New family car/mini MPV - advice please?

peaseblossom

Hello

I'm currently expecting our second baby, and need to upgrade our VW Polo to a bigger car.

We've had the Polo for about 5 years, and it's been super-reliable and super-cheap to run (it's only a 1 litre engine).

I'm thinking about looking at mini MPVs (Renault Scenic or Citroen Picasso??), but really know very little about cars. Could anyone suggest any similar other makes/models to look at? I need something bigger but not too huge, with 5 doors and that isn't going to be astronomically expensive. The shock of maternity pay is going to be enough, without having to fork out lots extra on the car!

Is there anywhere I can look online to get an idea of running costs for different cars?

The budget for the new car is £6,000, so looking for something a few years old.

Any help or advice would be much appreciated!!

maryjanethespider

Go for a picasso, they are 10 a penny on ebay (If you can find an auction only one they rarely go more than 2.5k for a 52 plate, ranging to a 3.5 for a 55 plate).

I would avoid buying a one from a dealer as they will inflate them to around 3.2k for a 52, picassos especially the early ones have lost sooo much value and the petrol sx/lx models are currently on a 90% loss, they are great cars, very usefull, spacous and easy to drive/park but now people are upgrading to the c4 picassos or GRANDE versions of MPV's

The HDI engines although are more economical and cheaper tax levels out with the petrol when it comes to fuel costs and home maintainance may be a bit more difficult than the petrol.

peaseblossom

Thank you. What does HDI mean - is that diesel? Do diesel cars work out cheaper to run than petrol? (I truly am clueless about cars...)

BeeUK

HDI = diesel engine

Diesel engines are generally more economical than petrol engines of the same size, do a litre of diesel will take you further than a litre of petrol.

Depending on how many miles you will do each year it should work out cheaper to go for a diesel.

BillScarab

BeeUK wrote: »

HDI = diesel engine

Diesel engines are generally more economical than petrol engines of the same size, do a litre of diesel will take you further than a litre of petrol.

Depending on how many miles you will do each year it should work out cheaper to go for a diesel.

You will normally get more mpg from diesel than petrol. However you need to look at how many miles you do each year, what sort of miles and the price of fuel.

Turbo diesels are not well sutied to short journeys around town, they're better on the open road so if you're not doing regular long journeys they probably not ideal.. They cost more to buy than the petrol equivalent but diesel is currently 13p a litre more than petrol so you need to do a lot of miles to make diesel better value. There are also differences in the way they drive, disels tend to have less power but more torque. They're not as revvy as petrol engines and tend to pull well from low revs so they can be good for towing and generally be a more relaxed drive.

I'd say you can't go far wrong with a Picasso or a Berlingo might be another cheapish option.

maryjanethespider

The trouble is with the HDI's is any engine mantainance done at home (bar topping up the water and screen wash) may invalidate any warranty (if you get a young enough model) on the car, as the unit is supposedly a hih pressure injection system citroen will only allow qualified CITROEN mechanics to carry out repairs/inspecions. So that rules out the heaper mechanic down the road.

Petrol however, cheap as chips to buy and maintain, you may well manage to keep a few K from your budget to help with tax costs for the years to come.

freakybacon

No,No,no,! Avoid french cars like the plague. Go Japanese or Korean.
Mitsubishi Spacestar
Kia Carens
Hyundai Matrix
Mazda Premacy

JanetG

freakybacon wrote: »

No,No,no,! Avoid french cars like the plague. Go Japanese or Korean.
Mitsubishi Spacestar
Kia Carens
Hyundai Matrix
Mazda Premacy

Have to agree with this. We had a Renault Scenic and had ongoing trouble with it. Replaced it with a Hyundai Matrix 20 months ago and never had any problems at all. I'd never buy French again.

Hintza

I'm probably going to upset a few folk but if I was buying an MPV I would reckon I have given up the will to live. I'm sure they do a great job but are soooo dull and boring.

What about a Skoda Octavia Estate or a Mondeo Estate (again a bit dull but supposed to be very good) or similar.

moonrakerz

freakybacon wrote: »

No,No,no,! Avoid french cars like the plague. Go Japanese or Korean.
Mitsubishi Spacestar
Kia Carens
Hyundai Matrix
Mazda Premacy

http://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSL2637648420080626

BillScarab

And as a counterpoint here are the results of the JD Power survey for MPVs.

http://www.whatcar.com/news-special-report.aspx?NA=232612&EL=3243771

Note that the Picasso is above the Carens although it is below the Matrix. However if you look the score for the Picasso was 79.5% the top scoring Honda FR-V was 84.3% so it's not a big difference.

Having had 3 peugeots in the recent past I'd be happy to consider a Citroen. Bear ion mind the Picasso was the best selling MPV in the UK for a long time so there are lots to choose from and the prices are pretty low.