Big family cars: do you have a Touran/ Zafira/ Grand Picasso/ Alhambra..? Come and talk to me!

[AveAtqueVale]

Am finally coming to terms with the fact my beloved and much-abused Honda Jazz is insufficient to carry all of us/ large dog/ large quantities of camping equipment/ assorted friends and relatives, and need to buy a new (to me) something bigger.

Would love to hear pros/ cons/ recommendations about any of the above, or any other suggestions!

We had a Galaxy. Seats fold down into the bottom and it had really good leg space. Only thing was the boot wasn't big if you had the back seats up, but as it seats 7 we could usually just use one and utilise the space on the other side.

We had it for 13 years and it's still going strong, I see it occasionally.

Having gone down the Galaxy size route, I would say sod it and go Ford Tourneo route - one with two in the front, and 3 rows of 3 that are totally removable. The boot is enormous even with all the seats in.

I had a Zafira and it was great for storing shitloads. Some of the older ones though have a problem with oil dripping, so you need to top it up monthly which was very annoying.

We had the C4 Picasso (not Grand) it's liking a driving sofa 😂

Lovely big boot, 3 full adult seats.

I've had a 55 reg Zafira for 10 years. It's been a great workhorse of a car and is almost like a member of the family.
Good mpg and very little maintainance so far.

I had a 53 plate zafira and it was hideous. Major egr valve faults (known for this) but size wise it was good.

We moved on to a c4 grand Picasso...bloody loved it! HUGE, spacious, like a transit van when the seats were down. The gear box died unfortunately but I loved that car!

We've got a c4 grand Picasso and love it. There is room for 3 child seats in the middle, huge boot and good mpg

We have an old Kia Sedona. Best bit is the sliding doors as you never need to worry about the children banging doors into other cars. DH has been wanting to replace it for about 4 years but still hasn't found a car as good (new style Sedona was 'improved' and has features DH is less keen on)

Second a Grand Picasso C4. I remember sitting in it and thinking it felt huge internal space wise compared to my Ford C-Max when we were changing. I love it for space! Mine is an auto and the gear change can be a little slow but not a deal breaker (it could be that it is old - we bought second hand). I can’t imagine going smaller ever again. I don’t use the back row of seats so they are always folded and boot space is ridiculously huge. Even when I folded up just to see the size boot space rivalled a small car.

We've got a Ford SMax and rarely have more than 3 of us in the car - we just love having huge amounts of space!

I had 2 zafiras. Loved the size, but hated the car. Cheaply built. I would have gone for a different make equivalent if I could have afforded it then.

I have a 7 year old zafira and it does the job, though the engine light turns on for no discernable reason, according to mechanic. Something to do with the sensors going pop due to being made from plastic. Otherwise it runs fine and no major issues with 60k on the clock.

I have a 17 plate C4 Grand Picasso that replaced a Touran that was written off by a drunk driver - just to say it was a pressure but as I needed a car for work!

It is big, comfortable and has great visibility but the body work is plastic. I don’t have roof rails so had to get the expensive only ones that fit, the vehicle won’t take a rear mounted cycle carrier or a magnetic GB sticker 🤦🏻‍♀️😁

The 16 year old can sit reasonably comfortably in the rear seat though and the middle three seats are full size.

We've had a Galaxy, Zafira and Volvo XC90 but now we have a BMW 218 Gran Tourer and we love it. It has great boot space and up to 7 seats but it doesn't feel like you're driving a 7 seater. It feels very light and not at all bus like to drive and it's economical on fuel. You probably wouldn't even know from the outside it was a 7 seater, yet once you're inside, it's surprisingly spacious. Not really any good if you want a permanent 7 seater with a dog though as the boot is very small with all the seats up. We tend to use it as a 6 seater and our dog gets half the boot.