Good practical mini mpv that's stylish and decent interior

seatbeltnoob

My ideal choice would be an estate, but being in London I'm just worried that I will have fewer on street parking options available to me. As I have a small hatchback and often parking is a squeeze. 

I live the Japanese mini mpvs. The first one was a yaris verso. However the engine size (1.3) and the really dated interior styling completely put me off. 

I recently spotted a toyata sienta which I love the look of, but it has similar issues with interior. 

But the 6 seat is really good and fold done cabin is great too. 

I've always been a fan of euro cars. But the practically of these Japanese are perfect for a small family in London. 

Ectophile

The European manufacturers are only interested in selling crossover/SUV type vehicles these days.  You can get 7 seat ones, but they will be huge.  Even the hatchbacks keep getting bigger (and so more expensive).

mobileron

Have a look at the Kia Venga not made anymore,might meet your requirements.

Flight3287462

The Toyota Sciento is only available in the far east.

I'm really quite unsure what you are wanting, your ideal choice you say is an estate, there are plenty around, so why not find one?  You will find the Skoda Fabia is pretty roomy for a small estate.

SiliconChip

"Stylish" and "MPV" don't generally belong in the same sentence, unless it's something like "This MPV is definitely not stylish"!

seatbeltnoob

Flight3287462 said:

The Toyota Sciento is only available in the far east.

I'm really quite unsure what you are wanting, your ideal choice you say is an estate, there are plenty around, so why not find one?  You will find the Skoda Fabia is pretty roomy for a small estate.

Toyota Sienta you mean? Yes, I only see them as imports. I saw one on the road and really liked the look of it. Basically looks a little bit longer than a golf (shorter than an estate). But has 7 seats and loads of bootspace if you fold down the middle and back row.

The euro equivalent for these platform would be a ford galaxy size vehicle which is huge and expensive on fuel (due to so much extra weight).

I am surprised they dont have thoese compact vehicles in the UK like they do in Japan as we seem to be all croweded in cities over here.

seatbeltnoob

SiliconChip said:

"Stylish" and "MPV" don't generally belong in the same sentence, unless it's something like "This MPV is definitely not stylish"!

the japanese ones can be quite stylish.

Herzlos

You're going to struggle to get a small, spacious 7 seater, as even the big Euro style 7 seaters have pretty cramped rear rows.
It's also worth noting that Japanese people are on average about 3" shorter than Europeans, so what's spacious for them might not be so spacious for us.

What's the largest you'd go? Got a hatchback equivalent?
How old?

The only one I can think of is the Toyota Yaris Verso, which is 3.8m long, but they stopped making them in 2005 and they definitely aren't stylish.

If you want stylish and don't need 7 seats, then what about a Mercedes A class?

Or thinking outside the box a bit, something like a Quashqai + 2 with the all round cameras would be pretty easy to park even if it's not tiny.

seatbeltnoob

Herzlos said:

You're going to struggle to get a small, spacious 7 seater, as even the big Euro style 7 seaters have pretty cramped rear rows.
It's also worth noting that Japanese people are on average about 3" shorter than Europeans, so what's spacious for them might not be so spacious for us.

What's the largest you'd go? Got a hatchback equivalent?
How old?

The only one I can think of is the Toyota Yaris Verso, which is 3.8m long, but they stopped making them in 2005 and they definitely aren't stylish.

If you want stylish and don't need 7 seats, then what about a Mercedes A class?

Or thinking outside the box a bit, something like a Quashqai + 2 with the all round cameras would be pretty easy to park even if it's not tiny.

I am after a 7 seater because of youung family. With 2 car seats the whole row is taken up with bulky car seats and we ont have boot space. a 7 seat gives my wife an option to be behind the kids to check up on them on long drives).

Also we're renting privately and move houses every couple of years so a big load carrying cary will be handy, and I do amazon parcel dellivery part time so its handy to have a mpv like car that small-ish on the outside but big on the inside.

These japanese 7 seaters are narrow as a normal car and basically just a few inches taller than an euro estate. But have HUGE load capacity with back seats folded down.

When not driven with passengers they're economical because they're light.

I am thinking perhaps those french van derived mpvs might be better suited. ford galaxy, touran, and other mpvs just feel too bulky an unnecessary to me.

seatbeltnoob

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPm4MTvI7iw

Look at the way the back row just folds underneath the middle row. Genius.

Herzlos

seatbeltnoob said:

Herzlos said:

You're going to struggle to get a small, spacious 7 seater, as even the big Euro style 7 seaters have pretty cramped rear rows.
It's also worth noting that Japanese people are on average about 3" shorter than Europeans, so what's spacious for them might not be so spacious for us.

What's the largest you'd go? Got a hatchback equivalent?
How old?

The only one I can think of is the Toyota Yaris Verso, which is 3.8m long, but they stopped making them in 2005 and they definitely aren't stylish.

If you want stylish and don't need 7 seats, then what about a Mercedes A class?

Or thinking outside the box a bit, something like a Quashqai + 2 with the all round cameras would be pretty easy to park even if it's not tiny.

I am after a 7 seater because of youung family. With 2 car seats the whole row is taken up with bulky car seats and we ont have boot space. a 7 seat gives my wife an option to be behind the kids to check up on them on long drives).

Also we're renting privately and move houses every couple of years so a big load carrying cary will be handy, and I do amazon parcel dellivery part time so its handy to have a mpv like car that small-ish on the outside but big on the inside.

These japanese 7 seaters are narrow as a normal car and basically just a few inches taller than an euro estate. But have HUGE load capacity with back seats folded down.

When not driven with passengers they're economical because they're light.

I am thinking perhaps those french van derived mpvs might be better suited. ford galaxy, touran, and other mpvs just feel too bulky an unnecessary to me.

The 3rd row on even larger Euro MPVs are cramped for adults for even short journeys, so I wouldn't recommend.

You can't really beat physics/geometry - there's only so much you can fit in a 4m floor plan. If you don't actually need the extra row of seats you'll almost certainly get on better with an estate or mini MPV.

If you can get by with only 5 seats then the Skoda Yeti is an incredibly versatile little car, with split folding/removable rear seats, we only upgraded from one to a Citroen Berlingo because we needed space for 2 wheelchairs.