What is the best kiddy friendly family wagon now?
Discussion
Bluebarge said:
A911DOM said:
Waugh-terfall said:
Was going to suggest a Citroen C-Crosser, but you don't want French, so, Mitsubishi Outlander, VW Touran? Freelander TD4.e?
Outlander was one on my hit-list to look at - Any good??? Have you tried looking at something like the "What Car" site for reviews - lots of photos so you get some idea of what may work.
Then once we've identified a possible, we move on to how much they are and whether its a viable proposition or not.
Im embarressed to admit that some of my criteria for convincing the Mrs re any given car relates directly to what sort of 'face' it has
For example: My little 1962 Herald resto project had a cute face, so was given the thumbsup...
Did I really just write that on a public motoring forum
andymach23 said:
More info on the 85% towing rule here...
http://www.caravan-advice.co.uk/what-can-i-tow.htm...
According to this site, it looks like it is 85% of max kerb weight or towing capacity, whichever is the lowest amount.
As an example the highest towing capacity of the Rover 75 is 1600KG for the diesel. The car is heavy weighing over 2 tonnes, so the safe towing weight of this car would be 85% of 1600 kg = 1360Kg.
Thats useful thanks - there was someone with a thread asking about this in the Track Day forum recently too. http://www.caravan-advice.co.uk/what-can-i-tow.htm...
According to this site, it looks like it is 85% of max kerb weight or towing capacity, whichever is the lowest amount.
As an example the highest towing capacity of the Rover 75 is 1600KG for the diesel. The car is heavy weighing over 2 tonnes, so the safe towing weight of this car would be 85% of 1600 kg = 1360Kg.
Bluebarge said:
A911DOM said:
Waugh-terfall said:
Was going to suggest a Citroen C-Crosser, but you don't want French, so, Mitsubishi Outlander, VW Touran? Freelander TD4.e?
Outlander was one on my hit-list to look at - Any good??? Have you tried looking at something like the "What Car" site for reviews - lots of photos so you get some idea of what may work.
The C-Crosser can be had with a Dual-Clutch 'box as well
I dropped in the Kia garage to look at the new Sportage the other week.
I was bloody impressed!
Nice styling, the build quality and feel of solidity is really impressive!
Top of the range one is just £22k and they start at £16k.
Hyundai i35 I believe is a similar car underneath but not as nicely styled as the new Sportage IMHO.
Hyundai and Kia are certainly 2 brands to watch these days, they are making some nice cars.
One of our current cars is a 2008 diesel Qashqai and although it's not a bad car, it has had niggly faults and the ride is pretty bad for the type of car it is (crashes and bangs over road imperfections). It has only 20k miles on the clock and has had 2 sets of gear selector cables, new shocks, tailgate lock and it needs a new fuel filter head assembly as that has made an awful noise from new and the cheapskates won't replace it under the warranty. It's apparently a consumable part and not covered, even on the day of purchase!
I wouldn't buy another TBH, wife loves it though and it's her car but I'd like to see her replace it with a new Sportage.
I was bloody impressed!
Nice styling, the build quality and feel of solidity is really impressive!
Top of the range one is just £22k and they start at £16k.
Hyundai i35 I believe is a similar car underneath but not as nicely styled as the new Sportage IMHO.
Hyundai and Kia are certainly 2 brands to watch these days, they are making some nice cars.
One of our current cars is a 2008 diesel Qashqai and although it's not a bad car, it has had niggly faults and the ride is pretty bad for the type of car it is (crashes and bangs over road imperfections). It has only 20k miles on the clock and has had 2 sets of gear selector cables, new shocks, tailgate lock and it needs a new fuel filter head assembly as that has made an awful noise from new and the cheapskates won't replace it under the warranty. It's apparently a consumable part and not covered, even on the day of purchase!
I wouldn't buy another TBH, wife loves it though and it's her car but I'd like to see her replace it with a new Sportage.
Hip2Bsquare said:
I dropped in the Kia garage to look at the new Sportage the other week.
I was bloody impressed!
Nice styling, the build quality and feel of solidity is really impressive!
Top of the range one is just £22k and they start at £16k.
Hyundai i35 I believe is a similar car underneath but not as nicely styled as the new Sportage IMHO.
Hyundai and Kia are certainly 2 brands to watch these days, they are making some nice cars.
One of our current cars is a 2008 diesel Qashqai and although it's not a bad car, it has had niggly faults and the ride is pretty bad for the type of car it is (crashes and bangs over road imperfections). It has only 20k miles on the clock and has had 2 sets of gear selector cables, new shocks, tailgate lock and it needs a new fuel filter head assembly as that has made an awful noise from new and the cheapskates won't replace it under the warranty. It's apparently a consumable part and not covered, even on the day of purchase!
I wouldn't buy another TBH, wife loves it though and it's her car but I'd like to see her replace it with a new Sportage.
Thats very interesting, thanks! I was bloody impressed!
Nice styling, the build quality and feel of solidity is really impressive!
Top of the range one is just £22k and they start at £16k.
Hyundai i35 I believe is a similar car underneath but not as nicely styled as the new Sportage IMHO.
Hyundai and Kia are certainly 2 brands to watch these days, they are making some nice cars.
One of our current cars is a 2008 diesel Qashqai and although it's not a bad car, it has had niggly faults and the ride is pretty bad for the type of car it is (crashes and bangs over road imperfections). It has only 20k miles on the clock and has had 2 sets of gear selector cables, new shocks, tailgate lock and it needs a new fuel filter head assembly as that has made an awful noise from new and the cheapskates won't replace it under the warranty. It's apparently a consumable part and not covered, even on the day of purchase!
I wouldn't buy another TBH, wife loves it though and it's her car but I'd like to see her replace it with a new Sportage.
A911DOM said:
Going back to an earlier point.
Does anyone have any experience of the new Skoda Yeti?
What's underneath, is it a golf platform perhaps?
EVO seem to love theirs, as do CAR, most of the motor mags seem to have one on the fleet, might be worth reading some of their reports online?Does anyone have any experience of the new Skoda Yeti?
What's underneath, is it a golf platform perhaps?
Waugh-terfall said:
A911DOM said:
Going back to an earlier point.
Does anyone have any experience of the new Skoda Yeti?
What's underneath, is it a golf platform perhaps?
EVO seem to love theirs, as do CAR, most of the motor mags seem to have one on the fleet, might be worth reading some of their reports online?Does anyone have any experience of the new Skoda Yeti?
What's underneath, is it a golf platform perhaps?
It's a bit of a marmite car on styling though.
We are in the same boat and looking at similar cars. Qashqai is currently top but seems they do have the odd issue (rear shocks I understand). 1.5d is Renault, 1.6 petrol is pretty slow. They do a 2l petrol and diesel and we're looking at the petrol option. My missus loved it though.
I like the Kia myself, and the Hyundai, but we're buying used and neither are in budget yet.
Yeti is a cracking motor by all accounts but looks a bit smaller than some of the others mentioned?
Honda crv is another I quite like, but not been to look at it yet.
I like the Kia myself, and the Hyundai, but we're buying used and neither are in budget yet.
Yeti is a cracking motor by all accounts but looks a bit smaller than some of the others mentioned?
Honda crv is another I quite like, but not been to look at it yet.
My last plug, I promise.
But the Multipla is absolutely brilliant as a family car. It meets all of your criteria and the kids will love it. You could even take out one of the seats to get a huge boot for holidays - kids love sitting in the front middle.
It is cheap, economical, reliable, big enough for your family all to have their own independently adjustable seat, shorter than a Golf, it ends at the back window and doesn't go on much beyond the front window, it handles well (for an MPV) and because of the short overhang it's great for towing. And if you go to track days without all the kids you can take all the seats out the back and have plenty of room for tools and spare bits of 944 :-)
The 'ugly' ones have brilliant lighting by the way, because each light (fog lights, normal lights, main beam) is at the optimum height. Tell your wife it's quirky, or cute, or something?
But the Multipla is absolutely brilliant as a family car. It meets all of your criteria and the kids will love it. You could even take out one of the seats to get a huge boot for holidays - kids love sitting in the front middle.
It is cheap, economical, reliable, big enough for your family all to have their own independently adjustable seat, shorter than a Golf, it ends at the back window and doesn't go on much beyond the front window, it handles well (for an MPV) and because of the short overhang it's great for towing. And if you go to track days without all the kids you can take all the seats out the back and have plenty of room for tools and spare bits of 944 :-)
The 'ugly' ones have brilliant lighting by the way, because each light (fog lights, normal lights, main beam) is at the optimum height. Tell your wife it's quirky, or cute, or something?
blugnu said:
My last plug, I promise.
But the Multipla is absolutely brilliant as a family car. It meets all of your criteria and the kids will love it. You could even take out one of the seats to get a huge boot for holidays - kids love sitting in the front middle.
It is cheap, economical, reliable, big enough for your family all to have their own independently adjustable seat, shorter than a Golf, it ends at the back window and doesn't go on much beyond the front window, it handles well (for an MPV) and because of the short overhang it's great for towing. And if you go to track days without all the kids you can take all the seats out the back and have plenty of room for tools and spare bits of 944 :-)
The 'ugly' ones have brilliant lighting by the way, because each light (fog lights, normal lights, main beam) is at the optimum height. Tell your wife it's quirky, or cute, or something?
I hear ya fella But the Multipla is absolutely brilliant as a family car. It meets all of your criteria and the kids will love it. You could even take out one of the seats to get a huge boot for holidays - kids love sitting in the front middle.
It is cheap, economical, reliable, big enough for your family all to have their own independently adjustable seat, shorter than a Golf, it ends at the back window and doesn't go on much beyond the front window, it handles well (for an MPV) and because of the short overhang it's great for towing. And if you go to track days without all the kids you can take all the seats out the back and have plenty of room for tools and spare bits of 944 :-)
The 'ugly' ones have brilliant lighting by the way, because each light (fog lights, normal lights, main beam) is at the optimum height. Tell your wife it's quirky, or cute, or something?
But having just checked the Fiat site, they dont do a Multipla anymore - But there was yet another 'Crossover' thingy to add to the 'have a look at' list:
The Sedici looks to be another competitor in the Quashqai / ASX / mini 4x4 market
A911DOM said:
blugnu said:
My last plug, I promise.
But the Multipla is absolutely brilliant as a family car. It meets all of your criteria and the kids will love it. You could even take out one of the seats to get a huge boot for holidays - kids love sitting in the front middle.
It is cheap, economical, reliable, big enough for your family all to have their own independently adjustable seat, shorter than a Golf, it ends at the back window and doesn't go on much beyond the front window, it handles well (for an MPV) and because of the short overhang it's great for towing. And if you go to track days without all the kids you can take all the seats out the back and have plenty of room for tools and spare bits of 944 :-)
The 'ugly' ones have brilliant lighting by the way, because each light (fog lights, normal lights, main beam) is at the optimum height. Tell your wife it's quirky, or cute, or something?
I hear ya fella But the Multipla is absolutely brilliant as a family car. It meets all of your criteria and the kids will love it. You could even take out one of the seats to get a huge boot for holidays - kids love sitting in the front middle.
It is cheap, economical, reliable, big enough for your family all to have their own independently adjustable seat, shorter than a Golf, it ends at the back window and doesn't go on much beyond the front window, it handles well (for an MPV) and because of the short overhang it's great for towing. And if you go to track days without all the kids you can take all the seats out the back and have plenty of room for tools and spare bits of 944 :-)
The 'ugly' ones have brilliant lighting by the way, because each light (fog lights, normal lights, main beam) is at the optimum height. Tell your wife it's quirky, or cute, or something?
But having just checked the Fiat site, they dont do a Multipla anymore - But there was yet another 'Crossover' thingy to add to the 'have a look at' list:
The Sedici looks to be another competitor in the Quashqai / ASX / mini 4x4 market
The Sedici was a collaboration with Suzuki. Suzuki brought AWD hardware (although Fiat seem to have that anyway, hence the Q4 159, 156 Crosswagon, Panda 4x4 etc.) and Fiat brough diesel engines. As far as I know the Suzuki version (SX4) was never sold as a diesel in the UK though. Not sure about other markets.
My wife loved the Sedici when they came out, and pre-recession was looking at them semi-seriously. They're not very big though; the boot is small and I doubt you'd get three child seats across the back. We looked (less seriously) at the Yeti when it came out. Although on paper it's total interior volume is similar to the Multipla, it just feels so narrow when you actually look inside it. Three child seats across the back is a big challenge these days as you know. I know (now) you're only really looking at new cars, but if you could be persuaded to look at secondhand ones, but can't sell the unique beauty of the Multipla, how about a Honda FR-V? It's got 2 rows of 3 seats too, although the middle ones are slightly smaller than the other 4 I think.
GreatGranny said:
Yeti looks too small in the back also.
What about a C-Max?
I had considered one of those too - Infact, when we went on hols a year or so ago we specifically asked for one (as the hire car) so we could check it out, but wound up with a Fiat Croma...What about a C-Max?
Im not adverse to buying second hand, and even buying older more prestige type cars, but the Mrs just wont have it. We've been caught out on the current cars enough for her to put her foot down and insist we go new/nearly new and have the piece of mind of a warranty.
To be honest I'd be happy with a old Hi-lux crewcab with a towbar, or a Toyota Amazon... something like that.
A911DOM said:
...
Im not adverse to buying second hand, and even buying older more prestige type cars, but the Mrs just wont have it. We've been caught out on the current cars enough for her to put her foot down and insist we go new/nearly new and have the piece of mind of a warranty.
To be honest I'd be happy with a old Hi-lux crewcab with a towbar, or a Toyota Amazon... something like that.
Show her the Top Gear Toyota destruction video to convince her for the Hilux, that should do it.Im not adverse to buying second hand, and even buying older more prestige type cars, but the Mrs just wont have it. We've been caught out on the current cars enough for her to put her foot down and insist we go new/nearly new and have the piece of mind of a warranty.
To be honest I'd be happy with a old Hi-lux crewcab with a towbar, or a Toyota Amazon... something like that.
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