Chevrolet Captiva - thoughts?

[Legend83]

With twins on the way I am thinking of getting a BIG car with loads of luggage space plus a 7 seat option for when they get older / transporting granny too.

To be honest I am looking at the budget end as I accept that it is going to get wrecked.

Was browsing on Parkers and came across these - would usually be snobbish but apparently thus is the first car in the range not linked to old Daewoo design.

So, anyone own one or git Amy thoughts?

I want something I can femjoy and am worried the wife will suggest a Citroën Xsara Picasso .

[blank]

They're good for what they are. If you're after something in that segment you could do a lot worse.


Can you get the Orlando yet? That would also fit the bill and is very good.

[Kiltox]

Am I right in thinking these are basically a Vauxhall Antara or whatever it's called?

I'd also look at the Kia Sorento / Hyundai equivalent if you need the 7 seats or the Sportage if you don't. Not sure how they'll compare price wise.

Picasso isn't a terrible car for this purpose

[minghis]

I had a good look at these for Mrs Minghis recently.

Good looking, acceptable equipment and the 7 seat option was just right, kids with ease or adults for an hour or so. I tried an auto diesel which drove really well. This one was 4WD, lots aren't so be wary of this.

Would have bought it as it was practical and just the right size but decided against it for two reasons, one was you could hear far too much engine noise and it would really annoy me, and the second was that I just couldn't take the risk on the reliability front - if you read the reviews on the Vauxhall Antara (especially honest john and the parker's owners reviews) it's the same car - and I just didn't want to end up with a lemon.

If you could live with the engine noise and you got a good one reliability wise it's be a great car.

[Legend83]

Cheers for the replies.

The other options I was looking at were the Mitsubishi Outlander or alternatively an older high mileage Lexus RX or Volvo XC90.

[Boba Fret]

Legend83 said:

With twins on the way I am thinking of getting a BIG car with loads of luggage space plus a 7 seat option for when they get older / transporting granny too.

To be honest I am looking at the budget end as I accept that it is going to get wrecked.

and you reckon a Daewoo is going to last until they get 'older' ? HAHHAHAHAHAHAAA!

Go for the XC 90

[poing]

Those Volvo's have a superb reputation and hold their values very well so overall they might be a smarter choice because you'll lose less money over the long term.

[VeeFour]

Boba Fret said:

and you reckon a Daewoo is going to last until they get 'older' ? HAHHAHAHAHAHAAA!

Go for the XC 90

They have a 5 year warranty, so you can be pretty sure GM are confident in the build quality.

[Boba Fret]

VeeFour said:

They have a 5 year warranty, so you can be pretty sure GM are confident in the build quality.

Yeah, they'll last five years.

[EDLT]

I drove a top spec one, if you're the sort of person that scrapes their fingernails across the dash every morning you won't like it. But apart from that it was a nice enough car for the price.

[Camaro91]

VeeFour said:

They have a 5 year warranty, so you can be pretty sure GM are confident in the build quality.

... or willing to risk the extra repair costs for the potential sales increase

[edthedead]

Have you considered a Hyundai Santa Fe?

[markcjd]

Good cars, mechanically identical to the Vx Antara but cheaper spec for spec and with a 7 seat model.

Ignore the quoted fuel figures (41mpg iirc) 30 mpg at best in a manual, slightly less in an auto. As mentioned beware 2wd models. Upto 2010 model all 7 seaters were 4wd but post 2010 that was changed.

Alarm faults are common and I think a recall has been issued to deal with this, some problems with ABS/TC sensors and throttle position sensors but this is not common.

LTZ/LTX Spec offer the big equipment lists, anything else is a bit dull. Avoid the petrol at all costs.

[bazking69]

Much better VFM than an Antara. That is about the only praise I have for a Captiva.

[pano amo]

I just bought one of these new. So far so good. I paid 21k for this. Thats 21k for a seven seater 4wd with leather, satnav and everything electric that and its not an mpv. Pretty good deal. It made a very convincing case for itself. I have the 2l diesel manual. Getting 38mpg at the mo. Diesel no more noisier than any other diesel ive driven, warms up quick so noise reduces quite a bit then. Photos dont really do it justice. Its much better looking in the flesh. Many cheaper 4wds look like mum 4wds but this actually looks like a blokes! Is it a budget 4wd? Yep but it ticked all the boxes. Most reviews of it are good. I signed up for the 3 yr fixed servicing costs to offset any major surprises.

[Legend83]

Thanks for the write-up mate. Glad you like it.

Looks like it is going to be a toss-up between a newer Captiva / Santa Fe or an older XC90.

Also considering a V70 as a non-4x4 alternative...

[jbi]

Legend83 said:

With twins on the way I am thinking of getting a BIG car with loads of luggage space plus a 7 seat option for when they get older / transporting granny too.

To be honest I am looking at the budget end as I accept that it is going to get wrecked.

If you want a big car then these are not really what you are looking for with a similar footprint to a BMW 3 series.

That would be 7 horribly cramped passengers.

[pano amo]

Legend83 said:

Thanks for the write-up mate. Glad you like it.

Looks like it is going to be a toss-up between a newer Captiva / Santa Fe or an older XC90.

Also considering a V70 as a non-4x4 alternative...

The vast majority of seven seaters have the entire seven seats used for a just tiny percentage of their life. The reality of a seven seater is that its mostly 4-5 seats in use but you get the extra space with the 7 seats down. Only something like a Ford galaxy is going to accomodate that many people and luggage but you end up with a van. We've have our two kids, two grandparents and us in the Captiva. Plenty of space. Long distances? No. But who spends hours in the car with the entire family anyway?
We had a Qashqai+2 on order but from the moment I ordered, I was concerned about the interior. Seven seats it has but its taken a wide definition of that. In the end, circumstances dictated and the problems in Japan meant our order in Feb was been stretched to Sept at least! So we went and drove the captiva and the s-max. S-max is a fine car but it did nothing for me. We really wanted 4wd. We seriously considered an xc90 but for our budget, getting one with lowish mileage and age was very difficult for our budget. Then of course the running costs of such a beast and the fear of having the turbo or gearbox go outside manufacturers warranty. No thanks.
Captiva comes with 3 year warranty upgradable to 5, they throw in AA cover and you can opt for fixed servicing package.
I looked at the Santa Fe. Literally. Its one ugly brute IMO so that was the end of that.
IF you are interested in the Captiva, you can get amazing deals right now. The replacement model is arriving in the showrooms and as a result dealers are falling over to offload the present model which is what I bought. There are plenty of new/almost new out there and if you push I can assure you might end up paying a lot less than you thought. Anyway, we bought from Pentagon who are in various locations around the UK. Willing to do a deal and helpful.

[pano amo]

This might be interesting to you

http://www.reliabilityindex.com/manufacturer

Glad I don't own a Land Rover