Oh Heck... What People Carrier?

[DaveyBoyWonder]

Long story short - I have a van which is probably worth over £20k and a £10k C-Class sat on the driveway and a building project coming up so am looking t ways of freeing up some cash if I need to. The van is ace - biking/fishing/holidays etc and my wife needs a wheelchair so its great to throw the kitchen sink in and disappear for a week with zero worries about where we fit everything. The Merc is our day to day car used primarily by the missus.

I'm thinking we could sell both, buy an MPV thing to replace the van (Sharan, S-Max, one of those wacky but kinda intriguing JDM things etc) and I can get something quick to play with for £5k'ish, freeing up in theory, about £15k give or take.

a) am I mental for thinking a large MPV could replace the van (a Transporter). The van is never "full", even on holidays etc but its great to lob bikes in and camp occasionally etc. But I could easily put bikes on the roof of an MPV (or if theres one/two of is, put them in the back).
b) I know they're all mundane things but are any less mundane? Like the old S-Max with the Focus ST engine? Seen Sharans with petrol engines but they're the weedy 1.4TSI - do they do one with the 2.0TSI? Petrol would be preferable over diesel.
c) anyone know much about the aforementioned JDM people carriers like the Elgrand etc? Seem to offer vfm but the styling is a bit hit and miss...

[jamesbilluk]

I've always quite liked these as well, the Zafira VXR, with 237hp, looks very roomy too.

[WhiskyDisco]

We had a 240 bhp S-Max Titanium for a while. It was quick, and couldlight up the front tyres too easily. A set of decent front tyres transformed the drive, it was that powerful.



They hold their value very well - the only reason we sold it was because with 4 kids it was a bit of asqueeze. It's really a 5 seater with occasional +2

[DaveyBoyWonder]

jamesbilluk said:

I've always quite liked these as well, the Zafira VXR, with 237hp, looks very roomy too.

I'm one of the few people it seems that also really (weirdly!) likes these. Unfortunately I should have added, the wife will be the main driver and she needs an auto so they're ruled out.

[Normodog]

I have a Honda Stepwgn 24z, absolutely brilliant family vehicle. Low floor, plus the seats all slide forward and back.

The rear row fold up to the sides which allows for much more floor to roof height than normal mpvs. To the point I got a vfr800 in the back of mine.

I average early 30s on a run at 70ish. Also mine has the sun roof panel option which lets loads of light into the cabin. My boy loves the car, I'll never be able to sell it.

[ZX10R NIN]

Toyota Alphard:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202302194...

S Max 240:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202205175...

Your budget will get you a very nice E52 Elgrand:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/256004494884?hash=item3...

[agent006]

Grand Espace will swallow pretty much anything you can fit in a van. 3.5 v6 is oddly common as well.