family transportation

PMKeates said:
Focus Esate is 4472mm long
Focus C-Max is 4333mm long

So the Estate is 3.2%, or just over 5" longer :)
it's enough to put some people off though.
especially as the estate has a lower roof line making it LOOK longer in the first place.
i'm guessing the C max has a slightly higher driving position too?
if so this also is a plus point to the less than confident driver.
 
[TW]Fox said:
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.

According to my aunt and uncle who have 3 children, 2 of which are young babies, the advantage of the MPV type vehicle isn't the interior storage space. They say that the big advantage is the seats at a higher level and the wider door openings which really make a big difference when loading a young child and a car seat into the back seats. When the seats are at ones waist level when standing outside the car, it makes sense that it is easier to place children and car seats into the rear and strap them in etc.
With a conventional family saloon, like the Audi A6 that they have, they find it much more awkward to put the children into the back seats.

My uncle was always one to hate MPV's and never seen the point in them until he had children.
 
Yeah its much the same for old folks, hence the popularity of cars like the Honda Jazz and other small MPV's

Personally i would never buy one but i can sort of see how usefull they are.

At the mo i cant see point of all these uber small town cars, it seems manufacturers 'grow' small cars so they can fill the gap left buy a even smaller car.

Just taking a look at the corrolla/yaris/aygo (this is mirrored across most manufacturers now too) illustrate's this perfectly.
 
dilated said:
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.

Just because you obviously dont like 'dreadful' mpv's does that mean people should suffer the shortcomings of a regular saloon against an MPV? I went thru what the OP is doing and compared Mondeo's/c5's and quite a few more and in the end the Picasso got it easitly.
It rides like a bland thing on a bland day but when it comes to carting 2 kids, pram, toys and family stuff around and coupled with the higher ride position for all involved the increased versatility wins. IMO of course.
 
Rich1988 said:
Hasnt failed yet, although knowing my luck it will soon

Lies!

Rovers' don't have HG problems.

Well, none of mine did/have :p

*grabs onto nearest piece of wood and holds on for dear life*
 
kippermitten said:
Just because you obviously dont like 'dreadful' mpv's does that mean people should suffer the shortcomings of a regular saloon against an MPV? I went thru what the OP is doing and compared Mondeo's/c5's and quite a few more and in the end the Picasso got it easitly.
It rides like a bland thing on a bland day but when it comes to carting 2 kids, pram, toys and family stuff around and coupled with the higher ride position for all involved the increased versatility wins. IMO of course.

the dreadful quote is taken from the op - his words not mine ;)

what are the shortcomings of a saloon? i ask as i really cannot understand why the mumsie-mobile would appeal over a saloon. i understand why you would buy a v-class/c8/galaxy/espace/etc but we are now talking about small 5-seater mpvs.

i have a 607 saloon, it fits 5 adults in comfort (on long journeys), it has large rear doors - so easy access for the baby seat and the boot is very large at cira 600 litres. i looked at the picasso at the time i brought the pug as my wife likes them. for simlar money i have more toys (including child freindly screens/dvd/playstation) and when the kids arent strapped into the back i have a car that is more satisfying to drive. i really cannot see what the picasso can do than my car cannot.
 
dilated said:
i really cannot see what the picasso can do than my car cannot.
dilated said:
i really cannot understand why the mumsie-mobile would appeal over a saloon
because, like so many on this forum, you cannot see any possible point of view other than your own.

the 5 seat MPV's offer more space in a shorter and higher package than an estate or large saloon.
for a less than confident driver owning something like a 607 would be like a 12 stretch for armed robbery.
many inexperienced or nervous drivers actually desire a high seating position as it reassures them, something a saloon car cannot offer.
the same is true of the "MPV v Estate" argument.
to get anywhere near the same load carrying capacity the estate needs to be longer, and having a lower roof line it looks longer again.
things like this may not make one jot of difference to you or i, but surely you can accept that to certain drivers these factors are a big deal to them?
 
[TW]Fox said:
I'd rather they used taxi's to be honest, last thing you need on a country lane is a 'less than confident driver' in a tall MPV.
Its the way of the world, your always going to get varying degree's of confidence. I'd rather come across a less than confident driver driving a car that inspires more confidence in them on a country lane than some over confident teenager with his mates in the car.

My boss has a Voyager and whilst I hate it and in 7 seat trim it has not much in the way of a boot I love the way you can get van sized amounts of space by taking out the second and third rows of seats.

Whilst I agree people do seem to jump to the conclusion that got kids = mpv but if your main criteria is a practical car to comfortably seat 4/5 you can't really knock them.
 
[TW]Fox said:
I'd rather they used taxi's to be honest, last thing you need on a country lane is a 'less than confident driver' in a tall MPV.
I'm not arguing mate, but the fact is that rightly or wrongly they passed the test and they're on our roads.
now I'd rather they bought the vehicle that made then feel the most comfortable and relaxed rather than one that doesn't.
 
Our family chariot is a little Daihatsu Sirion. Now it's been fine, up untill recently when daddy merlin has started to hit baby merlins head on the roof lining whilst putting her into the car.

This makes baby merlin cry, and mummy merlin very angry.

High roof line ***.
 
The_Dark_Side said:
because, like so many on this forum, you cannot see any possible point of view other than your own.

that is not a fair comment, I ask the question so that I can find out your point of view - it is called a discussion :rolleyes:
 
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