Upgradding to the bigger car.. Anyone got an iMAX?

[*Efjay*]

So its time to get rid of the Kia carnival (thank goodness, I hate that car).
I have been looking at Jap imports mostly the Toyotya HiAce super custom. But There is a hyundai iMAX locally & I had a look. Im not in love with it but I could get use to it.
Anyone got one or got any insider feedback?

Its an 09 with 28000ks on it & still has 4 yr warranty so that is all a plus for me but it its more then double the price of the imports I have been looking at sooo.....

I need to seat 3 in baby seats & 2 in booster seats. AND have room for shopping etc.

[~Gee_Whizzy~]

I don have any direct experience with them, however, my sister and her husband hired one for the 2 weeks they were in QLD and she said although she disliked the look of it (she thought they looked like a work truck!) she LOVED the room!! - they have 4 kids aged 11 down to 5 and it was perfect for them room for everyone, plus all their luggage

not very helpful, but thats all i have

[Freya]

Mind if I ask WHY you hate the Carnival?

[~Kim~]

a GF of mine has bought one recently as she has just had triplets and has a nearly 2yo. The triple pram and the toddler seat plus the shopping and 3 capsules fit well.

[*Efjay*]

Mind if I ask WHY you hate the Carnival?

I have an o4 model & I am told the newer ones are ok but I am not going htere to try lol. But we had the timing belt go it a bit over 18 months ago & it was a nightmare to fix 5k worth of nightmare to be exact & since then we have had to fix 2 major oil leaks. For its age I guess its not doing too bad BUT the more I look into it the more I am finding its a very common problem with the carnival that Kia do know about & are doing nothing to recitfy. I am also told the gearbox in them is terrible.
Basically the general gist of them is by 160,000kms you want to have gotten rid of it because the motor will fall out the arse end of it. Im sitting on 187,000kms. The time belt snapped (40,000km after it was replaced as per the log book) at 140,000kms. At the time we had no other option but to fix it & kill our credit card at the time to do so. But we were strongly advised to just get rid of it. But we couldn't as we owed heaps on it still & had no other car.

[*Efjay*]

Oh I looked at the iMAX again today. Yes its roomy but not as roomy as what I have been looking at. Im not sure I would fit 3 baby seats across the middle row. Not with out buying everyone a new more narrow seat at least.

[Pretty Butterfly]

I think i answered most on FB, but here goes....
Bought one 3 months ago, LOVE IT!!!!!!!!

We have 6 kids in the back, and it does have a GREAT boot....we can fit all our holiday crap in it, no worries!!

Now, with car seats, there are anchor points in the middle row, no good if you have kids that need to get into the back seat.....so....
We got 3 anchor points put in the 3rd row, and have all 3 car seats together, fit perfectly too..., that way we put the 2 bigger boys who can walk to their seat, on the further side, and H in the one closest to the door... this leaves the middle seat free for the big kids to get in and out of... does this make sense??
That way we leave the single seat in the middle row on the right hand side tilted forward at all time, giving direct access to the back seat, and only put it back if we have all 6 kids in at once, which rarely happens...
Drives beautiful, and can go everywhere a normal car can, but its heaps big inside!

I previously had a Hyundai Trajet, and loved it too... nothing wrong with a Hyundai!!!

eta... I just used the car seats we had, there not slim line or anything just run of the mill Mothers Choice etc....and they fit great, the iMax are supposed to be "full sized seats" all throughout the car....and I think they are...

[*Efjay*]

where did you get the 3rd row anchor points placed?

[Pretty Butterfly]

We had a crab bar put in the boot, but they put it up level with the top of the back seat, right up against the seat so it didn't take up boot space.... I can take photos of mine if you like? To see the set up?

[Miss.September]

Have a look at a website - if you google complaints corner. Any issues with any sort of car is there and you can ask questions too. We used it when we bought our Territory and everything it said is spot on.

[Pretty Butterfly]

Yep, thats what we did too!!!!

The only bad point was they said it was sluggish up hills, and we found it wasn't at all......BUT they were comparing it to smaller vans, and we were driving a massive commuter bus that was REAL sluggish, so to us its a dream!!! LOL...

[*Efjay*]

Yeah I have hear you need the crab bar. Are they expensive to fit?

As for hills, I have to drive up a mountain side every other day so I did that today with it. For its size its not bad, no worse then the kia but it could really use a bit more grunt.

[Pretty Butterfly]

Apparently the manual has more power, but we couldn't get one......

[minimatron]

Sorry to hijack this thread.... am looking for another car. Will have 3 baby seats in mine soon and the CRV is squashy plus am looking for some extra seeting. Just wanted to ask PB about the Trajet..... can you tell me about it? How many anchor points and where? Sliding doors? Fuel efficiency? Service costs? Is it easy to get into the back? And whats the boot space like? I'll have a p & t plus room for shopping.

Thanks ladies! Really wants something bigger.. or more van like but dh wants to get a commodore station wagon

[Pretty Butterfly]

I LOVED my Trajet, and would never of sold it had I not had another baby!!!

Same as iMax, we had a crab bar put in the boot, with 3 car seats accross, and there are only 2 seats in the middle (both had anchor points), with an isle down the middle, so heaps of room to move and when you sit down... pretty good sized boot, but not massively huge.Would def get pram and groceries.

Not sliding doors, just normal ones, both sides. HEAPS of space up the front too! Nothing on it was exxy. Parts where generic though!! Was good on fuel, its not a massive van, more like a bigger car!

Its like a big sedan, just longer really!!!

[Arimeh]

Go the Mazda MPV