New/newish Seat Alhambra? It's absolutely huge and very well equipped, and I think they do a petrol version. You might not need something as big, but I love our diesel model.
Considered the Sharan/Alhambra, but its just a little too big and in my opinion nearing the end of its life cycle so the tech isn't as good as other models in the market. The seven seats will come in useful on a handful of occasions.
Citroen C4 Picasso or Citroen Grand C4 Picasso?
All come with three full sized seats in the back, so three ISOFIX points. A friend has got the Diesel Auto which is alright, comes in Petrol as well!
Hadn't considered anything French, but having looked at the numbers I think something German works out better on paper for residuals.
Why so set on petrol for a bus? The majority of these will have been sold as diesels so you will be massively restricting your pool of cars for no real reason.
Petrol Alhambra is only a 1.4, which although it's supposed to be very good, I wouldn't.
Petrol is a preference rather than a must, just for smoothness and 'in theory' lower running costs especially given the car will probably do 10 miles a day on the nursery run and a short commute. I actually have the 1.4TSI in my audi and am very impressed with it, should be even better in something lighter.
I also love my Alhambra. Does the family duties perfectly. Although I do have the older one. You can get old ones with a V6 in it too.
As said, most of these are diesels. Like probably 90%+. So you are wiping out a massive chunk of the market by insisting on a petrol. Some of the very newest ones might stand a chance of a petrol though.
Happy to go new, so not so much of an issue for me.
Why not get another Outlander PHEV?
No, made sense as a company car when I got it a couple of years ago (low BIK for such a big car), but having lived with it, I'm not sure I'd want to run one out of my own pocket. Once the battery has been used up the MPGs are laughable and since Ecotricty stopped letting electric car drivers top up for free at motorway service stations I can't even get the benefit of a quick top up while I stop for a coffee. Plus the depreciation is hilarious which might make a second hand option viable, but not sure I'd want to run the risk of running one without a warranty given the battery setup.
I have a test drive setup on a Touran tomorrow and will try and get one in a Ford. Will have to go and have a poke around at the Peugeot/Citroen dealerships and see what the missus thinks.
