Ford Galaxy, Smax or.....?

[CAH706]

Hi all

I'm about to retire so don't need the Discovery that I currently have.

I'm looking for;

a car with a decent sized boot as I have a large dog
Ideally auto
Max budget 10k
Fuel economy not important as I'll do less than 3k per year in the car. We have another car that we will use for family trips
Reliable
Image/brand not an issue

I've looked at the smax and galaxy as they look decent contenders based on the above criteria (apart from reliability as I know nothing about them)

I've considered volvo v70 or mondeo

Any suggestions?

Thanks

[ZX10R NIN]

The S Max & Galaxy are very good but there are some very good estates to look at too:

Mondeo Titanium X Sport 240 now this would be my pick unless the boot is too small

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202...

Insignia Elite 250

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202...

SRI 250

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202...

Mazda6 Sport Nav

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202...

S Max Titanium X Sport

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202...

Galaxy

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202...

[CAH706]

Thanks for taking the time to post that. Much appreciated.

I do like the look of the Mondeo. Just need to check if the boot is high enough for the dog. He is not massive...just a large labradoodle.

Some really good other options which helps as I'll likely but on condition and location

[this is my username]

Our S-max has been really good (we've owned it for 5 years / 60k miles, it was 2 years old when we bought it). It has a high driving position which really suits my wife who has back problems. The second row of seats slides so you can trade legroom for boot space, which is great for us as we are a tall family.

The only downsides are that it is a big vehicle (but I guess you would be used to that if you had a Discovery) and it eats front tyres (we go through a pair of fronts every year / 12k miles) and the tyres on ours are about £125 each for half-decent ones.

If I was buying one again I'd go for the auto rather than a manual. I drove a rented auto and it was a much better drive.

The S-max seems to sell for a significant premium over the Mondeo - so if you don't need the height a Mondeo would be a good option.

[magpie215]

Nissan Elgrand

Toyota Alphard

Honda Elysion

Just some others to consider.

[jwilco]

I'd be amazed if a Mondeo sized boot wasn't big enough for all but the largest dog!

I'm going to throw the Skoda Superb in there as well because the boot on those is cavernous. You'd get a few options on the latest platform for £10k, maybe in the region of 70-80k miles though...

[CAH706]

Thanks all for the comments and extra suggestions...and apologies that I've been late responding. Just spent the day selling the Disco!

[Sir Bagalot]

If you buy a Ford then don't get one with the Powershift gearbox. Just don't

[CAH706]

Thanks. The ford auto box unreliable or just rubbish?

Anyone any thoughts on the Honda Civic Tourer. Boot is 600ltrs so a decent size. Looks cheap to run and decent choice sub £10k

Boot is supposed to bigger than a mondeo which doesn’t sound right but I’ve never looked at a Honda before

[ZX10R NIN]

They're very good but they do need to have the fluid & filter changes at the right time, the wet clutch (which is what the Powershift in the S Max/Galaxy) auto is very reliable.

[CAH706]

ZX10R NIN - thanks for the gearbox detail

Tonker - car will be used for dogging 90% of the time.... transporting the dog that is.

[CAH706]

I had considered those but most seem to have wheel chair conversions. I’ll look again a would potentially work well for the dog

[Dohnut]

I've got 3 kids and had a 2012 S-Max Titanium X Sport. Ran it for 5 years but chopped it in 2 years ago. Was a fantastic peice of kit. 3 individual seats on the rear bench and I've not found anything that comes close since, in terms of accomodating 3 isofix child seats. Boot was massive too.

The only reason we got rid was the syncro-mesh started to fail (manual gearbox) and the cost to replace was prohibitive.

[CAH706]

To round out this thread

I’ve bought a Honda Civic touring. Boot is big enough for the dog and the seats fold to create space in the back as well. Seats fold up which is good.

C£10k and just over 3 years old with a years Honda approved warranty. Miles are a bit higher than average (65k) but I’ll bring that down over the next year or 2

Couple of compromises ;

it’s diesel and ideally I’d wanted Petrol. Swayed by the £20 road tax and I’m getting 60mpg out of it.

It’s manual though the gearbox is good so I’m fine with that. Our other car is an auto

It’s red, not my favourite colour but it has a great spec on it so was ok with that

Hopefully it will be more reliable than my Disco which was a joke for a year old car....as was the last discovery sport

[ZX10R NIN]

Glad you got sorted.

[Sir Bagalot]

ZX10R NIN said:

They're very good but they do need to have the fluid & filter changes at the right time, the wet clutch (which is what the Powershift in the S Max/Galaxy) auto is very reliable.

Oil and filter changes on the gearbox are every 37.5K miles or 3 years.

A certain large London cab firm who used to run Black Galaxies do them every 12.5K miles as an extra precaution. Reliable you say? Their clutch/gearbox replacements say very different. Very very different.

[ZX10R NIN]

Yes they are reliable & I say that as an owner of one that's just had his second gearbox service with no issues whatsoever now I have supplied a lot of this drivetrain to a lot of customers & they've been happy with them.

As for Addison Lee if they were so bad why do they still use them that doesn't make financial sense to have such an unreliable car, they also purchased another 1000 Galaxy's to replace the old model & added 1200 DSG Sharan's (which have a DSG gearbox which isn't supposed to be the greatest either., which says to me the Powershift is actually a decent box or Addiso lee like to lose money & upset customers by interrupting their journeys with breakdowns.



I also supplied 7 to a small taxi fleet a few years ago & they've had no issues & he's looking to buy another three in the near future.