Which used people carrier?

[FuntimeFelicity]

We're selling our unreliable Ford Focus and have been thinking that we might get a people carrier. We're a one car family (2 adults, 2 children in car seats) so being able to fit others in the car when they come to stay (especially non-driving MIL) would be a bonus. We also go camping and need all the boot space we can get.

Most of all, it needs to be RELIABLE as we can't afford to replace a car again too soon [bitter experience emoticon].

Used, 2009 onwards, what's the best for our money? Budget is £10,000 MAX.

Stay away from citroens.

I found my old toyota (rav4) to be the most reliable car i've had. Regret selling it tbh.

Thanks for that ENorma, reviews for Citroens are very mixed.

We've been looking into the Vauxhall Zafira. Any experience anyone?

we have a zafira- i love it!
we are a family of 5 and so keep the 2 seats in the very back down unless we have anyone else in the car as with all the seats up theirs no boot.
when the seats are down though the boot is huge. seats are great size for carseats and theres lots of leg room.

i actually heart my car

We have a diesel Zafira, it's been a reliable workhorse for us. We've owned it since 2005 and in all that time it hasn't once let us down.

Renault expensive to fix. Love out scenic but every problem is £££

Ooh, this sounds promising .

Is yours a petrol or a diesel cheesesarnie?

Whatcar reckons that the 1.6 Design is pretty good, but I'm wondering whether it would stand up to carting camping equipment too .

petrol

We had a Zafira and I loved it. It had its faults (only a lapbelt in the middle row middle seat, dash a bit plasticky, rear two seats not very spacious) but it was reliable and sturdy.

Unfortunately I wrote it off in the ice a couple of years ago, but it was a write off because the repairs to the radiator/engine would have been more than the worth of the car - structurally it looked fine, and there were no injuries (thank goodness).

Replaced it with a Mazda5, which has great features like sliding doors, and the middle row middle seat can be folded under one of the other seats, leaving a space for the kids toys/books etc on long journeys. Also the rear two seats have a lot more leg room and are much better if you're going to have adults back there for space, as well as access. That said, I still don't love it like I did the Zafira...

I've got a Kia Sedona. Its massive and has 7 proper seats (rather than ones in the boot) that can be removed if you need more space.

The new ones are being sold with a 7 year warranty so obviously the manufacturer reckons they're ultra reliable.

Not a Scenic, most unreliable car we have ever had. Thank goodness it was a company car.

CMax? I borrowed my boss's once when she was away, great car, but if you don't like your current Focus...

We have a gawdawful unreliable Kia Sedona (purchased 2nd hand); I pray every night that someone will take it joyriding off our hands.

Buying 2nd hand: make sure it has been properly looked after; take time to look carefully thru the paperwork. We were told our Sedona had one previous owner & a full service history that seemed plenty thick enough.
Turns out that one previous owner hadn't had the car serviced in 40k+ miles.

New driveshaft, new clutch, tyres balancing, steering column & fuses replaced, all sorts it's needed and I Don't Think It's Done With Us yet.

I wouldn't buy a People carrier in OP's situation, though. They are all very expensive to run.

We have a zafira which we adore would deffinatly recomend it.

Were selling ours only because dp is looking at around a year on sick pay for numerous ops, and its a 2.2 petrol, get diesel, so were getting a multipla which I'd say are worth a look, if you don't need 7 seats, but 6 are usefull were head over heels with the ugly things

Our zafira diesel is great but with your budget I might go a bit more upmarket. It's easy to get spare parts etc if needed and we keep the back seats folded for tons of boot room. It's really economical fuel wise too. Not great for extra adults as back seats are a bit of a squeeze but great for extra kids

Our zafira diesel is great but with your budget I might go a bit more upmarket. It's easy to get spare parts etc if needed and we keep the back seats folded for tons of boot room. It's really economical fuel wise too. Not great for extra adults as back seats are a bit of a squeeze but great for extra kids

Seat Alhambra. It's basically the same as a VW sharan but cheaper and more reliable than a KIA or a Citroën. Less electrics to go wrong than on a Ford galaxy. Love my alhambra :)

How huge is the Alhambra?

Arghhhh, it feels like I'm going round and round and round...I've realised that the Zafira doesn't have sliding doors.

Right, what I'd like is...
Air con and front and side airbags as standard
Sliding doors BUT NOT electric sliding doors
7 seater but preferably with the back two seats not ridiculously close to the back windscreen
Good fuel economy and tax band
Preferably with electric rear windows (ds1 prone to car sickness)

Hmmm, moon on a stick?

Sliding doors are over-rated.
I don't think any 7 seater has truly good fuel economy.

If you have one prone to car sickness, tinted back windows is very very useful.

Adventure - the problem with a normal estate is that, when my non-driving MIL and/or BIL visit, we can't go anywhere by car. I'm only 5' but I'm the driver, dh is 6'2" and MIL is not a dinky lady. BIL is huge. Plus a 5 year old in a high backed booster and a 2 year old in a full baby seat, I can't see any way out other than a 7 seater. Thanks for the tip about tinted windows, worth knowing .

OK, thinking a little differently, what about a Peugot Partner Teepee? Does anyone have one/know much about them? Not the most attractive van car and no electric rear windows but...

Funtimefelicity if it's sliding doors & electric rear windows you're after, have you looked at a Mazda 5? I don't know what the tax band/mileage are like (DH deals with that stuff ) but we wouldn't have gone for it if it were significantly different to the Zafira we were replacing.

Pretry good legroom in the rear two seats for adults too.

I have a Zafira, I loathe it. Rubbish air con, no space, poor fuel economy, awful, really awful handling in bad weather, lousy sound system. really liked my Citroen c8 before that, Luke warm about it 's predecessor the Volkswagen Sharon.
Will swap next year but don't know yet what to.

Mines a 2 litre diesel

I love our grand scenic. I have driven a zafira in the past and hated it. Felt like a tin can, though it was an older model

Check closely about the costs of parts: yet another problem with Far Eastern cars is that the parts cost so much. Ditto VW, but at least you know you're likely to get high reliability with VW brand (we came close to buying a Touran recently).

My mechanic who owns a Sharan says he would buy a Galaxy instead, next time, because everything about it is cheaper to buy & run & otherwise it's the same car as Sharan.

One good thing about the Sedona is getting older relatives into it is easy, OAPs don't fold well, that's true. :)

Friends who have owned or driven every 7-9 seater going, currently have a Peugeot... 508? Which they are sticking with for foreseeable future. They tried to persuade us to get a Torneo. My favourite of the cars they've owned was a VW Caravelle.