People carriers

[Kathleen]

Our family car no longer big enough for us and thinking of moving up to a people carrier. Seat Alhambra and Toyota Picnic under consideration. Any comments appreciated.

Tried a Zafira on Saturday- far too cramped

Hoping to trade my Kia Carens (6 seats) for a Sedona (7 seats) soon. same layout as the Chrysler- 2 seats in the middle & a walk through to the 3 back seats. 2 big sliding doors. Only draw back is the lap belt on the middle back seat, but most of the time ther are 6 of us (grandma makes 7).

I'm a Kia-girl

I'm test driving the Chrysler tomorrow morning (with 2 kids in tow!), next day the Peugeot 807 & on Friday the Previa. The Rnault man still hasn't got back to me with appt (but don't want to bother anyway - I'm now desperate for slidey doors) Citroen don't have a C8 in stock for me to try! So those 3 look like they're the main choice.

Still not convinced about the seating for the Chrysler - can the seats be conveniently pushed to one side /folded up etc? And I'm worried the previa (sorry to be snobby) looks 'cheap'. Happy to be convinced otherwise. On paper the Peugeot is my favourite (well probably actually the Citroen but the garage is too crap.

Keep us posted, monkey - I'm all agog! (Still fancy the Previa meself, mostly because we all still miss our lovely Space Cruiser.)

It may be too late but the Renault Espace is ginormous. Can happily fit four adults and two toddlers in their toddler seats. And as the seats are removable you could make more room in the back if so wish.
Most importantly it is the safest car EuroNCAP has ever tested!

But, Paula 71, the Espace is SO unreliable. See earlier posts (2nd June). And there's not enough room for a family of 6 and luggage. We had to buy a roof rack.

paula - plus it doesn't have a slidey door. Oh, and our next door neighbours have one too. Would be a bit too embarassing.

Janh - dh has agreed we get the new car before baby! Prob is if we do they'll probably make us get the Previa, which might be fine, I might really like it. Really love the Peugeot though. I'm sure the boys will help me make the right decision.

Does anyone know much about the Citroen Picasso? Can you get three people COMFORTABLY in the back seat (ie. 2 adults and a car seat.) I quite fancy one but haven't checked them out yet.

Message withdrawn

Monkey - according to the Driving section of the Sunday Times, the Citroen C8 and the Peugeot 807 (and another one I can't remember which) are exactly the same car - the only differences are the accessories.

I have to say I was impressed by my best friend's 807 - loved the electric sliding doors!

Maxter - we've had a Picasso for 2 years and it's fab (we had a Berlingo before that and loved it too). It's very easy to drive, good all round vision and comfortable, plus lots of room in the boot (it also has a collapsible box thing which we load up with toys and books etc and just lift out the whole thing when unloading). Plus the air con is a godsend (never had it before and I still get a thrill out of it,esp in this weather !).
The only 'problem' we've had was a mysterious rolling noise which purturbed my husband for weeks - he though something had come loose and took it to the garage only to find that it was an errant Malteser (my fault,that !) I also think that Citroens are pretty stylish cars anyway - I would absolutely adore a DS one day - our wedding car was a Citroen Traction Avant which was heavenly !

p.s. got carried away - yes, you can get 3 comfortably in the back - we take my inlaws out for drives with my son in his car seat.

I have a KIA Sedona - 7 seats, huge and costs a fraction of the other makes. I bought mine second hand - it was 1 year old, less than 4,000 miles on the clock and cost me £11,000. It's worth hunting out bargins on the net and then getting it checked out by the AA (for example) and making sure that any loan is discharged before you buy. I've been really pleased with it, and smug that I got such a bargin!

Can I just add a public "boo hiss" to the Hyundai man who called us in for a test-drive/valuation last week then was very scathing about my car & spoke to us as if we were something he'd scraped off his shoe.

If you're reading this matey (and you know who you are) I'm planning to let your head office know all about it.

p.s the Picasso has a 4 star safety rating too

Lara2 - do they make Kia Sedona's with a manual gearbox yet - last time I checked out it was just automatics.

take a look at mazda if you have a garage near by - we chose the premacy over the scenic, and the mpv over the previa. You get all the advantage of Japanese reliabilty without the expense !

Sedona's come in manual or automatic & in petrol or diesel

Took our new Galaxy out for the first time today and it is HUGE. I felt like I was driving a double decker bus. Please tell me I'll get used to it!?

get a disco they're lovely

I have a citroen picasso XD, which is great. Had it almost 4 years with no problem, good miles per gallon and low emissions.

(Except someone nicked the citroen badge of the back and as it was parked beside a BMW,Audi & jag I was annoyed).

I have a C8 on order next...basically because it has sliding doors which will make loading kids in tight car parking spaces easier.

I have a company car so am quite interested in emissions. Grand Voyage's emissions are astonishing, the highest of any car....guess thats because they are American.

Hilary - you'll get used to it - we upgraded from Vauxhall Nova to Renault Espace and quickly got the hang of it - except when clouted a parked car whilst trying to park without using reverse parallel parking (if you get what I mean - ie just go into space forwards, then wiggle about a bit). Always reverse parallel park now.

Tallulah - thanks - will check it out.

Hilary - You'll definately get used to it. I went from a Rover Metro to a Galaxy - which was definately a shock!! But I've had the Galaxy for 2 years now & don't think twice about it's size.
The other benefit is that I don't get cut up by other drives half as often as I used to

I have just got my second Vauxhall Zafira - I had the previous one for three years and just loved it, so traded it in for a new one. 7 seats, and the two in the rear fold flat to make a big boot if you need it. You don't have to take them out - I don't have a garage to store them in so that's handy. Highly recommended!

binker - thanks for the advice.I went out looking at cars this weekend and was very impressed with the Picasso. Definitely want one now . Will have to do my sums!!

OK - exciting - for me anyway. Test drove the Crysler grand Voyager, Previa & Peugeot 807 & I really love the 807 - and even better - dh has said we can get it now!!!! We have to basically order it this week if we have any chance of it being here before the baby arrives. He basically doesn't care, so I'm in charge of choosing (as long as he can have the satellite navigation system!)

Now I have to choose between the 3-seater bench in back row (all with 3-point belts) or 2 individual seats. (making the car a 7 or 8 seater) I guess each has it's advantages & disadvantages - more space & flexibility with the 2 seats, more potential passenger space with the bench. I haven't actually seen the bench in real life & we don't have the time to wait for them to get one in for us to look at.

So - any thoughts for or against these options? Any other things you'd recommend I consider (never been given such expensive free rein before, I'm a bit nervous of the responsibility, it'll be 3 years of sarcasm & moaning if I get it wrong!)
Thanks