ADVICE NEEDED on People Carriers.........

[HellyBelly]

I've got a thread in the childminder section but wondered if any of you lovely ladies can give me some advice?

I'm selling my Vauxhall Frontera and with the money I'm getting a people carrier. Not sure how much I'll have to spend but should be between £5000 - £6500?

Any advice, opinions etc????

I am a childminder so although I need boot space for a double buggy, change bags etc, I don't need a huge boot for the same amount of luggage (i.e. hols) as I only have one ds atm.

Want one that doesn't guzzle the fuel too much so not really an automatic (as believe these use more fuel?)

Want to get somes idea's before actually selling my car.

Thanks

we used to have a Seat Alhambra and thought it was great - especially when you don't have to use the last row of seats and you get a massive boot. We used to use it like a spare room and have it packed full of stuff!

My only worry when I was driving this car (and my worry about others I've seen with a second row of seats far back in the car), is that if you had a bumper to bumper crash (the most common) that if someone hit the back of these cars, the back row would really get a pounding. I think if I permanently had more than 3 kids in the car, I would get a car that was specifically built to take more than 3 with a proper boot in the back.

The Ulysess is the same car as the pegeout 807..

If reversing in with one sliding door is an issue.. We have had reverse sensors and a reversing camera (as soon as car goes into reverse the TV screen in the front shows what is behind us just like a coloured cctv)fitted into our car. (although not sure what this would cost inthe UK)

I am sure there is a Cireon aswell that is the same as the Ulysess and the Pegeout 807, it is just a few of the extras that are different, when we looked at them a few years ago the Ulysess was a bit cheaper.

Did worry about lack of boot space for that reason - is there a standard seat layout for these things i.e. 2 in front, 3 in middle, 2 in back??? If they are mainly 2 in the back then that row will hardly ever get used but still, any info on bigger boots etc would be great. It's mainly me wanting room for 3 toddler car seats which I can't fit in mine atm due to an airbag in the front

My ulysses is an 8 seater. 3 in middle, all seats are separate and can be taken out individually ( i leave middle on out to create a gangway some times) and back row is a bench seat which can fold flat when only have 3 children etc etc. I use 2 baby seats that can be fitted on lap belts so that the diagonal belts are free for older children. Also i dont worry about rear shunts as ulysess is alot higher up so even if someone went into the back of you it wouldnt affect the back row that much!

I just find it surprising that with all the crash tests that are done these days, they haven't focussed on potential problems with that back row. In most cars now you get side air bags, front air bags the whole works. Even though the people carriers sit slightly higher than normal cars, so many of those 4x4 monstrosities have massive strong fronts which could really damage the back of any car whether a people carrier or not.

I'm not saying don't buy one - after all, I had one for a few years myself! - it just surprised me when I started doing research on what to buy that it wasn't mentioned anywhere (when you can find massive amounts of info on front crashes, side crashes etc.).