family transportation

rotters

rotters

rotters

Soldato
Joined
14 Nov 2004
Posts
5,446
Location
Hayle, Cornwall
currently got a ford focus ghia 1.8 04 plate, looking second car need to be able to have huge amount of space for transporting 2 babies and all the gear that comes with said babies. also need to be able to put the wife somewhere too. thinking of a mpv type vehicle, but they all look dreadful, also live in southampton and not the country so not after a landrover or similar, budget is £12k needs to have most mod cons but some sort of entertainment viewing screen and dvd access would be appreciated for the kids.


and im being to vague?


hope you can help.


rotters
 
fox will inevitably suggest a mondeo

being the next step up from the focus its the more obvious choice

i know you've said you dont like MPVs, but whilst on the practicality bandwagon, i thought id post about how practical mine is.

Interior Space is massive, with a boot space bigger than a C5 estate. C5 estate is 1658 litres with the seats down, 1969litres on the picasso.

Heres the interior on earlier models

http://www.citroen.com.br/veiculos/picasso/wall/pic_03_800.jpg

if you can stomach the body styling, there very cheap practical reliable cars

pic_01_800.jpg


just depends if you want to drive your car hard or not. If like me you nearly allways have your family on board and dont, it wont really matter to you as with day to day driving, there arent any shortcommings.

If you want to go round corners with your car touching the limits of its grip, then its not the car for you. If you drive round corners at normal sedate speeds, you wont notice the softer ride.
 
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Kroegen said:
shut it mondeo man. It fits a couple of prams in. Mondeo this Mondeo that.
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I am trying to conduct a reply to your post but given it made no sense at all this is proving rather difficult. Would be so kind as to write it out again, thanks.
 
If it's a second car, how about a Rover 820?

Reliable engine, massive boot, loads of room in the back for stuff.

Can pick one up for pennies too.

edit... With the left over money, you can then retro-fit TV screens in the headrests.
 
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I agree with fox here, a medium/large saloon will do the job just as well as on of those 'dreadful' mpvs and will be a better car overall.

also you will pay a premium for mpvs as they are more fashionable than saloons.
 
Kroegen said:
I think Mondeo boy should go for his bedtime.
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wow, i'm struggling to think how you can come up with some truely productive text in this thread.

@op, if you like your focus, how about looking at a C-Max or a Ford Galaxy, should get a high spec one in your price range, though i dunno how old it would be, just gives you a couple more choices to think about. Or even, dare i mention it, a mondeo?

I drive a mk3 2.0 TDCi and it's deceivingly spacious, relatively quick and you'll get a top spec one on an '06 plate quite easily, maybe even new if you are lucky. Failing that, you'll get an older BMW 330D in you price range.
 
agw_01 said:
If it's a second car, how about a Rover 820?

Reliable engine, massive boot, loads of room in the back for stuff.

Can pick one up for pennies too.

edit... With the left over money, you can then retro-fit TV screens in the headrests.
Click to expand...


Yep, our MD got rid of his 820 last year, lowish miles, full main dealer history and had white leather all around. Went for £500 at auction :(
 
I'd go and test drive some MPV's.. some are not as big as you think and some really do drive like buses..

Having two kids, for me, a decent estate beats any of the 5 seater MPV's for driving/bootspace and fuel economy..

However, we often have visitors, and it's nice to just have to take 1 car out which made me look at 7 seaters..

Having driven them all, I ended up with a new Zafira SRi with the Active suspension, this is the only MPV that drove well and had decent interior quality/space, the Touran was just too small with duff handling.. the Megane and especially the Picasso are very low rent and not enjoyable to drive at all.

The Vauxhall Signum is an executive sized hatchback with oodles of boot space and very very well appointed interiors, and handles much better then most MPV's..

I'd still say go test drive a few cars, including a Mondeo ST TDCI estate, VX Signum exclusive, the Scenic/Picasso/Touran Sport/New Zafira Sri, all can be had for £12K..
 
I'm not anti MPV but personally I can only see merit in the large MPV's which genuinelly offer something new over a convential car - Zafira, Galaxy, etc etc - 7 seaters. A 5 seater MPV is, IMO at least, a waste of time. Sure you can fold the seats down and stuff but.. cubby holes aside there isn't actually any more space, infact actually usually LESS space, than a decent Estate.

And becuase the current trend is for mini MPV's, a decent estate costs less, and of course, is better to drive becuase it isn't a sort of minature van.
 
MrLOL said:
ive already posted statistics that proove this isnt the case
Click to expand...
For all those interested:

"Winning" figures are in bold

Focus Esate Boot

890mm cargo height
1159mm width between wheel arches +10.4%
1042mm loadspace length to back of rear seats +21.9%
1669mm loadspace length to back of front seats

482L boot volume to parcel shelf and back of rear seats
1525L boot volume to roof and back of front seats

Focus C-Max Boot

921mm cargo height +3.5%
1050mm width between wheel arches
855mm loadspace length to back of rear seats
1734mm loadspace length to back of front seats +3.9%

550L boot bolume to roof and back of rear seats
1620L boot volume to roof and back of front seats +6.2%

From the figures, the overall difference is negligable, and the Estate in "normal" form (Laden to parcel shelf, 5 seat mode) is quite a bit bigger.
 
PMKeates said:
For all those interested:

"Winning" figures are in bold

Focus Esate Boot

890mm cargo height
1159mm width between wheel arches +10.4%
1042mm loadspace length to back of rear seats +21.9%
1669mm loadspace length to back of front seats

482L boot volume to parcel shelf and back of rear seats
1525L boot volume to roof and back of front seats

Focus C-Max Boot

921mm cargo height +3.5%
1050mm width between wheel arches
855mm loadspace length to back of rear seats
1734mm loadspace length to back of front seats +3.9%

550L boot bolume to roof and back of rear seats
1620L boot volume to roof and back of front seats +6.2%

From the figures, the overall difference is negligable, and the Estate in "normal" form (Laden to parcel shelf, 5 seat mode) is quite a bit bigger.
Click to expand...
what's the difference in vehicle length?
this is something that makes a difference to some potential buyers.
 
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