7-seater deals

[Phooey]

Anyone bagged a good deal on a NEW 7-seater lately? I'm considering swapping the Toyota Landcruiser, but don't want anything tooooooo costly to run. I need something for the missus to cart the ankle-biters around in which is economical-ish. It needs to look reasonably smart (lets be honest, these kid carriers aren't normally pretty) and will probably be funded by the manufacturers finance deal/package.

Any deals PHers would care to share?

Cheers
Phooey

[cptsideways]

Mazda5 is a good bet for a nice looker & great driving things.

What Landcruiser would you have there?

[Godzuki]

bks to smart, get a big angry looking Delica!

[k-ink]

A seven seater seems rather crazy. Do people really have five kids these days?!

[Godzuki]

k-ink said:

A seven seater seems rather crazy. Do people really have five kids these days?!

It's not normally a case of trying to fill the seats, but having room as well. My sis has a Toyota Sienna. It replaced a Lexus SUV RX thingymabob, and whilst she has 3 kids, (3 in the back, 2 adults in the front), it was an utter ballache. It was tight in the back, and kids being kids they squabbled, and annoyed each other. Larger vehicle is far less stressful.

[robsco]

Citroen are knocking an absolute fortune off C4 Grand Picassos at the moment, which is handy as they just happen to be one of the best 7-seat MPVs going.

[vladcjelli]

robsco said:

Citroen are knocking an absolute fortune off C4 Grand Picassos at the moment, which is handy as they just happen to be one of the best 7-seat MPVs going.

A mum at our kids school has a year or two old one that's just had to have a number of wheel bearings replaced. Not sure if this is normal, or if she's been rallying it, but worth checking the rest of the internet out just in case.

[gtidriver]

If you have plenty of cash to lose and you will, buy an espace. £27000 new, offered £7000 at trade-in at just under two years. From a Renault dealer. I will never grace the prescence of a Renault dealership ever again. I got £9300 seven months later on a panda trade-in from fiat. I'd say choose the ford s-max. Which I should have.

[k-ink]

Well to be honest a lot of people will just see a used French van when you try and punt it on. What does seem crazy to me is paying £27k in the first place!

Sorry but that's an honest reaction

[zx10ben]

We got a new S-max for the other half last year and I can honestly say its actually quite good fun

For a larger "Car/Van" it handles quite well and the 163ps TDCI has a fair bit of go about it. It doesn't look all that bad either.

Yes we only have two kids and I'm sure the missus could have carried on stuffing them in the Polo, but now she just throws the kids in the middle row and all the st that comes with them in the boot! Also an unforeseen bonus is when we have the in-laws in the car they have to sit in the very back seats as the child seats need to be in the middle row, this means their miles away from me when I'm driving, too far away for me to engage in conversation safely!