£7k for a family of 6 car

[dan-hh6gh]

Having been out of the country for 10 years my car knowledge is sorely lacking.

The used Zafira I purchased back in September has already bit the dust, so am looking to spend a bit more for hopefully better quality once Covid 19 passes.

Budget - £7,000
Seats - Must have at least 6
Gearbox - Auto
Space - need as much of it as possible!

I'm looking at Ford Galaxy's in the 5 to 6 year old range but have no idea which cars to look at and which cars to stay away from (except Sassangyon, head terrible things about them)

[AceKid]

Depends what mileage your going to be doing.. if you arent doing too many then a Nissan Elgrand / Toyota Alphard is a good option.

[MissChief]

Ford S-Max Titanium X?

[dan-hh6gh]

AceKid said:

Depends what mileage your going to be doing.. if you arent doing too many then a Nissan Elgrand / Toyota Alphard is a good option.

Hmmm hard to say but around 8k a year average.

[mbwoy84]

Chrysler Grand Voyager. They will have the most space and auto will be the norm for them.

[PanicBuyingBogRoll]

S Max or XC90

[ZX10R NIN]

If you want maximum space for you family of 6 then I'd say take a good look at the Nissan Elgrand:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NISSAN-ELGRAND-3-5-Aute...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Nissan-elgrand-2500cc-h...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Nissan-elgrand-2500cc-h...

Or the Toyota Alphard

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Toyota-Alphard-3-0-2005...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2008-08-TOYOTA-ALPHARD-...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Toyota-alphard-2-4-petr...

[andy118run]

MissChief said:

Ford S-Max Titanium X?

This. Or the Titanium (non 'X', which I have, is probably much the same).

Must admit I don't know what advantage the Galaxy would have over the S Max.

The S Max has a huge boot if you are not using the back two seats. If you do need those back seats (as your post suggests) plus decent luggage space then the S Max is not up to the task as the boot space with all 7 seats in place is tiny. You can leave one back seat folded down and have a bit more space.

I have a powershift auto box in my S Max. Been fine for the 25000 miles or so I've had the car (now just short of 60k miles) but their reliability has been a point of debate. I had my box serviced by the supplying dealer (would cost 2-300pnds I think) and if this is done every 3 years you might be okay. Definitely something to look out for if considering a Ford with an auto box.

[nuttywobbler]

andy118run said:

MissChief said:

Ford S-Max Titanium X?

Must admit I don't know what advantage the Galaxy would have over the SMax

Simple surely?! It’s bigger.

[Xcore]

LDV Sherpa?!

[Unsorted]

Mercedes Vito if you stretched year or haggled well. Some high milers could be within year and price budget.

[ED209]

Xcore said:

LDV Sherpa?!

We used to have one of these at work with a v8. Was a bit of a laugh.

[was8v]

How about a zafira? Incredible vfm

[SpeckledJim]

R-Class?

[AmitG]

Toyota Prius+ is another option. Pretty boring, but good on fuel and virtually bork-free.

Nissan Elgrand and Toyota Alphard are both JDM imports I believe. Not sold officially over here. Both very cool, but I would be worried about parts, servicing, insurance etc.

[cootuk]

I worry about JDMs as you're spending a lot of money on a 15+yo vehicle. Now they might say they're rust free etc, but what's the honest life expectancy. How many things are simply worn out?

[ZX10R NIN]

They're very well looked after & if bought from a reputable importer they'll also (after you've seen the underside) rustproof them I've supplied a lot of Elgrands & they're very reliable a bit juicy but reliable parts are plentiful too.

The Alphard's are just as reliable but a bit less popular.

[dan-hh6gh]

ZX10R NIN said:

They're very well looked after & if bought from a reputable importer they'll also (after you've seen the underside) rustproof them I've supplied a lot of Elgrands & they're very reliable a bit juicy but reliable parts are plentiful too.

The Alphard's are just as reliable but a bit less popular.

I'm liking the idea of the Nissan Elgrand but they are a bit juicy but space!

We'll see once the CV19 measures relax where we are at.

[MorganP104]

If you're not too hung up on age of the vehicle, how about a Honda FR-V?

Reliable, spacious, enough on the market (meaning they're not terribly expensive), and the right number of seats for your requirements.

[sjg]

I bought a Honda Stepwagon. Imported myself for less than that all in but quite a few to choose from that are here already. Boxy, sliding doors, big tailgate, but not based on a commercial van. Technically 8 seater but really a roomy 6 over 3 rows with space for luggage behind. Seats all slide back and forth so you can balance legroom and luggage. Rearmost are actually usable for adults though.

Engine/gearbox are the same as the CRV of the time (2.0 petrol, auto), most bits you’d need to replace are from either Accord, Civic or CRV. There’s specialists that stock a lot of other parts and break them, else anything can be ordered through a Honda dealer, it might just take some time. Or even direct from someone in Japan and get it shipped.

I still really like it, it’s our weekend family bikes/tip/camping car and still appeals more than anything officially sold here in the last 15+ years.