I need a new boring family car
 

Hi all

Budget of 6k tops, needs to do as close to 50mpg as possible and ideally have 7 seats.

Looking around I seem to have 2 options

1-Megane scenic or grand scenic 1.5dci
2-vw touran

I can get a much newer megane for the money and on paper it is more frugal. I am just scared of buying a French car! Does anyone know what the. 1.5 dci engines are like and what kind of mileage they can cope with? Grand scenic that looks nice has 84k, which feels like it could be trouble!

Anything else out there? Any advice greatfully received and if you know any good places to buy in hampshire let me know :)

Cheers

Dave

Have you tried Nissan quashqai +2 ?

We had a standard quashqai and it was fab. The Diesel engines are great and a 5yr old would cost approx 6-7k.
The 7 seats aren't great for constant use, but ok for occasional.
Likewise the Mitsubishi outlander / Peugeot 4007 or Citroen version. All also great, but don't know used prices

Be wary of the French..... then can make good cheese and wine but their cars are not so good. Nice looking but can be expensive and difficult to repair (My Mother in Laws Megane needed the front bumper taking off to change the headlight bulbs)
I would suggest either the Vauxhal Zafira or ford S-Max, both would do the job nicely, are within budget and not to bad servicing an parts wise

I had a 1.9dCi Espace and could get, maybe 35mpg on a run, but in reality, round town, schooll run etc, 22mpg and to be honest a smaller engine will just have to be flogged to keep with traffic!! Plus the Scenic is pretty small!

I was looking for exactly this 6 months ago. We tried everything, literally everything, and after a while a few things became clear:
1) The French cars (Scenic and Grand Picasso) are really stylish but build quality isn't that good.
2) Quite a lot of people carriers aren't actually that big - the Touran is one of these.
3) If you want functional and reliable you want a Ford or a Vauxhall.

That left the choice down to an S-Max or a Zafira. The S-Max wins hands down in just about every category but price. There was no escaping the fact you can get a much newer, lower mileage Zafira for a lot less than an S-Max.
So in the end we got a Zafira 1.7CDI. Its not the most exciting car, especially to look at, but it works, uses very little fuel and was cheaper than virtually all the opposition spec for spec. The only real problem is its grey, and that means we lose it in big car parks all the time as every family seems to have a grey Zafira! But than again maybe there is a reason for that......

"Vauxhall and reliable " 2 words you don't often see in the same sentence :lol:

Thanks for all the advice, I did look at zafira's but 1.7's seem pretty rare and the 1.9 seems pretty thirsty. I am sure I read somewhere as well that the 1.9 has the dual mass flywheel and the 1.7 doesn't?

Solid 7 Seater But Its French. Lmao
 

Hi Mate as you have probably seen me at race meetings with my Peugeot 807, they are great cars and live for ever, 7 seats all full size seats not like the Zafira and others, all of the seats less the front 2 are removable within about 30 seconds to give you as much space as you may ever need. I currently own my 4th one of these, I run them for 20000-30000 miles and then update, mileage on the motorway averages 38mpg and local around 30mpg.
It just so happens that I am selling one :woot:.

Full details here:
http://www.oople.com/forums/showthre...493#post868493

We had a look at a Citroen berlingo multispace today and think we want one of these. It is basically a van with seats, but the amount of space is amazing. Not the coolest looking vehicle on the road though :blush:

Zippy thanks for the offer, but I need something a bit more frugal

Anyone else own a berlingo?

You can get a decent spec focus c-max for 6k, the 1.8 tdci 8v is cheap to run and 50+mpg! unless it's too small. I wouldn't buy French after my 307, when you unlock it using the key fob the rear windscreen wiper used to move!

Someone I work with has just bought his second Berlingo and loves them. Mainly because his mum has a wheelchair though!
It really is a van, which means its built to be reliable but not refined at all. I found it drives like a van, which most MPV's actually don't but it is more practical than car based models too. And cheap - to insure, run, fuel etc.

Generally I'd agree about the 'don't buy French' bit after killing two Scenic engines in a single year but I've had a few Peugeot vans in the past and they have been solid. Since the Berlingo is closer to them than say a DS it should be alright.

If you want a van with seats thats got loads of space and is good on diesel then there is only one choice for you and thats a Fiat Doblo.
I have owned my one for the past four years and apart from the usual maintenance parts it has been superb.Ideal car for racing its a tardis on wheels.Superb on diesel averages well over 50mpg,with some light right pedal work you can get it over 60mpg http://i1352.photobucket.com/albums/...psde22c99f.jpg not bad for a box on wheels.Great driving position aswell comfortable to drive.Not the best looking car in the world but what it lacks in looks it definately makes up in practicality.

Can I ask what engine you have in your doblo?

Si that was my thinking, usually would stay clear of French cars, but it is pretty basic and that 1.6 engine is everywhere!

Yeah the 1.6 Diesel engine is pretty good, had no problems with a re map in a 207👍 got it to 155bhp easily

Hello mate its the 1.9 jtd and has done 152000 miles and is still going strong.Must admit i only use BP ultimate diesel.Might be the reason why its so good on fuel.

Dave

Be really careful you are not getting lured into the attraction of a newer, lower mileage car for the same money. There is a reason for it - it is a van with extra seats so not going to be very refined on longer journeys and it is french.

The time I spent chatting to the AA man whilst getting my peugeot towed home was very illuminating. Basically he knew very little about japanese cars as he never saw them but loads about french cars!! The fact the dealer I traded it into was not sure he was willing to take it in part-ex at any price was not a great vote of confidence from the trade.

Have a look on any citroen forums you can find. Wish I had looked at the peugeot one before I bought my 407.

Having said that the berlingo may actually be about as safe as bet as you can get with french car being that bit more basic, there is less to go wrong! I had a couple of peugeots 15-20 years ago and do not remember them being particularly unreliable - maybe the cars have just started getting too complex.

Good luck!!

Rob

We'll we have put a deposit down on a belingo multispace xtr. They actually aren't that much cheaper than a cmax and you can defo by a newer renault for the money. I did a lot of reading on the berlingo and there don't seem to be many people moaning about them specifically, just French cars in general!

Reading autotrader reviews you get loads more people moaning about the fords for example. The other reassuring thing was that the previous owners had part exchanged this one against a newer one that was exactly the same.

Anyway time will tell I guess and what little street cred I had left has officially gone in the bin:cry:

Rob, shall we take it to herts? Assuming it is still running by then. Be nice to have some company when it breaks down as well

After speaking to my buddy Daz earlier today about this thread I've done some research into where I work - 659659 taxi's.
Of the 19 6seater (that would be passengers) that we have there is 1 mazda, 3 hyundai, 5 zafira's and 10 peugeot/citreon inc 3 hdi's with over 300,000 miles.
As a driver myself there is no way that any of these guys would buy cars that were unreliable.
Just for fun... one of the hyundai's was bought brand new in 2004 and now has nearly 800,000 miles... (second engine - first went at 480,000)

I am sure it will be fine Dave - previous owner buying another one can't be a bad sign. I reckon it is different enough to actually have a bit of street cred, at least more than an astra estate:)

So if we take it to Herts do I get to buy some more buggy stuff to help fill the boot??!!


Rob

:o:woot::o:woot::o