Porsche Enthusiasts Club Forum

Hi All,

I need a large MPV - £15k max with easy access to rear seat row.

Less than 3 years old.

Can't think of anything other than a Grand Voyager which I like to a point, but concerned it is going to fall apart like my Jeep

Any ideas?

Grand Picassos etc not any good as you need to move seat (which would have car seat on it) to gain access.

Someone might have a good idea out there!

Thanks

Paul

Get a landrover disco.... 7 seats, goes anywhere you point it, carries so much stuff you could move in to it and no one but no one argues with it !!

For me it would have to be a Vovlo XC90 qualty car and 7 seats. Also if you get the D5 and get it mapped you'll get amazing performance for a diesel woith sensible MPG. I really do like the disco but the diesel performance and economy are diabolical.

Best of luck anyway Mas

someone hit the disco before xmas and we had a loan XC90 R Design. Huge price tag and so badly put together it was appaling. Everything rattled and i mean everything and got less MPG than the Disco !!!

Good load lugger but not a patch on the equiv disco in my view.

I have no prob sat all with you disagreing but I'm staggered by what you have said. My mothers XV90 is a superb car 100 percent reliable and not a rattle in it
( 5 years old ) and the MPG is alledged to beat the disco in any car review you care to read , as well as official government figures (that is auto versus auto of course). I own two Volvos both covering over 100,000 miles ( one is on 145,000) and neither of them have one cabin rattle such is the beast. It just goes to show you one persons experience can differ so greatly from another on the same cars.

Best idea , scrap my dodgy suggestions completely and ignore anything I say , my missus does

Just to confuse you, I loved my Voyager. It never fell apart, and my wife done 130 miles a day in it, Lanark to Dumfries and back. Having to store the seats if you took them out was a pain.

Only sold it for a 206 diesel to save money on fuel and drunk driver wrote it off. So I bought another 206 diesel and a low flying Vectra crossed the central reservation on the M74 and landed on her. Wife doesn't leave the house anymore.

I hope you find something.

Lee.

Had the Dodge Caravan whilst I was in the states in Jan. Same wagon but different grill. V6 3.3 wasn't bad & gave 27.5MPG Imp which I thought was OK. It is a big old bus & we were 5 adults + luggage for 20 days & very cold -17 Deg C.
Several mates & work colleagues have the GV & all are happy & haven't had any real problems. The diesels in decent nick are like rocking 'orse poo & it took a mate 3 months to get one. The GV is 2 2 3 which isn't ideal for all.
The seats tumble & fold giving a flat floor which is good.
The only competitor is the Renault Grand Espace & the only thing Renault & reliability have in common is the both begin with R! IMHO!

y

I must have got a dodgy one !! LOL... it had only done 1000 miles so MPG may not be at its peak by then! We got 22 to the gallon no matter what we did. I agree Volvos are top notch usually... but this one would put me off investing £50k in a similar car. I know...... get a Cayenne.. problem solved. Just nail a bench in the back.

Thanks for the feedback guys, but as far as I am aware you cant access the back row of seats without moving the middle set?
As I need to fit three child seats I couldn't do that very easy? Also the back row are up against the glass on the XC90?
Discos are £20k so over budget, but also have seat issue anyway.

I honestly don't think there is anything better than a Grand Voyager.

By coincidence I also had one when I was in the States last year. So know their good to drive. Just very plastic and a bit unrefined. Of course that was the new shape which I wouldn't get easily here for £15k yet.

Decisions, decisions!

The seats fold away now, which is really cool and when they are up give tonnes of storage space. I am selling it to myself.... maybe I should just get on with it! Just want to make sure I don't over look any other options

Your right, you don't want to overlook any options. At that money there is no going back. I'm sure there are a few more suggestions going to come on this topic. Drive round the dealers and have a few test drives. Wait a few weeks to the end of the month and all salesmen will kill for a sale to get their figures up.

Good luck, Lee.

Thanks Lee!

Not a car for you I'm sure but just as an interesting story aside , this topic has reminded me of an old cheep car we once had. It was a Toyota Estima Lucida
( jap import version of previa only came in diesel 4wd).

This car cost me about £3,000 if I remember it was diesel it was 4 by 4 and it had 8 seats and a boot !. We bought it for going to dog shows with two huge Mastiffs
( one was over 18 stone) and camping gear. You could take some seats out to make dog room ( which we did still leaving 6) swivel them round use it to sleep in, allsorts it was truly amazing. The only downside was being 4 by 4 as well as diesel auto the MPG was a joke (22MPG) but if it had done more MPG it would have been the perfect family vehicle.
I still see them today in North and East London being used as cheepo tatty mini-cabs and you just made me think of the car I once had, lord knows how a mini cab can run at 22 or 23MPG though

Your dilemma is do you buy something that does everything you want it to, but at the risk of it falling apart (they can't be that bad), or do you buy something that won't fall apart but doesn't do everything you want it to - i.e. easy access to the back row of seats. It will always bug you if you don't get the one that does what you want it to.

I'd choose the Voyager, in a nice dark blue, and for your budget you should find one with the 2.7 Mercedes engine in it rather than the 'rather agricultural' 2.5 engine (dealers description). Anyway, if it falls apart then you'll probably find a missing bit by the side of the road where it's fallen off another one

I understand that a Kia Sedona is a good MPV, but I don't know if it does what you want it to.

Also, running an MPV (Voyager rather than Discovery for example) you won't get stung for 4x4 road tax and running costs.

Good luck with your search, I hope you're not like me - it takes me ages of research (too long) before I buy anything.

Thanks John .. I think you have summed it up nicely. I think I'll risk the bits dropping off as its practicality thats most important I think.
I did consider the Kia as well. I think I have considered everything now!

Shame Toyota don't make the Previa anymore....