So, the decade-old Vauxhall Meriva A I picked up a couple of years ago is falling apart, and I'm tempted to splash the cash and pick up something a bit newer. Trouble is, I know jack about cars - which is where you guys come in! Requirements: five-door, isofix points in the rear, decent head height, lots of boot space, low insurance bracket, good safety rating. Engine: petrol or petrol PHEV, no diesels or diesel PHEVs please and thank you. Nice-to-haves: alloys, tyre pressure monitoring system. I'm thinking nothing brand-spanking-new 'cos depreciation, but equally nothing older than five years or so unless it's known to be a particularly reliable model. Budget: south of £10K would be nice, and obviously the further south the better 'cos I'm chuffin' brassic. I liked the look of this Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, but it's out of my budget (despite the "GREAT PRICE" tag from AutoTrader.)
Mazda CX-5 2.0 Sport. 10k job done. Most famvans don't come with good normal Petrols, its a real annoyance but there are a few about that haven't gone down the tiny boosted route. Less driver focused a Honda CRV perhaps.
Ford B or C max. S max if you can stretch. Any petrol eco boost engine is snazzy in them. B max has cool sliding doors and closest to a Meriva but C max has bigger boot.
Don't buy the Outlander PHEV... it's a horrible horrible vehicle [going by what i'm told by those that have driven one]. I'd avoid the Nissan Qashcow [and the basically-the-same-car Renault Kadjar] too... Pretty much everything that comes to mind is above budget, diesel or both...
I drove an Outlander PHEV for a week and really enjoyed it! As a company car it's a good choice due to the BIK tax. I've also driven and enjoyed a CX-5, which as mentioned is worth a look?
If you're not so hung up in having the centre point of gravity of a skyscraper, a Volvo V70 would fit nicely. You dont' get much more reliable than a Volvo. Maybe an older V70 XC.
If you have low expectations of what you want from a vehicle, driving a Meriva tells me you just want something to get from A to B then of course new pre-reg Merivas are in budget (8-10k, delivery mileage) with a lot of gear ....shudder I have one as a loan car every now and again, its a reasonable mode of transport.
Thanks, all. New-model Meriva's looking like the front-runner so far, but I'll wave the rest of the options at the missus and see what she says. If it were up to me, I wouldn't even own a car - hate the bloody things. 's not my choice, though!
For someone after cheap reliable transport its hard to argue with it, some of the dealers are selling them with 2 years free servicing which along with the 3yrs warranty etc means you don't have to think about it a lot and it doesn't come pre abused, might be base level but the kit on entry level is a lot higher than it used to be.
Here's an odd one which a quick web search has failed to answer: what is the difference between the Vauxhall Zafira and Vauxhall Zafira Tourer? 'cos I'm damned if I can work it out.
Courtesy of HonestJohn: The Zafira Tourer (2012 on) isn't actually a replacement for the ageing Zafira but a bigger and more up-to-date model designed to compete with more stylish MPVs like the Ford S-MAX. In reality it’s more of the same from Vauxhall so while it’s a perfectly competent people carrier it’s doesn't break any new ground. Google Fu is sharp this morning after getting 2 grumpy teenagers up and off to school
The Tourer is the next generation, which is larger, amongst other things; the wiki explains it quite well.
Ta, both. Bloody confusing, though, 'cos the Zafira and Zafira Tourer are being sold alongside each other for roughly the same price and with roughly the same specifications. Would it have been that hard to pick a new name for the Tourer?
That's fair enough, same reason I also look for simple petrols, economy is not an issue, car does a few miles here and there, we've be trying to replace our famvan and its bloody hard, everything is either diesel or a stupidly boosted tiny motor. I just want a simple petrol, no turbos, just simple and reliable, they have worked trouble free for years without a bazillion sensors for complicated boost control and emmisions, they've been regulated out of existence in the lower end of the UK market
Also take a look at the Merc B class. They're fantastic little cars, like a Tardis hah. My uncle had one, it was just so easy to get in and out of.
