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Whats DHB/Decathlon of cars?
My purpose is to haul family of 5 (parents, us and a child) for longer trips. I currently own a Fabia estate, absolutely amazing car except when 3 people have to sit at the back; very narrow with a child car seat. Its primo bangernomics, bought for £2k pre pandemic and had 2 owners and 95k miles on clock, its been absolutely fine.
I am looking for a similar economics; i know I cant get anything for £2k; can stretch to £10k. need to be slightly wider at the back with no compromise in boot space, the Fabia I have has 480 litre boot. I was looking at:
- Citroen Picasso C4
- Ford S max
- Ford Galaxy
- Sharan and Touran are a bit pricey but maybe I get lucky
- Ford Tourneo Connect or Berlingo
- Octavia or Superb estate
- Vauxhall Zafira tourer
I know nothing about cars so I would buy from a dealer OR if its a really good deal with a private seller will factor in AA inspection.
What else should I look at? Are the cars on the list absolute shit?
Pls help.
- Citroen Picasso C4
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http://www.cargiant.co.uk are the Decathlon of cars
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Ford S max
Ford Galaxy
Sharan and Touran are a bit pricey but maybe I get luckyI don't know about the others, but I remember when shopping around (for the same reasons) that these all have 3x separate sears in the rear, meaning loads of space for child seats.
I've had a mk1 Touran for 4 years now and it's decent IMO. You can also take out the 3x rear seats and it'll swallow so much stuff. You also get the SUV driving height without the cunt status, and it's only marginally longer than a Golf I believe. The only thing I really hate is the lack of spare wheel, so now I have a spacesaver bungee-strapped in the boot. -
Buy my Honda civic estate. Will do all the above.
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What does this mean? :(
Due to the boot having 2x hidden seats, there's no room to store a spare wheel under the boot floor like in most cars - They instead provide you with emergency sealant and a pump, which also renders the tyre irreparable I believe. Therefore I bought a spacesaver wheel (just about adequate to get you to a garage) for £20 and keep it strapped to the inside of the boot.
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They instead provide you with emergency sealant and a pump, which also renders the tyre irreparable I believe
Mostly true, yes. But it's also true that you probably won't be able to remove and replace the offending wheel in the event of puncture because some twat with a dugga-dugga will have over-torqued the wheel nuts.
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The Zafira is the one with pressed steel dropouts in the decathlon range. But probably sufficient and the bangernomics choice.
I'd go for the Ford or VW. Have a look at them in person and make a call on what you need irl. My BiL who is very research orientated and shops keenly, bought one of the Ford something-Maxes. That's a massive ✅ in my book. He also bought a Yeti before they were cool.
Octavia is Golf sized so won't resolve your back seat issues. Superb is the same as a Passat, so you could add that. Although the Superb should be cheaper you'll struggle with no-diesel options so it's good to have a wider net.
Given you're talking about adults in the back though I think you need an MPV.
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which also renders the tyre irreparable I believe.
I think this depends on the garage and the type of damage.
On my old Mini I used it once and it was fine. A bit of head scratching the first time, but less effort than a wheel change. Our wheel was banged hard, so I wanted a replacement. But I reckon for a lot of punctures it'd work to seal the hole.
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I think you need an MPV.
Yeah I am kinda leaning that way, within Ford though why would I chose S max over Tourneo Connect at same price? Genuine question.
@Howard looking at Berlingo too, are they alright ? Basically I want my usual local garage to be able to service them and dont want a breakdown on motorway lol. Although plan is to drive to France more often so maybe the French will respect the car choice more.
@pifko you are assuming I know how to change a wheel! I am basically the cycling equivalent of a person who goes to the bike shop to repair punctures when it comes to cars.
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I'd definitely avoid ULEZ friendly diesels, the emissions stuff is just too complicated and unreliable. Unless you're doing lots of miles, I'd go for an older non-turbo petrol and something with 3 proper seats, since an Octavia or Superb will still be tight in the back. Something like this should be pretty bulletproof
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My Alfa has, I think, some sort of coolant leak or airlock; the heater has got worse and worse over the last couple of weeks and is now non-existent, and on the last drive the temp gauge dropped v quickly a couple of times (but never overheated). Coolant level is correct in the header tank, can't see an obvious leak anywhere. I need to drive it about 5 miles tonight, then 10 miles to the garage tomorrow - presumably fine, just keep an eye on the temp guage?
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If Berlingo I was looking at something like this. Or couple of £k more for a bit more recent one.
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New boots for the Mini this morning. Hopefully that’s all the consumables/preventative maintenance done for now 🤞
The tyres it came to me on (Avon ZX7) were cracking/perishing quite badly, not crazy old either at 4 years but apparently common with these from a quick google. Michelin Pilot Sport are apparently well regarded for these R53’s and a 15% Black Friday code on Black Circles sealed the deal. Went for very slightly wider set which according to my research and the experts will cause no problems and give a little bit more volume/compliance. Always love getting a new set of tyres, once you get over the cost!
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