Low income family - which cheap 7 seater car for 3-4k?

[sevenseater]

I need a 7 seater car for next year but we really don't have any money and will most likely have to borrow off family so we're talking about 3-4k budget. Obviously we're looking at second hand and it would be a good few years old.

Can anyone suggest which 7 seater would be the best value for money for us. People we've spoken to have suggested a zafira. Is there anything else?

Ford Galaxys are really good value second hand and they run for ages - we have one going strong for work with 200k+ miles on the clock and our current family car has 110k and still very sound. They are cheap to repair too and I really like how they drive and how good the visibility is.

Also you get a lot of ex-fleet Galaxys which might have lots of miles but will have been regularly serviced.

Nissan Elgrand. We got one for 3.5 grand off eBay. It's fab

I have a 12 year old vw touran. It’s been very reliable, cheap to repair and does pretty well on fuel. I’ve had it 5 years, and it’s been great. Only downside is boot space. Can only fit a week of shopping in the boot, but as there’s 6 of us I just put one seat down. We hire a roof box for camping etc.

if you are worried about running costs as well as initial outlay go for a ford or vauxhall.
We have had the citroen Picasso which was good for petrol and insurance but horrendous on garage bills (so many electronics to go wrong), a galaxy which I didn't like driving (though you may; it felt too 'rolly' for me), and I'm currently driving a zafira 1.8 which is more boxy and less 'plush' than the galaxy but is light on steering and does great mpg. Just had major service and 4 new tyres for a little over 400. Japanese ones are cheap to buy but more expensive for parts and service.

Ford Galaxy they look huuuge! But I literally don't have a choice if it's too big to drive as we will need one for next year when baby no 4 arrives.

Quodlibet where do they sell ex fleet cars?

Nissan Elgrand
VW Touran

Andtheresaw Yes repairs and ongoing costs are important to us too. We live on a very tight budget as it is.

Mazda 5, they're lower in price as they don't sell them any more, loved the sliding doors in ours, you can get a 10 year old one for about 3.5k.

Confuzzlediddled thanks , I've just had a quick look on auto trader and there isn't one cheaper than £8k! It was only 6 years old though. It did look nice inside. There's a few other places I can look around for cars too and we still have nearly a year to find a good deal.

There’s two sorts of seven seaters, ime - the ones like the Peugeot 5008 or Mazda 5 which can seat 7 but the last two seats are an either/or with boot space, and ones like the galaxy which have seven seats and a bit of a boot. Sounds like you’ll need the latter...

What about the Seat Alhambra? 7 seat Grand Scenics may be a shout. Possibly even an older VW Sharan.

I was in exactly the same situation as you OP.

I now have a Zafira and it's great! I love it.

Galaxy doesn't feel big to drive at all in my opinion - it's not any longer than your average estate car and because you sit quite high up in them your visibility is excellent.
Ours was £1500 for an 05 plate two years ago with 100k on it and we've had no major problems so far. I'm hoping it'll run for another few years.

Fiat multiplas are quite good - and cheap. They have really decent boot space. 3 seats in front and 3 behind which is fine but depends on amounts of baby seats required.

Oh sorry the multipla is 6 not 7 seats.

We’re on our third Seat Alhambra, I think it’s 13 years old. Feels spacious inside with lots of storage cubbyholes. I do 200 - 400 miles a week in it and it slogs away without complaining.
Eventually water gets in and affects the electrics on the dashboard but it’s fairly easily get-attable apparently so not too eye-watering to sort.
Too many hyphens there, sorry.

The other advantage of the Galaxy is that the seat sizes are really good. Even the back row are proper seats and the leg room in the middle row can reasonably easily accomodate adult sized teens. When we got ours our DC were young and small but I'm very glad we've got the space now that at 13 they're taller than me!

Look up BCA
British car auctions

They have all sorts in.

You cant see prices on website (iirc)
But can filter what you need

We needed a 7 seater and bought one from them
There will be all relevant info about the car online- dents, scratches etc how its working, how many keys etc most of them have rac checks done etc
Fab way to save some money and buy a decent car

Obv with it being auction its a little chancey so do your homework. Go lots of times to get a feel of the place and how it works, speak to the people in charge or auctioneers. They are fab.

Hope that helps

I love my Corolla verso. It’s so reliable.
My friend has a zafira and she says it’s great.

Yes the zadifa is surprisingly a lot more cheaper than alot of the other 7 seaters. Alot of people we've spoken to have or recommend the zafira.