New car needed - 4x4 or MPV?

[Girly]

Need a new car and am wondering what car you lovely ladies would recommend?!

It needs to be big enough to accomodate 2 car seats and a booster and have a large boot! Got about £8000 want something safe but still nice (trendy-ish) As we are not old farts yet!!! Sadly our Focus will be too small so we will trade it in. It has served us well and is a wonderful car to drive.

I am getting nowhere with the search as not up to speed on cars!!

Dh has a Picasso at the moment, which I really don't like at all (although it's good value for money). It's a really soft ride and sitting in the back you feel all the bumps. My vote would be for an Alhambra (it's a Galaxy/Sharran by another name), I thought to start with it was a glorified van but it was lovely. Nice high driving position, big, wide, comfortable seats (seven of them, if you need them). With only 5 seats in the boot space is huge although you lose quite a lot of it with all the seats in.

It was the nicest car we have ever had, and I really miss it.

we bought a second hand discovery, 2.5L tdi but it guzzled. It was agreat workhorse though

I hate people carriers, sorry

Message withdrawn

In defence of our lovely people carrier - it was a company car and we didn't have a lot of choice. I'd always hated them too, and didn't like the idea of them (particularly as at that time there was only two of us plus a cat), but that was until we got one, and it truly was lovely.

That said, if you're looking for a mini MPV you could try the Toyota (I think) Verso. When we test drove I liked it much better than the Picasso we ended up with.

Thanks everyone!

Any more to add to the list?

We have a Focus C-Max which is really a mini mpv I suppose but does have all the things you need. We chose it particularly for the child safety ratings that Euro N-Cap gave it as we had a bad road accident in our previous car. Previous car was a Renault Scenic which was pretty much the same, I wanted to buy a new one really, but dealer was crap and so we ended up with the Ford.

I really want a Peugeot 307 SW. They're a good size and have three proper seats with proper seatbelts in the back. And they come in some quite pretty colours. I'm a bit concerned about the safety and fuel consumption issues associated with MPVs and 4x4s, though if you're planning to invade Iraq, go for a Nissan Patrol .

I have had a Freelander in the past and the boot was rather small and it was like driving a van. Now have a Galaxy which feels more like a car and has enormous boot space. Can comfortably get 2 car seats plus adult in the 'middle' row. After having both 4x4 and MPV, I would go for the MPV.

I've got a Toyota Previa which I LOVE! Huge boot space and seats 8. Incredibly reliable and lovely to drive - drives like a car, not a bus!

I've just had to buy a 6 seater, and I found a mpv that is also 4x4! I have an Audi A4 that could accomodate 2 kids, but I'm expecting twins so had to up-size! I didn't want to get a typical mpv like a renault, vw etc so I was looking at Mitsubishi Spacewagons , or the import version the 'chariot', as it has better spec. I then found a Honda Odessey, which is the import version of the shuttle, and have gone for that. Everyone says how nice it looks, and the room inside is fab, we could almost live in it! It is pretty nippy too. The 2 rear seats fold right down into the floor so it turns into a huge estate.

There are plenty of the spacewagons or chariots on Autotrader, and they are around the 7 or 8k mark. You could get a top spec one at that price, the 2.3 engine is excellent (but I would give the 2.0l one a miss).

HTH

Wow!! Thanks Looks like I have a lot of research to do

I love my people carrier. I only have 2 kids, so most of the time I don't need that third row, but I do have 2 nieces and a nephew who live down the road so I need the extra space for when I'm transporting them. And I will NOT put one of them in the front seat. Also need it for when I have family come to stay.

I wouldn't buy a 4x4 because they are so bad for the environment. I wish my van was better, but it certainly could be worse.

Girly, I don't know a lot about this either, although I do think it;s a bit strange when people say they have to have a 4x4 because they are so "safe". In fact, compared to a "normal" car, they are quite unsafe. Cornering os not good and they can easily go over. They did a whole Top Gear on this a while ago and staged some typical accident scenarios. I was horrified to see how easily a 4x4 could go over at only 30 mph, never mind on a motorway!

Prior to seeing this programme I really loved riding high in my friend's Land Rover, but I'm not so keen now.

Someone in our road has a Volvo which I think IS 4x4, but is low so looks more like a regular estate type car. Not sure what model this is though.

As a DINKI, we hated MPVS and still think that 4X4 are pointless unless you do a lot of off-road driving. Now we are the parents of twin DSs, we had to find a vehicle that could accommodate a double pushchair plus all the equipment (ie nearly entire content of nursery when we go to visit family). Alas, we had to swallow our pride and consider an MPV because the estates we looked at just did not have enough loading space.

In the end we settled for a Vauxhall Zafira because the third row folds flat into the boot space, unlike most other MPVs and so provides us with lots of storage space. We went for the 2.2l petrol version but in hindsight, we should have got the diesel for fuel efficiency.

Overall, very happy with the performance and it is very roomy. The first time we visited my DH's parents, I had to sit in the back between the babies as we got stuck in a traffic jam and a 3 hour journey lasted 6 hours!! As well as feeding them, I had to remove them from their car seats and change their nappies. There was plenty of room to do this and I was not uncomfortable at all. I'm not a stick insect either!

Lulupop, that will be the V70 XC (cross country!)Just a V70 with 4 wheel drive and more ground clearance.

We have a P reg toyota landcruiser colorado. It has seatbelts for 8 and the rear seats all fold down flat for carting stuff around. We bought it used a few years ago for £11,000, so I would guess they are probably less now. We love it. I highly recommend getting that paper back book/mag thing that reviews all used cars. I forget what it's called but it comes out once a year and is in the mag section of WH Smith, but looks like a book. It has impartial reviews and price guides for just about everything out there. It gives you a good idea of what's good and what's not. And if you are buying a used car, what kinds of things to look out for in each particular model. (for example in our particular car, it highly recommended not getting the petrol version as they had problems...we got a diesel.) Also, once you've picked a model, look online at Loot.com to get an idea of what that model is going for pricewise. We decided to buy from a dealer because it was worth the few extra 100 pounds to know that if there was something wrong, we knew where to find the guy. In fact, after we bought the car we found that the cd player wasn't working properly, and managed to get the dealer to send us a check for £100 towards a new one.

ive just bought a renault scenic. I looked at the picassos but didnt like the dashboard. The renault cost 7995 for a 02 reg its 1.8 and is really nice. Its high up and feels safe. I can fit 3 car seats in the back and the boot is roomy too. Also the back seats move forward to make the inside smaller but the boot bigger if needed.

I hate Chelsea Tractors, too! The Honda Stream has seven seats, also the Vauxhall Zafira. There's a new Fiat Multipla out which looks much nicer than the old one. That has six seats.

I think your best bet is to buy 'What Car' magazine, which has list of all cars, how they rate etc and that will help narrow down your choices. It also tells you what is a good price to pay, so you don't get fleeced! Hth.

I bought a Picasso over the Scenic because I preferred the dashboard - I liked it digital. The new Scenics now have a digial dashboard the same as the Picassos. So when I next come to change I will have a choice .

We have a Land Rover Discovery converted to lpg (31p per litre). It can seat 7 (2 seats in the boot which fold into the sides when not in use), good sized boot, quite a bit of room, good spec etc. Would prefer Range Rover as much more roomy but cannot yet afford one.

dh likes the Freelander and HATES all MPV's/People Carriers! Will check out all your suggestions and show this thread to dh who may well have his own comments!

Thanks everyone you are all being so helpful

girly - dh used to work on the freelander model and advises to avoid the 1.8 V6 petrol engine !!!!