We need a new car, and our preference is a 7 seater.. DH wants me to do all the research, as it will be my car, but i have no idea where to start.
I think i prefer the idea of a people carrier over an SUV as i need the back seats to be practical / take car seats / adults. We will be buying used with a budget of $20k, fuel economy and ongoing costs are a priority..
What should i look at? Any recommendations or bad stories?
When we were looking, the best recommendations were Torago or Landcruiser.
But I found a purple VZ Commodore wagon with dic kie seats in the back, so I chose that instead
I still would love a Landcruiser... one day.
I was just sad & thought I was too young for a people mover. But my back seat folds up & it works for us. Specially now that we don't need the back seat.
Oh that is a pity cause they are fantastic. I mean I hate vans and would love a cruser or something better but it's just perfect for us at the moment and the boot size is great.
We have a Chrysler Grand Voyager. It is fantastic! It has loads of room, the boot space is brilliant - it fits my P&T vibe with the toddler seat still attached with no problems and still some extra space!
Just stay away from models earlier than 2000. Otherwise they're pretty good. We haven't found the servicing to be too expensive as my DH does it himself and any parts we've needed to have replaced we have found through wreckers and aftermarket parts.
We've been looking ourselves, only at people movers. Four wheel drives; can be hard to access the third row, not much space behind the third row, can be difficult for small children to climb in and out of due to being taller than a "van". And higher maintenance costs (due to often being constant 4wd, more parts to wear, etc). Here are our thoughts:
Honda Odyssey; only good for five seater. Luxurious, but very small. Not sure if cloth, but nice leather.
Chyrsler Grand Voyager; The "Grand Voyager" is longer than the "Voyager"; it has more room behind the third row of seats. Middle seats turn around, third row fold up or flat as tables, or are removable entirely. Quite luxurious, we are looking at getting one of these. We looked into parts costs, and they don't seem to be any more expensive than other people mover parts (quite reasonable). Available in seven or eight seater. Electric doors (sides and rear tailgate). Sliding doors both sides. Lots of leg room, can take three car seats across, but can't remember where the baby seat bolts are. Not overly fuel efficient, but the best performing of all the people movers. Leather or cloth. Some are all wheel drive.
Kia Grand Carnival; Again, the "Grand Carnival" is longer behind the third row than the "Carnival". Some models have elec side doors (Platinum model, likely to be just past your budget of $20k), but none have elec tailgate. Earlier models don't have an easily folding seat in the second row, so you have to try and squeeze past it to the third row. Good leg room. I *think* the later models have the baby seat points attached to the seats, so you can put the car seats pretty much anywhere. Seats wear beautifully, leather or cloth.
Toyota Tarago/Estima/Lucida; Available in one size only, the seats wear really badly. THe Estima and Lucida are the import models. Some (of the three models) are available in diesel and all wheel drive, auto or manual. We were not impressed by the build quality of the Taragos, unfortunately, I am not sure if the really late model Taragos are any better. We used to drive an all wheel drive Estima, which was a bit of fun, but it's not really on our list.
Hyundai Trajet; Doesn't have sliding doors like the others (but the slides wear, and need to be replaced, and if elec doors, the motors can go on them too, so added $). Sorry, have "ordinary" doors like a car, kids may be prone to throwing them open in a carpark. They are very very similar to the Kia, and are finished nicely (we nearly bought one a few weeks ago, only for it to be sold from under us). Roomy and comfortable, but not a whole lot of boot space.
Hyundai IMax; We didn't look at.
Nissan El Grande; Luxurious import model, has the same running gear as many Nissans, mostly Pathfinder. Seven or eight seater, diesel or petrol. Unfortunately not hugely fuel efficient (we looked at one with the same engine as our Pathfinder, and whilst it went really well, it chewed the juice a bit). A bit odd on the outside (especially as the models get later), but the inside is really nice (leather or cloth).
There are also other import people movers, which are quite luxurious, if not a bit odd in their colour choices (think dark red velour, etc!)
These are my opinions. I know everyone has their own.
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7-Seaters
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