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Got to get a new bigger car - MPV's - any advice on types
We've got to get a bigger car for when 3rd baby comes along in June/July - we have a volkswagen passat and love it but it's gotta go.
We have been looking at small mpvs eg. Ford S-Max, Mitsubishi Grandis, Citroen Grand C4.
Can anyone recommend any of the above or know of any others that are good.
Hubby has discounted Kia Sedona - had one before and drove like a van and seats kept falling out so def. no go there.
also the Mazda 5 looks great with the sliding doors but middle row doesn't have 3 separate seats - gotta have 3 separate seats apparently and like the back seats to go flat down - we will have 2 adults and 3 children, a puppy and sometimes a grandma LOL~!
any advice much appreciated, we can't afford a new one but hopefully a year old one.
chelle
e.d.d 4th July
with pink bump
We have been looking at small mpvs eg. Ford S-Max, Mitsubishi Grandis, Citroen Grand C4.
Can anyone recommend any of the above or know of any others that are good.
Hubby has discounted Kia Sedona - had one before and drove like a van and seats kept falling out so def. no go there.
also the Mazda 5 looks great with the sliding doors but middle row doesn't have 3 separate seats - gotta have 3 separate seats apparently and like the back seats to go flat down - we will have 2 adults and 3 children, a puppy and sometimes a grandma LOL~!
any advice much appreciated, we can't afford a new one but hopefully a year old one.
chelle
e.d.d 4th July
with pink bump
0
Replies
The plus points for me personally is the look- I definately feel it is a more sporty looking people carrier than some others,it is lovely to drive (and I hate driving!!), the sliding doors are fab with kids and the boot is massive when not using back seats.
The down side would be the size of the boot when all seats are in (I can fit the wheels of my quinny buzz but its a bit of a struggle and when you have five kids and two adults in there isn't much room for anything else.
I would though reccommend the Mazda 5 overall. We looked at the ford s-max but it was an extra ??7k which we couldn't condone spending.
I have had seven adults in the car on a night out and the middle seat isn't great for this but everyone got in and I had no complaints!!
I like the vauxhall zafira also but my dh didn't
plus our local vaux do great offers...
xxx
I'm not sure if you read my post that I wrote when someone asked about fitting 3 car seats in a family car, but anyway, I'm going to go on about how wonderful the Honda FRV is again! It's a 6 seater, 3 at the front and 3 in the back. They are all individual seats. Admittedly, the front middle doesn't have much room at the front, so ideally for a child, but for short journeys an adult can fit. My nieces and nephews love sitting in the front middle! When not in use, this seat folds down so driver and front passenger get an arm rest and table with 4 cup holders It's just fantastic!
I have had a full compliment of people in my car from 6 adults to 2 adults and 4 kids with car seats too and all has been fine. Also, the difference between this MPV and other 7 seater MPVs is the boot. Most 7 seaters, if you dare to use the 6 and 7th seat, you usually lose most of the use of the boot space, but isn't that the reason why you bought an MPV in the 1st place? So why sacrifice your boot space so people can sit? Also, the size of it isn't big like other MPVs, it's only about the size of a Ford Focus.
FYI, my DH is a car nut! (Has about 3 car magazine subscriptions!!!!!) And we test drove with my nieces and nephews and they all liked the FRV most. We looked at:
Ford S-Max
Ford Galaxy
VW Touran
Volvo V50
Mazda 5
Toyota Verso
Audi A4 Estate
Good luck with the remainder of your pregnancy and choosing the new car. Let us know what you pick, I'm very interested!
Sarah xxx
OK, I just went to get the manual to have a look, as I disagree with the sales lady (for this car anyway).
I quote from the FRV manual, page 33.
???????All children should sit in a back seat
According to crash statistics, children of all ages and sizes are safer when they are restrained in a back seat. It is recommended that all children age 12 and under be properly restrained in a back seat.
In this vehicle, small or larger children may also be restrained in the front central seat. When using a front facing child restraint system in the front central seat, position the seat to its rearmost. Never put a rearfacing child restraint system in any front seat.???????
I hope this information helps! Any other questions? You can tell I really love my car!!!! There are a few things that I grumble about though, like I don't understand why the central locking system only works for the driver. So when we go out as a family and hubby gets out of the car, and I wait for him in the car, I have to reach over to lock all the doors. Why can't the front passenger control the locks too? All my other cars did! Also, the rear wiper is quite small, why can't that be bigger and actually clean the whole window rather than just a little bit? But apart from that, I LOVE MY CAR!
Happy car shopping!
Sarah
We had the same problem! Looked at the S Max, Volvo XC90 and the Citroen Grand C4 Picasso. We bought the Citroen as a) was a better drive b) it was 0 % finance and c) it was the cheapest deal/good part ex!
Hubby nearly cried when we left the beemer there but he likes the c4 as it's a really good drive and gets us 5 in, 2 prams, shopping etc and we don't look gimpy in it!
Happy shopping!
The 2nd row seats are 3individual seats too so you have loads of room. If you dont need to use the back row of seats they are really easy to fold down and then the boot is huge. Even if you have the back seats up i can still fit my mamas and papas pliko pramette and quinny zapp buggy in. It looks good too and unlike alot of similar size cars it has a really nice interior.
Jo x
Its not much bigger than a corsa on the outside, but has loads of storage inside - hidden spaces for storage too, such as in the floor in front of the back seats, in the boot (which you dont lose as its only a 5 seater, and is really big boot)
Its so comfy and a lovely drive - doesnt drink petrol either so works out cheaper there. You can get some very good deals on part ex, or even new ones.
Its not much bigger than the S max, but has way way more room than it! (We looked at that when we were shopping and there was no competition really) You can easily fit 3 children in the back seat, or three adults, and it fits in plenty of shopping too
They are worth considering if you havent already.
xxx
So far i've test driven loads and it comes down to either the Vauxhall Zafira or the Mazda Premacy for me. Both are quite nice to drive - the Zafira you are higher up that in a 'normal' car so may feel a bit van-like, so that might be off your list!
Others that came top five for us were the VW Touran (altho its a lot bigger), the Ford C-MAX (came in a very very close third. Its a really nice car, and lovely to drive) and lastly the Volvo XC90. VERY SWISH. Far too expencive for me, but it was worth pretending i could afford it! Well worth a test! Xxx