Best large family used vehicle for 5 adults and 3 dogs

[smallzoo99]

I've started another thread about this as I think my wording on the title put people off

I am looking for a large used ( sub £5k ) vehicle that will fit 5 adults ( easily and comfortably ) and 3 dogs for touring around scotland..

Anyone got any experience or suggestions

cheers

What size dogs?
Where do they travel in the car?
How many/what size bags?

look on autotrader you can look up a bunch of car dealers at once.Dont go with a private seller go with a dealer they often give a months cover if something is wrong with it, so you can get your mechanic to check it over.

try to look under 100 thousand miles the lower the better i but i find after that cars tend to start going downhill .Go for a minimum 1.8 engine or it will struggle with hills ,try to look for one over 40 mg or it will be a fortune to run and remember to exclude previously written off

We’ve got a Mazda 5 which fits the bill. Can seat 7 (if seventh person is very small), huge boot, reliable (we’ve driven ours all over the country). You’ll definitely find one for under £5k.

www.autotrader.co.uk/cars/used/mazda/mazda5

All our 3 dogs would normally go in the boot 1 large , 1 medium and 1 small

The main thing is that the rear two rows of seats in any combination should easily take 3 adults in comfort for long trips

For five adults in reasonable comfort you want to be looking at people carriers - something like a Renault Scenic has three individual seats in the rear. If you go for the Grand Scenic there are a further two seats in the rear (that fold into the floor) but these are not really suitable for adults above about 5ft. Going for the Grandscenic also gives you more boot space for the dogs. Otherwise look at the Ford S Max, VW Touran, Vauxhall Zafira or Citroen C4 Grandpicasso - these all have similar space for 7 seats with lots of legroom in the back for the middle row.

Other alternatives would be something like the VW Sharan or the Seat Alhambra (which are basically the same car) - these are larger and will have more space in the back .

8+ year old versions of all these should be available for around £5000 - they are likely to have high mileages but if they have been regularly serviced it shouldnt be a problem. Its worth checking that things like cam belts have been replaced on schedule.

If you look on Autotrader.co.uk you can search for these in your local area and restrict it by price, distance etc.