What's the ultimate "family" car?

[flatso]

jbsportstech said:

If you cant stretch to M5 E61 touring or you need 7 seats this

>


SMAX ST POWERED 2.5

This really is a great product. Next generation to be launched this fall.

[jamieduff1981]

skyrover said:

Park'O said:

jbsportstech said:

Park'O said:

It's a Honda jazz with sidling doors like the fusion the saga bunch love it

I don't care, it's highly accessible and spacious.

It's not exactly "ultimate" though is it?

It's a compromise

Exactly. It's great on all fronts except that most PHers would hate getting in to it and driving it. Same goes for the SMax etc too - anybody on here who reckons they could 'lust' after one as the best family-capable car money could buy is in denial.

[smifffymoto]

We have a B-max and until you actually own and run one,you just don't get it.It is a very good family car,the 1 litre ecoboost is not quite as efficient as Ford claim in the real world but still not bad.
Take one for a test drive with the kids,visit the supermarket,park in a tight spot,then you'll 'get it'.

[jamieduff1981]

I have to admit that I didn't even know what a B-Max was until I googled it and realised it's that car I commented on above.

You're right on both counts. I haven't driven one and completely fail to see the appeal. I do instinctively know however that I'd hate driving that, and it's a long way from being the ultimate anything.

[Park'O]

jamieduff1981 said:

skyrover said:

Park'O said:

jbsportstech said:

Park'O said:

It's a Honda jazz with sidling doors like the fusion the saga bunch love it

I don't care, it's highly accessible and spacious.

It's not exactly "ultimate" though is it?

It's a compromise

the best family-capable car money could buy

That's not the title of the thread now is it.
Ultimately when it comes to family you want space, easy access and safety. Most families strive off a budget too so fuel efficiency, road tax and maintenance are usually priority as well.
I wouldn't of thought speed mattered when it comes to family commuting.

[jamieduff1981]

Ultimate to me implies the best in the thread title context. On the contrary, the thread doesn't ask 'What is the best child-focused car with a budget of £15k and minimal running costs'.

Everyone is different but my wife and I, as I said earlier, still greatly value power in a family car. You don't have to drive everywhere at 10/10ths but it's nice to be able to effect good overtakes when full laden. Also, having children onboard need not preclude some accelerating and it certainly doesn't negate the benefits of cornering flatly.

[flatso]

Number 5 said:

I've been reading this topic regularly with interest and agreed with most of the offerings that have been posted, I personally have a Panamera as my family car, prior to this I had a 2011 E350 estate which as a family car really is an all round package. I much prefer my Panamera to the E350 as my daily car because it's a little bit different to "everyone" else's family car which brings me to the CX, If there was a pole for the worlds greatest family car ever then for me I would vote for the CX. It was a car way ahead of its time that was just a break from the norm when you compare it to the cars of its day. If I were a parent in the 70's/80's or early 90's then my choice of family car would have been a CX estate.

Even now when you see one on the road (extremly rare) it looks stunning. Why, oh why did Citroen give up thei heritage and jumped on the "sporty" bandwagon?

[Bill]

jamieduff1981 said:

skyrover said:

It's not exactly "ultimate" though is it?

It's a compromise

Exactly. It's great on all fronts except that most PHers would hate getting in to it and driving it. Same goes for the SMax etc too - anybody on here who reckons they could 'lust' after one as the best family-capable car money could buy is in denial.

All family cars are a compromise, particularly if you have more than two kids. The SMax isn't as "luxury" as a Disco or Merc estate, but it's quicker and handles better while being cheaper to run and more versatile inside.

I live in the sticks, have three kids, tow in muddy fields and regularly use 6 or 7 seats. A D3 or 4 would be great, but a D2 is cheaper and easier to fix

[Number 5]

flatso said:

Number 5 said:

I've been reading this topic regularly with interest and agreed with most of the offerings that have been posted, I personally have a Panamera as my family car, prior to this I had a 2011 E350 estate which as a family car really is an all round package. I much prefer my Panamera to the E350 as my daily car because it's a little bit different to "everyone" else's family car which brings me to the CX, If there was a pole for the worlds greatest family car ever then for me I would vote for the CX. It was a car way ahead of its time that was just a break from the norm when you compare it to the cars of its day. If I were a parent in the 70's/80's or early 90's then my choice of family car would have been a CX estate.

Even now when you see one on the road (extremly rare) it looks stunning. Why, oh why did Citroen give up thei heritage and jumped on the "sporty" bandwagon?

I don't think it was Citroens own choice, when Peugeot group got involved I reckon they just turned Citroen into run of the mill for mass production. From a business point of view it was probably the right thing to do as the brand may have just died altogether like many others but from a petrolheads point of view it spoiled something that was just a little bit different.

[Dapster]

Number 5 said:

cologne2792 said:

If there was a pole for the worlds greatest family car ever then for me I would vote for the CX.

I'd shortlist the W123 280TE with the rear facing seat option and the SMAX with the Citroen.

I can only comment on the SMAX from an ownership point of view and it is an absolutely brilliant family car - that it is genuinely good fun to drive is an aside.

As a child in the 80's our family car was a W123 Saloon (the lowly 4 cyl) but the 280TE was "the one". It was smart, stylish and expensive. It was my dad's "money no object" family car of 30 years ago.

Edited by Dapster on Wednesday 16th July 10:00

[Fastdruid]

jamieduff1981 said:

Ultimate to me implies the best in the thread title context. On the contrary, the thread doesn't ask 'What is the best child-focused car with a budget of £15k and minimal running costs'.

Everyone is different but my wife and I, as I said earlier, still greatly value power in a family car. You don't have to drive everywhere at 10/10ths but it's nice to be able to effect good overtakes when full laden. Also, having children on board need not preclude some accelerating and it certainly doesn't negate the benefits of cornering flatly.

Mine go "Weeeeeee" round the corners and say to go faster. When he was younger my son used to ask for "more turbo" in the MPS.

Anyway, we have two family cars.
Car one is a Mazda 6 MPS. Bought as a sensible family car which will do 6.4s to 60, a fraction of a second slower than an E46 M3 round the old top gear test track in the hands of the stig yet fit two adults, two children, a pushchair in the boot and a load of crap on a daily/normal basis.

Car two is a Mondeo Titanium X Turbo Estate (aka the 2.5T). A somewhat slower car than the MPS (7.5s to 60) with worse handling (although not by a massive amount) but makes up for that in being able to carry 10times the crap in comfort for trips away/ikea/the tip etc.

Both are only a minor compromise for family (I had an Estate long before I had a family) and would happily have them even if I didn't have children.

[braddo]

flatso said:

jbsportstech said:

If you cant stretch to M5 E61 touring or you need 7 seats this

>


SMAX ST POWERED 2.5

This really is a great product. Next generation to be launched this fall.

I really like these and am a bit surprised that Ford still seems to have the market to itself. The S-Max seems to be the only car on the market that has the room to seat 5+ as well as be good to drive.

Seemingly they cannot compete, however, with the image of a 4x4/SUV. I expect the S-Max would do a better job for the 90% of SUV owners who do not tow or go offroad.

[p1tse]

Real life experience.
Not read all the comments above, but for me:

Being a dad of 2 now, 5yr old and a 2yr old

first started life with a r32 dsg 5 dr with 1 kid, but found the boot was too small for push chair and shopping.

Replaced it with my best car to date, BMW 535d LCI Touring M Sport
Reasons for:
- wasn't a huge outlay, new s-max were a lot more, I went used
- Drive is superb, doesn't feel big, handle wells
- performace - well it keeps up with most things and out runs most things. with a remap there's more torque than high performance cars
- creature comforts, cruise, auto, comfy on long runs
- running cost is good, on a run it does 40+ mpg
- easy to drive, even my wife thinks so
- good room up front and back, as what you find with kid seats in the back and allow the kids enough room some cars mean the front seats have to go further forward, this it's good all round
- looks good IMO
- space in the boot, enough for pushchairs, kids bikes, shopping, weekend bags, travel cot if required

I don't think anything can beat the 535d touring for drive, engagement, performance, mpg, practical space.

toying selling, but if it doesn't sell i'm not too bothered

[chris190vvti]

Surely the Ultimate family car is one that does not induce a heart attack when the little monkeys are destroying it with feet kicking back of chairs/ shutting seat belt buckles in door shuts and spilling juice on the seats???

BTW we own an smax which is great, if it had a better interior quality wise and had a "premium" badge on the front would win this poll by a mile as a real world family car, no?

PS, why don't family cars have bins in them?;)

[Fastdruid]

chris190vvti said:

BTW we own an smax which is great, if it had a better interior quality wise and had a "premium" badge on the front would win this poll by a mile as a real world family car, no?

I think in the top spec if you were to do a "blind" test, remove the badges and get the testers to drive it most people would think it was a "premium" car.

[white_goodman]

Just wanted to get to 200 posts!

[anonymous-user]

sulli said:

cologne2792 said:

We went through a few of these. Still probably the best ride of any car ever, big enough to carry a 12 foot ladder inside with the tailgate closed, room for three kids and a months worth of stuff, DIRAVI steering which is just incredible, ride and braking compensates for load so behaves the same empty as it does fully loaded and the headlights are always at the proper height. Add in quiet, quick, extremely comfortable and 800+ miles range in the DTR versions coupled with an easily washed down vinyl interior in the MK1 - which a reviewer of the day claimed was excellent for messy families.

Chatting to a bloke with a mint one of these, the other week. It had 3 rows of seats (8 seater) a massive boot and a 200bhp engine! He had done a full restoration on it and despite being brown couldn't help but love it....

Just had a flashback to my childhood in the 70's! My mum had a Peugeot 504 diesel estate 7-seat "Familiale". It had 3 rows of vinyl covered brown seats that burnt your arse in summer. It was a non turbo diesel so was also slow, noisy and generally st. Thanks for resurrecting such painful memories!

[m444ttb]

For me it would have to be a big, fast and ideally pretty comfortable estate with an autobox. So therefore a new Alpina B5 touring would do nicely.

[Charvet]

MX5

[GreigM]

Miglia 888 said:

To somewhat resurrect this thread, I feel obliged to warn the OP any anyone else considering an R-class. While the engine might be appealing the R-class must be the most horrendously unreliable car ever produced (by any manufacturer and not just mercedes).
In my 18 months and 10K miles of owning one of these monstrosities it had the following failures:
ABS sensors
Parking Sensors
Front SAM
Fuel Tank Sender
CD Changer
Bluetooth module
Wheel bearing
Keyless door handle
Turbo
Rear air suspension
Air con control panel

and thats not to mention the extensive signs of corrosion under the paint on all door panels (beside locks) which Mercedes don't want to know about regardless that it easily falls under their corrosion warranty (06 plate, 65K miles).

Over-burdened by unreliable electronics, absolutely horrendous fuel economy (we're talking 25mpg is good for it), it shook, rattled and handled like a sherman. No wonder the previous owner looked like he'd won the lottery when I foolishly agreed to take it.

My experience with this means I will never own any mercedes again, ever! If mercedes want to salvage their reputation they should immediately recall all R-class only to put them on one of those container ships which accidentally sink somewhere in the english channel.

Would that be considered a rant?