Need to find a bus

[Prizam]

The expected arrival of a newborn was going to push us to the limits of our 5 seater Volvo, turns out there is another rugrat in there.

3 kids under 4, and the amount of stuff and large car seats that come with them means I'm in the market for a 7 seater bus.

It's going to get trashed, both by children, the driver and the car parks it will visit. So don't want anything too new. I'm hoping to keep the Motorbikes, TVR and my snotter.

I want...
- Auto
- Saftey
- Isofix
- A boot that can handle a double buggy with the extra seats up.

I don't want...
- A Vauxhall
- Preferably not a Diesel
- Silver


The top runners...
- Ford S-Max. Good looking, Good drive, limited on boot space and expensive. Some petrol versions available.

- Renault Espace. Looks ok outside, great spec and cheap!. Questionable interior and French electronics. most are Diesel.

What am I missing? Sure, I haven't exactly delved into the world of the family bus before but there must be more viable options than these?

Budget - Ideally around 5k or less. The current Volvo was MINT when I got it 2 years ago. Emphasis on "was", hence I don't want to spend too much, but I guess up to 10k for something that turns out not to be a compromise in some way.


- Dammit, can't fix typo in thread title.

[Nickp82]

Mazda 5s always looked good value to me and are decent looking, perhaps there's a reason they are cheap though?

[krisdelta]

VW Touran and Sharan hit a few of your points, we use one of the two rear most seats with the other stowed, leaving enough room for buggy / shopping as well as 3 kids, all out of arms reach of one another (vital!)

[Prizam]

Mazda 5 are ok, the sliding door is a big help. Not the best chassis and they do rust. i had one for a while with 200k on the clock. It was alright.

Touran is on the list, but has the VW tax. Would prefer the S-Max over this.

[Christmassss]

Prizam said:

- A boot that can handle a double buggy with the extra seats up.

This is what will limit your choices...

The bootspace in a 7 seater with the additional seats up is woeful.

Honda FRV might work for you?

Edited by Christmassss on Thursday 27th July 16:26

[Prizam]

Christmassss said:

This is what will limit your choices...

The bootspace in a 7 seater with the additional seats up is woeful.

Honda FRV might work for you?

Edited by Christmassss on Thursday 27th July 16:26

Honda looks good... never heard of them but the boot space looks the best so far.

The Renault Espace has a space between the two rear seats, looks like you could slide a double buggy in their length ways.

[Olivergt]

Would you consider a Land Cruiser?

I had one of the older shape Amazons and it was simply the best family wagon ever, plenty of room for everyone. Last row of seats split 50/50, so you can leave one side down (or take out, which is a 5 minute job) which gives ample room for pretty much anything.

I know it's diesel, but it is 6 cylinder, so quite smooth and don't be put off by the mileage, they are pretty tough.

Land Cruiser Amazon

They are also pretty good off road and a little more interesting than a Ford Galaxy or Renault Espace.

[Christmassss]

Prizam said:

Honda looks good... never heard of them but the boot space looks the best so far.

The Renault Espace has a space between the two rear seats, looks like you could slide a double buggy in their length ways.

They were on my list when looking. Pretty sure they do a 2.0 Vtec version

Although i ended up with a Touran. When needed, i just put the one extra seat up in the boot and then have the pram in the other space.

The Espace - or at least the Grand Espace does have a lot of room. A Sharan, Alhambra and Ford Galaxy also should have enough boot space too. I just couldn't get on with the looks of them!

I has a look at these too:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...

But couldn't make it work for me with the seating arrangement

[MorganP104]

How about going leftfield?

Peugeot 807
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

Citroen C8
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

Fiat Ulysse (this one's a diesel, but you get the idea)
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

Slightly less leftfield, but still worthy of consideration:

Mazda 5
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

Or, how about a "proper" car:

Land Rover Discovery 2
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

[mr_spock]

Depending on the buggy you may get away with a Citroen C4 Grand Picasso. However, the diesel is better matched to the gearbox than the petrol. We had 2 of the old model, very comfy, reliable and robust interiors. Also economical but could cruse at over 110 (indicated, autobahn etc).

With 3 rows of seats, don't underestimate the challenge of access to the 3rd row. The C4 has pretty good middle row sliding seats.

[familyguy1]

My sister has an S Max and to me the boot seems MASSIVE with the seats down. easily fit a double buggy

[Prizam]

Olivergt said:

Would you consider a Land Cruiser?

I had one of the older shape Amazons and it was simply the best family wagon ever, plenty of room for everyone. Last row of seats split 50/50, so you can leave one side down (or take out, which is a 5 minute job) which gives ample room for pretty much anything.

I know it's diesel, but it is 6 cylinder, so quite smooth and don't be put off by the mileage, they are pretty tough.

Land Cruiser Amazon

They are also pretty good off road and a little more interesting than a Ford Galaxy or Renault Espace.

Great cars! Didn't know they were 7 seaters.

4.2 Derv around town on short journeys coupled to an auto slush box will drink the middle east dry in a week! I will also struggle to drop 5k on an 18yr old Toyota with 150k on the clock.

Good call tho.

[Prizam]

mr_spock said:

Depending on the buggy you may get away with a Citroen C4 Grand Picasso. However, the diesel is better matched to the gearbox than the petrol. We had 2 of the old model, very comfy, reliable and robust interiors. Also economical but could cruse at over 110 (indicated, autobahn etc).

With 3 rows of seats, don't underestimate the challenge of access to the 3rd row. The C4 has pretty good middle row sliding seats.

Citroen C4 Grand Picasso looks good. Boot is a bit smaller than i would like but you can leave one of the rear seats down. Cheap too for what your getting... i also like Citroen's styling.

[Prizam]

familyguy1 said:

My sister has an S Max and to me the boot seems MASSIVE with the seats down. easily fit a double buggy

Thats the key, i will need to use at least one of the rear seats all the time.

[familyguy1]

I believe my sister has all three kids in the middle row, one in a car seat and others in the boosters with backs. 2 yrs old, 5 yr old and 7yr old.

No need to use the back row, unless we come along.

HTH

[Prizam]

Thanks, Dis she ever manage it with 3 full-size car seats?

[avenger286]

We have a 2010 grand scenic as much as I don't like driving it I can't fault it. 80k with no issues at all just regular servicing. We have 4 kids between 12 and 2 usually run with 3 in the middle and one in the back. We have been allover with all our camping gear and archives over 50mpg full with a roof box on we have a 1.5dci 100 nav. I am sure the 2.0dci or 1.4 tce have an auto option. There a lot of car for the money and are a good driver for what they are up there with an s max (used to have one as a company car)

[familyguy1]

familyguy1 said:

I believe my sister has all three kids in the middle row, one in a car seat and others in the boosters with backs. 2 yrs old, 5 yr old and 7yr old.

No need to use the back row, unless we come along.

HTH

I think the 2yrs olds car sear is bulkier than the others so can't see it would be a problem. depends on seats as they are all slightly different.

Worst come to the worst you could invest in a three seater one of theses https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=s+max+car+seats&...

[ZX10R NIN]

Here's a true leftfield option:

Subaru Tribeca

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

You could skip the S Max & go straight to the Galaxy:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

Or fully embrace the bus philosophy & get one of these:

Nissan Elgrand

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NISSAN-ELGRAND-3-5V6-8-S...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2003-03-NISSAN-ELGRAND-R...

Toyota Alphard

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2005-55-TOYOTA-ALPHARD-3...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TOYOTA-ALPHARD-3-0-LTR-P...

Estima

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Toyota-Estima-Top-UK-Imp...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2002-02-TOYOTA-ESTIMA-PR...

Or maybe what you need is a Swagger Wagon

https://youtu.be/NBK_PQTqUi0

[Prizam]

Good to hear about the Grand Scenic... I have herd some reliability horror stories.

That Subaru is horrific!

The other busses, whilst fitting... probably wouldn't go down well. Suspect parts are a pain too.

Galaxy is the winner so far but would try for the facelift. They all seem to be ex-taxis.