What Family Bus?

[RosscoPCole]

Help.
We need an inexpensive (Less than £3,000) family bus that is interesting.
Preferably with 6 seats or more as we don't want to use two cars on family outings.
Also something economical would be great, so no V8 American wagons.
I like the look of a Fiat Multipla because it is certainly interesting, but decent ones are becoming more difficult to find.
What do the combined intelligence of PH suggest?

[andymc]

petrol zafira in that price range, about 2005-06

[Clivey]

Six seats and economical for £3k? Errr...I'm struggling to thing of something that's not going to be soul crushingly dull I'm afraid.

[sparkythecat]

Some of those Toyota Previa, Lucida, Estima things are a bit different.
I know taxi firms like them.
If you get a Mitsubishi Delica you can go off roading as well

[Willy Nilly]

If sir can find another few hundred quid

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/h...

[RosscoPCole]

A lex said:

Would a 7 seat estate work? Volvo V70s can be had in 7 seat variants, although the 2 rear most are strictly for kids.

Thanks for the idea, but ideally would like seats and a boot. Fussy I know!

[Pooh]

Definitely a Multipla, I had one for three years and loved it. The Zafira is a hateful thing in comparison and you have to put one person in the boot/rear crumple zone if you want to carry more than 5.

[Matt UK]

RosscoPCole said:

Thanks for the idea, but ideally would like seats and a boot. Fussy I know!

Then I reckon you are best off with a full size MPV. Galaxy / Sharan / the Seat one / Espace.

[RosscoPCole]

A lex said:

The Multipla is a great call, just keep looking for the right one. 3k will buy a minter and they are fun to drive.

There is also the equivalent Honda FRV.

Pooh said:

Definitely a Multipla, I had one for three years and loved it. The Zafira is a hateful thing in comparison and you have to put one person in the boot/rear crumple zone if you want to carry more than 5.

We keep coming back to the idea of the Multipla. The Honda FRV would be a candidate if we could get a diesel. Also it would have to be the stepped nose Multipla as it is a lot more interesting than the facelift. Quite like the idea of 3 in the front and using the rest like a van.

Also like the Mazda Bongo, but for the money it would be a really old one.

Edited by RosscoPCole on Thursday 31st January 18:56

[sparkythecat]

The Citroen C8 the Peugeot 806 and the Renault Grand Espace are all as cheap as chips

[SystemParanoia]

honda stream

[furrywoolyhatuk]

Would a honda frv hit the spot? May have to stretch your budget in incy bit, but you get all the space you need along with the jap reliability.

Or a bit more left field how about a honda shuttle? Although I believe it is a 7 seater.

[Clivey]

sparkythecat said:

The Citroen C8 the Peugeot 806 and the Renault Grand Espace are all as cheap as chips

Now I drive a French car...but I'm still wincing at the thought of those. - Too much that will go wrong (the 806 and C8 are known for dire reliability). Whilst you can tolerate it on a fun / project / weekend car, an unreliable family bus would I'd imagine soon get more than a little frustrating.

[2hondadave]

The FR-V is a great car. My wife had one, and it drove nicely and was very comfortable to drive. Handling and grip were surprisingly good too, only negative for me was that the steering was too slow so you couldn't really chuck it about Gearshift is really good too, which surprised me as it comes out of the dash.

Our diesel one only averaged 40mpg though, the petrol ones supposedly around 30mpg.

[Clamjouster]

Renault Avantime perhaps?

[RosscoPCole]

Clamjouster said:

Renault Avantime perhaps?

I would if it was diesel and had more than 5 seats.

[mez3]

Zafira 7 seater can be had for silly money.

I just got a 2003 1.8. Petrol in silver with full dealer history( whatever) 88 k on the clock with new tyres discs and pads and 6 months tax for a grand!

Bargain? Well I'm happy with it.

[scorcher]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VW-VOLKSWAGENAGEN-TRANSP...

ETA bargain 4 someone............
http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/v...

Edited by scorcher on Thursday 31st January 19:30

[RosscoPCole]

scorcher said:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VW-VOLKSWAGENAGEN-TRANSP...

ETA bargain 4 someone............
http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/v...

Edited by scorcher on Thursday 31st January 19:30

There must be something wrong with that Transporter.... I'm thinking 300,000 miles not 30,000.

[folos]

But do you want to be a........ zafira man?

What you need is a 728i!