My dad is after a car!

Psymonkee

Psymonkee

Psymonkee

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Ok first things first - it is due to be replaced by end of March 2007 but due to my dads requirements he is looking early and trying to narrow down the field. If possible he would like 2 sets of answers:

1) Vehicles he could obtain via Motability

2) Vehicles he could buy nearly new

Easy enough?

Now comes the fun part - certain criteria must be met! The cars must be:

  • Be able to return greater than 25mpg around town
  • Estate/Family MPV (Scenic etc) sized
  • Preferably diesel
  • Tiptronic or any clutchless system
  • Reliable and affordable

Manafacturers he will entertain at Motability level are the usual Vauxhall/Ford offerings (Astra/Focus sized probably) but nothing too pricey due to the way the scheme works etc.

For the second option anything will be considered provided it meets the critera above and won't empty the wallet come service time :)
 
i dont think your brief can be fulfilled

hardly any MPVs have clutchless tiptronic systems

heres a list that dont

Toyota Corolla Verso
Renault Scenic
Citroen Picasso
Mazda 5
vauxhall zafira
VW Sharan
seat alhambra
mitsubishi grandis
outgoing ford galaxy (not sure about the new one thats not out yet)

in fact come to think of it, im pretty sure there isnt a single MPV out there with a clutchless tiptronic system

you'll need to get an estate car to get that, and even then it wont be cheap. Your talking expensive audis etc..

I think thats a no brainer given the budget.
 
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Whats his budget? Steptronic BMW Tourings are excellent.

Definately think Estate is the way forward if he's happy with that rather than the tragic car-type that is the van with windows, sorry MPV.
 
I had to make a similar choice very recently as I have a bad knee and the company car policy is all diesels. I picked a Peugeot 407 SW 6-speed automatic diesel as my runabout and whatever else your Dad does - don't let him get one.

Things I like about it;

It looks great
It's comfy
It's extremely quick
It's got electric everything, a properly integrated hands-free phone and colour sat-nav
Long service intervals (20K miles)
Glass roof

Things I don't like about it;

In 10 weeks/10,000 miles it has been off the road for 10 days with EGR valve issues
The CD changer doesn't work
The fuel economy is APPALLING - OK, it'll do 25mpg in town, but on a long run it barely breaks 40mpg when driven on eggshells at the speed limit.
For a very big car, there is no legroom in the back and no space in the boot.

Other cars he might like to consider;

Volkswagen Passat Diesel Estate TPDi DSG (Huge, but looks like crap in my opinion)
Seat Altea or Toledo TDi DSG (remarkably roomy and quick, looks - see above)
Skoda Octavia TDi DSG (If you can live with the image, it's the best of the VAG mid-size cars)
Saab 9-3 2.0TDi 150 Estate Automatic (bit tight in the back)
Citroen C5 (Gigantic, loads of room, but liable to have all other the faults of my 407)
Vauxhall Vectra Estate 2.0TDi 150 Auto Estate (it's the SAAB with a different griffen on)
BMW 320d Estate (Don't laugh - if you do less than 10K miles per year these are ludicrously cheap to lease on Motability as they do a 5-year service package for a few hundred quid extra. Tiny inside though)
 
[TW]Fox said:
Whats his budget? Steptronic BMW Tourings are excellent.

Definately think Estate is the way forward if he's happy with that rather than the tragic car-type that is the van with windows, sorry MPV.
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mate, there truely must be a BMW for everyone, and for every occasion ;)

From the OP, to get motobility, I guess it would be a ford/vauxhall?? Unless BMW were bought out in the last 4-5hours, I guess it does not qualify for that reason.

Perhaps an mpv type vehicle may be completely suitable for the disability the chap has. getting down into a car, and then UP out of it is quite a bit more difficult when the car is low.. I know...


Also, is not a clutchless system, possibly a bit like an automatic?
 
if hes prepared to put up with just a normal automatic

hes got plenty of options

but not one with a manual override as well.
 
There are a lot of prestige makes available on Motability but my dad believes the initial down payment for the vehicle is too high considering he has to return it a few years later :( I think he refused to spend more than £500 the last time he went through Motability and we had a 1.8TD Focus Estate for 3 years, LX Trim :rolleyes: (short version: he's a bit tight with his cash when it comes to cars :/)

Anyway to answer a few questions:

Budget is a little tricky (see above) as the idea of Nearly New cars I only suggested earlier today - my Mum will have to check out the finances a little first before anything could be decided.

Estates or MPV's are needed because of the space offered (estates) or because of the ease of access (MPV's)

As for the Auto/Tiptronic - firstly he is fed up of transmission losses on auto's he drives (currently a Kangoo 1.6) and believes a tiptronic/steptronic will return better mpg and a more engaging drive.

Disabitly wise he is fully paraplegic and has been for the last 23 years (almost to the day actually). For the record I am 23 and a half :(


I'll look into what has been mentioned and try to nudge him in the right direction (2nd hand I'm thinking). I'll just have to work on nagging him to death :D

The benifits he sees in a Motability vehicle however are pretty decent. For his £500 (plus whatever hand controls will cost) he gets:

A car for 3 years
4 replacement tyres
Fully insured
Free servicing

which is going to be quite hard to defeat. My money is on him remaining true to his budget ways and getting a bottom of the range 1.4/1.6 Astra tbh :(
 
Psymonkee said:
As for the Auto/Tiptronic - firstly he is fed up of transmission losses on auto's he drives (currently a Kangoo 1.6) and believes a tiptronic/steptronic will return better mpg and a more engaging drive.
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then he can forget the MPV idea totally.

there simply arent tiptronic/steptronic systems on MPVs
 
Psymonkee said:
As for the Auto/Tiptronic - firstly he is fed up of transmission losses on auto's he drives (currently a Kangoo 1.6) and believes a tiptronic/steptronic will return better mpg and a more engaging drive.:(
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Then he is wrong - it's the same sort of system as a conventional automatic only with a manual override - it won't yield superior performance, economy or reduced transmission loss....
 
I shall inform as such then :)

Not that he'll listen no doubt :p

If I was to chage the req to just plain old auto what further options would present? Anything worth having?
 
Psymonkee said:
If I was to chage the req to just plain old auto what further options would present? Anything worth having?
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Focus C-Max TDCi if you absolutely MUST have an MPV but really, a nice Estate = win.

Mondeo TDCi Estate, for example..
 
Oh he can be pushed to a Mondeo TDCi quite easily - after all he is in a wheelchair :p

Seriously though he did always want a mondy estate so that maybe something to look at. However my autotrader powers are weak and I can't find anything worth getting atm :(

Also it would probably have to be from a dealer so he could sort out Hand Controls more easily :\
 
Obvious answer is a C-Max 1.6 TDCI CVT Auto.

Fox - you just have to accept that people like these types of cars, otherwise they wouldn't sell them by the shedload.
 
flat-6 said:
Obvious answer is a C-Max 1.6 TDCI CVT Auto.

Fox - you just have to accept that people like these types of cars, otherwise they wouldn't sell them by the shedload.
Click to expand...

It's more 'feel obliged to purchase' rather than 'like' don't you think?
 
What - you're saying its some kind of peer pressure that makes families buy small MPVs? Maybe the marketing goes some way towards it, but that's no different than with any other kind of car. One of my mates has just bought a Picasso against my best recommendations, but is always banging on how easy it makes everything with 1 year old in tow.
 
Audi RS4 if hes got £30,000 budget :D

Depending on his budget, maybe a nice A4 diesel estate, but it would be manual transmission I would have thought...
 
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