving a mk2 Galaxy (so is VAG under the bonnet) and I'm not impressed. That's not entirely true, I like the car, but it doesn't have the reliability that everyone seems to claim that they do. Our previous 2 cars were a petrol escort that was 13 years old with well over 100K on the clock and I hadn't needed to spend a penny on it the entire time I owned it. The other was a mk3 diesel Mondeo. That had needed no money spending on the engine whatsoever until at 160K the control unit on the fuel pump packed in. As we were after a people carrier anyway she was scrapped but if we hadn't needed the extra width we'd have repaired or bought a mk4.

The PD engine that I have in my car (that seems to be in most VAGs) is pretty temperamental to say the least. Very good on diesel mostly, usually get over 50mpg on a run, but sometimes randomly only get just over 40 on a run. Plus at needing cambelts every 40K it's going to get expensive. If I was in your position I'd get a mk4.

rdwarr

Skoda Superb Estate has won pretty much everything this year. You should get quite a good one for 11k.

KTF

The Superb Estate is a great car but its too new to be available for 11k used.

vax2002

wannabehermit wrote: »

I'm currently driving a mk2 Galaxy (so is VAG under the bonnet) and I'm not impressed. That's not entirely true, I like the car, but it doesn't have the reliability that everyone seems to claim that they do. .

Yeah we found that out with the passat , my hand was never out of my pocket, cam belts, egr valves x 3, plug heater module, crank sensors, random black smoke and no mpg, glow plugs, dont mention the glow plugs, they must make them out of chocolate finger biscuits.
To be honest I dont know how they got away with making those claims.

mgdavid

had a new Octavia diesel estate from '06 to '09, replaced with new Passat, both good cars. But would never advise buying new (with your own money at any rate) - go for 6 months to 2 years old with average or less miles. Avoid anything with a dual-mass flywheel as they WILL cost a lot of money around year 5 to 7. Also get something with a chain-driven cam rather than belt if you intend to keep for say 10 years. If you don't do long distances or lug very heavy weight then a 1.4 / 1.6 petrol should do the job and will be cheaper to fuel and tax and insure than a 2 litre turbodiesel.
Do your research at http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/