Cars For The Taller Man...

[MetallerMathius]

Hi there, Been browsing the forums for a long time but never posted.

Just wondering if anyone had any ideas on a car uitable for a 19 year old, just passed hisdriving test who happens to be 6'9!

If anyone has any suggestions then please let me know!

So far i have a Seat Leon 1.4 in mind...

Looking tro spend around £2000...

[The Nur]

Just to get it out of the way as I am sure some joker will say it, MX-5 (with the roof down)

Apologies that I couldn't give you a serious answer but at five feet eleven inches I doubt I shall ever face your particular conundrum. Good luck on your search.

[greggy50]

Ford Focus Mk 1?
Remember someone at 6th form having one as his first car and he dwarfed me (6 foot 3) and he seemed to fit okay

[Eunos]

Big chap! A Mondeo/Octavia sized car would probably be better suited I'd have thought? I think all the large PHers are currently in the Had you ever a fight in the traffic? thread sadly, once they've finished postin' stats they'll probably chime in.

[Baryonyx]

The Nur said:

Just to get it out of the way as I am sure some joker will say it, MX-5 (with the roof down)

Apologies that I couldn't give you a serious answer but at five feet eleven inches I doubt I shall ever face your particular conundrum. Good luck on your search.

I wouldn't recommend it! I'm 6ft and I sit with the seat all the way back, and since there is no adjustment for the steering wheel it sits very close to my legs (although this does encourage proper steering technique). I can imagine taller people would struggle to drive an MX5, if they could drive it at all!

[The Nur]

Baryonyx said:

The Nur said:

Just to get it out of the way as I am sure some joker will say it, MX-5 (with the roof down)

Apologies that I couldn't give you a serious answer but at five feet eleven inches I doubt I shall ever face your particular conundrum. Good luck on your search.

I wouldn't recommend it! I'm 6ft and I sit with the seat all the way back, and since there is no adjustment for the steering wheel it sits very close to my legs (although this does encourage proper steering technique). I can imagine taller people would struggle to drive an MX5, if they could drive it at all!

You're new around here, are you not?

[hidetheelephants]

I have no idea if there are any suitable mainstream cars that would fit 6'9", but my left field suggestions would be Citroen 2CV(yes, really! Although a £2k example will probably be a little tatty), Ford Transit van or one of the car-derived-van-derived car/van/things, Renault Kangoo, Fiat Doblo, Peugeot Partner, Citroen Berlingo. The Kangoo I drove had a huge amount of headroom.

A lot of older executive level barges(merc E class W210, Ford Scorpio(stop sniggering at the back!), Rover 800, Citroen XM, etc.) will probably fit you in(especially if you can find one without a sunroof, they take up 3" or so of headroom) but insurance may be difficult and expensive if you can get it at 19.

Edited to add; my brother just got a 2002 Subaru Forester which has loads of headroom, but again insurance will be the problem.

Edited by hidetheelephants on Tuesday 8th March 02:35

[bassanclan]

Renault 5

[EDLT]

If you fit in a Leon then go for one, just about all bigger cars come with bigger engines and a higher insurance group. They will be almost uninsurable.

[Efbe]

these look like they have loads of room, plus foresters are damn good and capable cars.

[Steve in Stoke]

A mere 6'7 myself, but after working in the vehicle rental trade for many years I've driven many different cars, vans and trucks. The one thing I have found is that it is not often the headroom that is an issue, but leg room under steering wheels and dashboards.

I automatically push the seat back as far as it will go in any car and rarely found any trouble, but just don't expect anyone to sit behind you!

I used to have a couple of Fiestas (98-2001 models) which were quite basic inside and enough room under the steering column, and as already mentioned, the Mk1 Focus was roomy enough as well. One of my first cars was a Mk2 Cavalier which had loads of room, but I think they have all rusted away now. Likewise a Citroen ZX was plenty spacious enough for me as well, but these are rarely seen now.
More recently I've had a couple of 99-01 year Vectras, a 2004 Mondeo, Volvo S60 and S40 as company cars, although the Mondeo & Vectra seats played havoc with my back on longer journeys.

Currently got an XC90 and TVR Chimaera but they may not be an ideal options for you just yet!!

[Presuming Ed]

An old 80's Honda Civic, just rip out the front seats and sit in the back.

[kiethton]

A friend had a similar situation at 6th form, all be it an inch shorter. for insurance reasons as well as comfort he decided on a ford fusion.......driven by grannies giving low insurance costs as well as a tall roof and small economical engine.

Other than that how about one of those small japanese box shaped cars (name escapes me) sub 1.0 engines dihatsu, suzuki etal. made them and they were the maximum permitted dimensions to fit a certain tax bracket in japan...should be pennies to insure and have very high roof lines.

Just looked up the dihatsu models - terios, move, YRV etc. although i am sure that suzuki/kia/hyundai did competitors

Edited by kiethton on Wednesday 9th March 00:08

[simoid]

hidetheelephants said:

I have no idea if there are any suitable mainstream cars that would fit 6'9"

Christ he's only 6'9", not 12 foot tall and requiring a specially made motor!

Big car, insurance group 8, good to drive

Leon as suggested, I see they're only insurance group 4 too.

There's quite a lot of choice for £2k if you're not bothered about how old the car is. Would a 7-10 year old 1.4 Focus/Astra fit the bill? A few of my mates own/have owned these and enjoy them.

[Baryonyx]

The Nur said:

You're new around here, are you not?

Like you say, someone was bound to recommend it, but my thought when I bought mine was "bloody hell, if I were a couple of inches taller I wouldn't be able to drive this!".

[MetallerMathius]

Cheers for all the help guys! I think a Leon is going to be the way forward but they are all over 100 miles away from me.

Tried Autotrader and eBay but all so fay away! Might have a browse of the classifieds here. If anyone knows any other decent sites selling then please let me know haha!!

[DavidHM]

A 6'9" former colleague is now on his second Astra. The last one was a 56 plate; not sure what an early 04 plate would be going for, but he fit well enough.