Suitable Estates

[Zyggle]

Hello everyone. I'm looking for some advice over what cars are suitable for my criteria which I'll discuss below.

Firstly, my current car is a 56 reg Mazda 3 TS 1.6. It is a fun car to drive and was perfect for when I bought it nearly 2 years ago (approx Feb 17). However since then my partner has been severely ill with CFS / ME and complications, and so I am looking for a new car to make our lives a bit easier.

Requirements:

• Spacious boot. My partner has a self-propellable wheel chair that just fits in my Mazda's boot, but it requires dismantling which is frankly a pain in the arse, and leaves no space for anything else in the boot.
• Raised seating height. My mazda is a fairly low car, and this causes difficulties for my partners knees getting in an out of the car. I've borrowed my dad's C-Max grand and the raised height is fantastic for her. I'm not particularly after an MPV, but if it's my best options then so be it.

• Smoother and comfier drive. As much as I love my Mazda, it feels every single bump in the road. Again referring to my dad's 66 reg C-Max, it was a lot smoother to drive, and there was a lot less pain for my partner. We go on regular trips arround the UK for holiday such as Lake District, Wales, and Anglesey.

• Finally, I'd ideally like it to be a solid motorway driver at 75, and higher or equal mpg to my current Mazda, which is aplroximately 33 to 36 mpg depending on where I'm driving.

In an ideal world, I'd find all of this in a car that is fun to drive, but I'm under no illusions of how improbable that is. The list above is in order of importance. My desire for a fun to drive car is absolutely last on that list. Of course reliability is also important, and would rank above fun to drive.

If you could recommend any make and models that fit my criteria, that would be fantastic. If my options sre simply an SUV or MPV, then so be it, I'll have to look at something similar to a C-Max.

Thank you for taking your time to read. I appreciate it.

[cbmotorsport]

Skoda Octavia/superb, Honda Accord, Ford Mondeo all tick those boxes, with differing amounts of driving fun involved.

[Joelonghair]

Budget?

[Swampy1982]

Octavia Scout or A4 all road, they will have the raised ride height that you are looking for I think, and there are multiple generations to match a mixed budget.

[Zyggle]

Joelonghair said:

Budget?

My apologies. I thought I had put it in. I'd be ideally looking for sub 5k. Maximum is 6k if the insurance is around 1200 / year. I currently pay around 1100 for my Mazda 3 insurance.

[Swampy1982]

Zyggle said:

Joelonghair said:

Budget?

My apologies. I thought I had put it in. I'd be ideally looking for sub 5k. Maximum is 6k if the insurance is around 1200 / year. I currently pay around 1100 for my Mazda 3 insurance.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201812193362039?maximum-mileage=80000&advertising-location=at_cars&make=SKODA&model=OCTAVIA&onesearchad=Used&onesearchad=Nearly%20New&onesearchad=New&radius=1500&price-to=6500&sort=sponsored&postcode=pe28qd&aggregatedTrim=Scout&page=1

[Fastdruid]

Mondeo Estate.

S-Max if you want more towards the MPV side (It's probably the most "car like" of the MPV's and is as good a steer as you'll get in a minibus).

[Pistonheader101]

In all honesty the c max fits the bill very well

[ZX10R NIN]

I'd say an MPV will be your best bet which engine you go for will be dependent on your annual mileage but MPV wise I'd go for the Mazda5:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Estate wise it has to be the Mondeo in Titanium X spec (it's the best FWD steer in its class) but they're hard to find & access for your partner may be an issue this is the same for all the estates:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Or the Mazda6 Sport

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

All will be a little worse on fuel due to there extra size & weight, don't be fooled to going for a smaller engine as you just end up working them harder & generally using a very similar amount of fuel as the bigger engine.

[FiF]

Years back I did a C-Max review over on HJ's site. Quite some years ago now so not sure how many updates since then. I think it was the first car I ever drove with an electric parking brake.

Anyway the summary which sticks in my mind, was that when the fleet guy threw me the keys to it for a week my heart sank. I expected to hate it, and initially I did hate it, simply because I had expected to hate it. Extreme confirmation bias.

Over the week doing various tasks and peddling it around began to realise it wasn't as bad as all that.

Seem to recall my final sentence was something along the lines of, you'll probably gradually warm to it, but it'll never set your pants on fire.

[anonymous-user]

Mazda 5

[Zyggle]

Swampy1982 said:

Zyggle said:

Joelonghair said:

Budget?

My apologies. I thought I had put it in. I'd be ideally looking for sub 5k. Maximum is 6k if the insurance is around 1200 / year. I currently pay around 1100 for my Mazda 3 insurance.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201812193362039?maximum-mileage=80000&advertising-location=at_cars&make=SKODA&model=OCTAVIA&onesearchad=Used&onesearchad=Nearly%20New&onesearchad=New&radius=1500&price-to=6500&sort=sponsored&postcode=pe28qd&aggregatedTrim=Scout&page=1

Thank you. That Scout is exactly the sort of thing I was hoping to find. I'll try and sort out a viewing of an Octavia Scout in the new year.

[Zyggle]

FiF said:

Years back I did a C-Max review over on HJ's site. Quite some years ago now so not sure how many updates since then. I think it was the first car I ever drove with an electric parking brake.

Anyway the summary which sticks in my mind, was that when the fleet guy threw me the keys to it for a week my heart sank. I expected to hate it, and initially I did hate it, simply because I had expected to hate it. Extreme confirmation bias.

Over the week doing various tasks and peddling it around began to realise it wasn't as bad as all that.

Seem to recall my final sentence was something along the lines of, you'll probably gradually warm to it, but it'll never set your pants on fire.

I know what you mean. I've drove my dad's C-Max Grand that isfairly nice to drive all things considered. It's comfortable and easy to drive and has space a plenty. I could not however have the 1litre ecoboost model. That thing is sluggish as balls.

I'm going to try looking at the Octavia Scout first and see how that fairs. If the height isn't there I'll have to look at MPV 5 seaters (i don't want a 7 seater), and the C-Max and Mazda 5 will be at the top of my list (I'm admittedly a bit of a Mazda fanboy.)

Thank you everyone for the suggestions. It's been eye opening.

[ninjag]

3rd gen CRV, prefect seating height which you literally slide sideways into. EX spec gets excellent leather seats very comfortable and loads of toys. Huge boot and the rear seats slide forwards to increase the boot size even more.

Reliability is a given. A lot of car for the money these days.

[Mr Tidy]

Just a thought, but Skoda Yetis always seem to be highly rated by those who have had them.

[FiF]

Not a Yeti, boot is very small in area. Not suitable for the OP's purpose with the chair. It's a pity as otherwise they're a decent setup otherwise.