Ford Galaxy - Mk2 or Mk3

[simon-spcix]

With another little one on the way, it’s time to start looking for a 7 seater.

I had a 2004 Seat Alhambra with the 1.9 Pd engine a few years back, and it was great. Comfy, practical and cheap! Just starting to look again and can’t decide between an Alhambra/Sharan/Galaxy of the same era or a slightly newer Mk3 Galaxy?

Has anyone had both, if so what were the pros/cons and any preference?

Budget isn’t huge - probably up to £5k (but the less the better).

If the Mk3 is the one to go for, should I look for the 1.8 or 2.0 tdci (I’d probably get a manual)?

Or any other big 7 seat options? The back row will mostly be occupied by a teenage, so the bigger the third row the better.

Thanks in advance!

[lost in espace]

Mk3 has to be the safer vehicle if it is for family transport, newer design and more safety features.

[NickGRhodes]

Mitsubishi Grandis rear seats are halfway between Galaxy and Smax in size/space.

[Edible Roadkill]

I've got an Smax, great for a family of 5.

[colin79666]

Vauxhall Zafira Tourers must be getting close to your budget now. Some might be ex hire or mini cabs however. I’ve had a couple as rentals when they ran out of Astras, very comfy and the diesels waft along the motorway.

[zedx19]

Be careful with some "7 seaters" as the middle seat in the middle row is often much smaller. We looked at Zafria's but the middle seat was too small to fit a child seat in and it'd be a squash for an adult. Mazda 5's middle seat is laughable, it's really just an armrest. S Max's have proper sized seats and are the best in class really, but pricey! We ended up selling our Mazda 5 and bought a Peugeot 5008, which has been superb. Full sized middle seat meaning we can get 3 child seats in the middle and have a vast boot, or even fit the mother in law in the rear most seat. The middle seats do a clever fold up and forward thing making access to the rear most seats easy. All 3 seats move forward/backward individually so you can tailor rear most legroom if you've got someone small in 1 of the middle seats, for example. Would highly recommend looking at 5008's, because french you'll get one for £4.99 plus a bag of onions. No problems to report with ours so far either, apart from it's performance being measured by the shifting of tectonic plates but meh, it's a family car and returns 55mpg with cheap VED which is all you need for a family car surely?

[colin79666]

Do you need 7 seats or would 6 do? It of a wildcard but the Fiat Multipla can be picked up for peanuts is actually rather good and the teenager can get a front seat.

[TeamBigfoot]

If you can settle for 6 seats, Honda FRV's have a good reputation for reliability and can be had quite cheap. They are a little wide though