Calling all owners of 7-seater estate cars...

[frogs]

I fear the time has come when we need to acquire a car, and am thinking of one of those big estate cars with the extra seats in the boot.

If you own one of those (particularly the Volvo V70 or the older 850) what do you think of it? I'm particularly interested in how reliable they are likely to be after about 80K on the clock.

Also (nosey question alert) how do people finance cars? I'd like to keep the cost to a level where we can pay for it out of cash, but that's going to restrict us to an older model with higher mileage. Not sure if this is going to be a wise decision in the long run.

All experiences gratefully received!

stupid question north london

V70 XC 5Dr (1996-2000)
Dark Olive Pearl
1998 (S)
Automatic
Petrol
92,500
£ 5,995
154 m
View Details View Stock of Evans Halshaw Stockport Volvo (Stockport)

V70 2.0 10v 5Dr (1996-2000)
Nautic Blue Pearl
1998 (R)
Manual
Petrol
52,123
£ 5,995
81 m
View Details View Stock of Hylton Gott Limited Volvo (Kings Lynn)

V70 Torslanda 2.5 10v 5Dr (1996-2000)
Garnet Red
1998 (R)
Manual
Petrol
76,600
£ 5,995
255 m
View Details View Stock of Lloyd Motors Cockermouth Volvo (Cockermouth)

V70 2.4 (140bhp) 5Dr (1996-2000)
Classic Red
1999 (T)
Automatic
Petrol
93,000
£ 6,950
16 m
View Details View Stock of Squire Furneaux Slough Volvo (Slough)

V70 2.5 T CD 5Dr (1996-2000)
Dark Olive Pearl
1997 (R)
Automatic
Petrol
77,118
£ 6,950
16 m
View Details View Stock of Squire Furneaux Slough Volvo (Slough)

V70 Torslanda 2.5 10v 5Dr (1996-2000)
Silver
1998 (S)
Manual
Petrol
58,200
£ 6,995
83 m
View Details View Stock of M R G Ltd Volvo (Chippenham)

V70 2.4 (140bhp) 5Dr (1996-2000)
Polar White
2000 (W)
Manual
Petrol
80,870
£ 6,995
206 m
View Details View Stock of Tyn Lon Garage Limited Volvo (Llanfairpwllgwyngyll)

V70 2.5 10v SE 5Dr (1996-2000)
Nautic Blue Pearl
1998 (R)
Automatic
Petrol
85,530
£ 7,495
6 m
View Details View Stock of H R Owen City & London South Volvo (Newington)

V70 XC SE 5Dr (1996-2000)
Silver
1999 (V)
Manual
Petrol
91,845
£ 7,750
364 m
View Details View Stock of Strathmore Volvo (North Muirton)

V70 R 5Dr (1996-2000)
Silver
1998 (S)
Automatic
Petrol
74,200
£ 7,950
333 m
View Details View Stock of Greer's of Antrim Volvo (Antrim)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

V70 2.4 (170bhp) XT 5Dr (1996-2000)
Black Stone
1999 (T)
Automatic
Petrol
67,000
£ 7,990
215 m
View Details View Stock of Mill Garages Stockton Volvo (Stockton-on-Tees)

V70 2.4 (140bhp) 5Dr (1996-2000)
Venetian Red Pearl
1999 (V)
Manual
Petrol
74,700
£ 7,995
56 m
View Details View Stock of Caffyns Volvo (Eastbourne)

V70 2.5 10v XL 5Dr (1996-2000)
Silver
1999 (S)
Manual
Petrol
54,675
£ 7,995
364 m
View Details View Stock of Strathmore Volvo (North Muirton)

V70 T5 CD 5Dr (1996-2000)
Black Stone
1997 (R)
Automatic
Petrol
90,150
£ 7,995
167 m
View Details View Stock of Walker Farrimond Bury Volvo (Bury)

V70 2.5 T SE 5Dr (1996-2000)
Silver
1998 (R)
Automatic
Petrol
58,837
£ 7,995
129 m
View Details View Stock of Speeds of Chesterfield Volvo (Chesterfield)

V70 XC 5Dr (1996-2000)
Dark Grey Pearl
1998 (R)
Automatic
Petrol
65,000
£ 8,495
91 m
View Details View Stock of Johnsons of Gloucester Volvo (Gloucester)

V70 2.5 10v SE 5Dr (1996-2000)
Dark Olive Pearl
1999 (S)
Manual
Petrol
66,800
£ 8,495
123 m
View Details View Stock of Keith Price Garages Volvo (Abergavenny)

V70 2.5 10v SE 5Dr (1996-2000)
Silver
1999 (S)
Automatic
Petrol
55,000
£ 8,495
69 m
View Details View Stock of Kings Isle of Wight Volvo (Ryde)

V70 2.4 (140bhp) XT 5Dr (1996-2000)
Silver
1999 (V)
Automatic
Petrol
62,000
£ 8,850
71 m
View Details View Stock of Motorworld Swindon Volvo (Swindon)

V70 2.4 T 5Dr (2000-2004)
Mistral Green
2000 (W)
Automatic
Petrol
91,806
£ 8,950
102 m
View Details View Stock of Inchcape Volvo (Norwich)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

frogs that shows that you can get a volvo there are loads of them

when reg plates chage to 05 then there will be even more

as people change over hopefully

HTH

have a look here

Kangamummy, you are very kind!

Maybe you should develop this as a business opportunity...

LOL at Anteater!!!

RTKM - you're a star!!

Thank you

I just like helping people

At least it shows that you can get plenty of cars for £11,000

but I think you may get better price if you aviod your area

because they put prices to equal area where they are based IYSWIM

We buy our cars all over the place but never in NW london

ws trying to sy tht you n retro fit bk seets in v70 for bout #1000gbp when i sp[lillwed bottlwe of wter ovwer kweybord...
lso void thwe volvo multi disk thingy, lwys brweking..
lso void uto for this highwef milgwe, go for mnnul.
10v rwe littlwe gutlwess, 20v bwettwer void turbo bdgwed 'r'

oops Anteater

is that why letter jumbled?

we had muti disc changer and it was ok for us in 850 but that is only us and our car

agree avoid 10v

RTkanga, yes, at home now, lost a few keys!!! Hopefully they will dry out tonight.
The kids knacked the CD mutichanger, it used to be fine..

I am blown away by the amount of time RTknagamummy must have spent on this...can she come and do all my chores please!
We've had 3 7 seaters and borrowed a merc for a while:
Peugeot 406 family estate 2.0 petrol (T reg)
Audi A6 2.6 V6 petrol (P reg)
Audi A6 2.6 diesel (01 reg)
Merc 3.0E (G reg)
The peugeot is absolutely fantastic value, loads of kit, lovely to drive well designed boot seats that still fitted our 12 year old when we sold it. Ours did 90,000 miles in 4 years and never went wrong. They are very cheap secondhand but you have to search for the Family version. I's buy one again.
The old Audi we've had since new. 130,000 on the clock. Never replaced anything but tyres and one battery. Lovely to drive, goes like a rocket and feels really solid. However the boot space is smaller than the peugeot and my current 12 yearold is getting too big.
New Audi is very slick but doesn't have the character of the old one. The boot is TINY. Seats are very comfy but an eight yearold is about max size child.
The merc had lots of space but the boot seats pinch your fingers and it was expensive on petrol.
VERY IMPORTANT: Don't get seats fitted after you've bought the car: the safety cage in the boot is designed differently to absorb impact and your kids will be squashed flat (This advice from a Road Safety Officer and confirmed by Audi)
Audi 7 seaters are available, people just don't know about them
Good luck!
ps our friends just bought an R reg A6 2.0 diesel for 4000 pounds

Thanks for compliment

sorry dont do chores

only mumsnet

Just enjoy helping people really

I only really know volvos

Anteater hope your comp is ok?

RTKangaMummy - as you are such Volvo expert, can you tell me about infant car seats?! As I said before, we have XC70, and I am 7 wks pg - I have a vague recollection that there is something 'funny' about volvo and car seats, but didn't take much notice when we bought it as had no intention of having anymore kids then!!!!

have you got a family pack with integrated seats already in?

If not then volvo do their own seats which face backwards up to the age of 4 years I think

The integrated seats are absolutely brill

Our 850 had a single one in the centre

but now they have 2 and they disappear into the seat so when you dont need them they are gone

the centre one went into an arm rest

Absolutely fantastic

They are really safe because they are part of the car and use the seat belt like reg seats.

will look for a pic for you

HTH

Thanks for that, but only prob with integrated I can see is ease of taking new born out of car if asleep - would prob prefer removable seat. I had a feeling that only certain ones would fit (something about length of seat belts?) Maybe my eary pg brain is befuddled!!

The back straps on mine are shorter

It fits Britax

Cqan get ISOfix ones to fit I think

Thanks RTKM. Britax site seems to think most fit V70, so assume XC70 the same. Not exactly urgent, just occupying early pg boredom!!

We have isofix seats in our Volvo but I gather you could use any sort of seat. The only thing is that there is no isofix fitting in the middle seat in the back.

I have just rung Britax and volvo

1. britax have not agreed with volvo about fitting ISOFIX car seats

2. They wil fit but NO safety tests have been done yet on them

3. Volvo do do ISOFIX fittings but do NOT do an ISOFIX car seat

4. Britax cannot guarantee their system with volvos because they have not been tested together

5. They are in the process of talking about testing

Volvo do 2 car seats

1. 30664374
2. 30730047

baby insert 8682311 £27.45 + vat

car seat is £144 + vat

VOLVO 0845 564636

BRITAX 01264 386034

HTH

RTKM you are too good to be true!!! I am not worthy!!
I am now totally confused (not difficult at the moment!) Am I right in thinking that isofix seats are from 9 mths? At that point maybe integrated would work Ok. It's the bit before that I'm thinking about at the mo - I'll pop into local Volvo sometime (or maybe read the handbook!)
Sorry to have hijacked the 7 seater thread. Sallie - we are also on Sept 2005 thread together?

office computer gone to the docs[worriedface]

We have used Britax rear and front facing seats in our V70, they fit but the belts are only just long enough for the rear facing baby seat, so its always a struggle to get seat out when babies asleep.
Saying that, when they are in they are great and its good to know that the car will withstand just about anything..

Agree the built in booster seat in the middle is fantastic, but can only be used from about 6 years?

Our friends have an Audi A6 Allroad, which is the direct equiv of the XC70, ie 4wd. They are perhaps a little more trendy, so more exspensive, but less room.

volvo do ISOFIX fitting but BRITAX say that they will not guarantee safety because they have not talked to volvo yet and tested with safety figures.

I do not actually know much about ISOFIX really but am under impression that it means you dont have to route the seatbelt every time

just click into seat fixing base thingy.

I think you can use any size car seat but do not know acuratley.

The codes I said about in my last post are for VOLVO own seats that are from birth to 18kg I think she said.

so you could take the codes into dealers and ask to look in their catalogues,

HA HA - Sorry Anteater, but the thought of anyone describing a 7 seater estate as 'trendy' got to me!! (I feel I can say that as we own one, no offence meant!)

Personally I think the Volvo xc70 is much better looking than the Audi, and a 'trendy' DJ who lives in the next road has got one, so that's good enough for me!!

andif

Did you get family pack as well with the integrated seats?

We used ours from about 4 years when DS got to the weight limit.

What are ages of other children?