Galaxy Quest is over...

[pogweasel]

Not particularly relevant, more of a grumble.

 

 

Just how hard is it to buy a large family barge these days??

 

Everything, and I really do mean EVERYTHING that isn't showroom-fresh seems to be utterly, utterly fucked.

We have looked at no end of GalaxAlhamSharans, C8's, Sedonas, all of them seems to be kippered in some way or another.

Fucked interiors, knackered gearboxes, snapped cambelts, beiruit bodywork, what the hell is going on?? I don't want to have to spend ten grand plus on a motor just to get one that hasn't been to hell and back.

 

Can anyone recommend a good source for a larger 7-seat type thing??

 

We even resorted to going to a local dealer to view their stock, £4995 for an 8 year old Galaxy makes my eyes water, but it only had 80k on it so should be bob on.

WRONG!

Rust blebs everywhere and a beige interior so grimy that you'd need Kim & Aggie in to get it back to normal. Yeah, cheers, and thx so much for offering £1400 as p-ex on our focus. Knob.

 

Being a tight-ass, I am starting to thing some mega-mile ex-taxi might be better than a family owned-car, at least they have standards to uphold.

Plus a 1-owner from new minicab 5 year old Sedona that has done 300,000 miles has probably been better maintained than a 5-owner 10 year old, kiddie trashed Sharan, right??

 

Getting very exasperated by this hassles.

To the point where I have even started looking at Voyagers.

GR8 4 0-ncaps.

 

[Milford Cubicle]

[shite_meister]

I expect a years of mums driving and 2.4 kids in the back kicking several shades of shit out of everything conspires to make MPVs hard to find in decent nic.

[Minimad5]

Hang in there Pog You will get something decent in the end !Does it have to be an MPV ?Can it not be something like a Ford Transit with seats ?Ignore me if i am being stupid Good Luck

[seth]

There seem to be bazzilions of Previas round these parts. Grey import maybe? Volvo 850 with the seats in the boot?Fiat Multipla. The old one.

[r.welfare]

I think what you're finding is not just representative of the MPV market, most folk don't look after their cars worth a damn these days.Who is going to be driving this thing the most? Personally I'd be looking at VW Caravelles, a bit van-like to drive but seem to be very hard-wearing and you get plenty of luggage space as well. Plus 5-pot engine options, mmm.

[Richard]

 

a 1-owner from new minicab 5 year old Sedona that has done 300,000 miles has probably been better maintained than a 5-owner 10 year old, kiddie trashed Sharan, right??

 

 

Yes, mile for mile the school run is about as harsh as it gets. Cold starts, short runs, heavy traffic, lots of parking dings, lots of mini roundabouts and bumping over kerbs. In comparison an airport taxi has an easy life.

[autofive]

montego countryman?havent they got 7 seats, and dont resemble a large van with windows and seats.i think the MPV bubble has to burst soon, most of them have terrible MPG figures too

[Father Ted]

Speaking as someone who bought a nearly new one.Dont.Buy an old one, and just live with the car park dings. Got back to mine today in B&Q car park - I parked in the darkest recess of the trade section car park with no one else around to discover a new dent in the back door and this one has managed to break the paintwork.Plus 3+ kids utterly wreck the interior, and of course you WILL use it a s a builders van (mine had 4 sheets of 8x4 marine grade ply in the back today, plus some plants and a bag of soil).

[Cavcraft]

Voyagers equal massive NO. Fucking awful things.Had a few Galaxys and a Sharan, interior plastics appear to be made of FAIL. Every bloody one had scribble marks and junk all over the place, would imagine the older they get the more owners they have and the number of precious little bastards trying to wreck the interior increases 20 fold.FT is right, blow about £1300 on a Galhembraran but get a 'red i' dizzler if you can because they're mint on juice and pull like a train.

[Espacetic]

A friend of mine is selling his Alhambra TDi, I took it to show a prospective buyer and was mega impressed. It's a W plate in the kinda turquoise metallic. Cruise, A/C, seperate rear heating, towbar and was not abused inside. Slight rippling to one door and the wrong wheels but that was it. £1500 with a full service inc belt and a full ticket. They are out there.I'll stick with my £170 Espace TD, just been through it's second MOT in my ownership with no dramas. Total spend in a year and a half/28,000 miles is £16 for a ball joint, £6 for a clutch cable, £40 for a tyre, £20 for a tank strap and £17 inc postage for a injection pump off ebay due to the old one leaking.Still pulls like a train, does 40 odd mpg and I can park the fucker anywhere and not care.

[Guest]

Should have said, Pog.

 

 

Too late now mind, it'll be bouncing around Ghana with 50 blokes on the top.

[garethj]

Has it got to be a 7 seater?We get 3 kids seats in the back of the Volvo S80. I'm not sure how many NCAP stars it's got, but there's airbags everywhere and Volvo usually take safety quite seriously (unlike Renault who take buying safety publicity seriously)Volvo S80s are cheap because they're not a "sports saloon", no good for laps of the Nurburgring. However for zipping along normal roads its very comfortable - low profile tyres are for losers.

[lancashireclamper]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1990-PONTIAC-WHIT ... 2a065d7ae5

 

£800 with 11 months MOT?

Will even drive it down to you if it helps

ps its not mine, I'd just REALLY like to drive it

[Tayne]

.

[Rocket88]

fx4 taxi?

[lancashireclamper]

Isn't that the Cadillac of Minivans?

Think it was the upmarket version of the Chevrolet Lumina, must be a real ball of fire with 120bhp of 3.1 v6 under your right sandal!!

[Richard]

Am I right in thinking the S80 is the saloon version of the V70?

[peter9000uk]

Isn't that the Cadillac of Minivans?

Think it was the upmarket version of the Chevrolet Lumina, must be a real ball of fire with 120bhp of 3.1 v6 under your right sandal!!

There is also an Oldsmobile version called the Sillouette

[lancashireclamper]

The good ole US of A, Home of badge engineering since 1990!

[Pillock]

120bhp of 3.1 v6

How on earth do they do it??You can get a NA 1400cc with that level of power, what do they do to all their cubic inches to lack so much power?

[dollywobbler]

Sorry to do this to you but a mate turned up in his Pug 806 on Saturday. 120k miles, FSH, electric everything (which still worked!) and he'd paid £750 for it with 8 months T&T. They are out there, but finding them must be a challenge!

[lancashireclamper]

120bhp of 3.1 v6

How on earth do they do it??You can get a NA 1400cc with that level of power, what do they do to all their cubic inches to lack so much power?

Have always assumed its the emissions control equipment they have to have fitted, knew a bloke who (briefly) had a 1978 Ford Thunderbird with a 5.8 V8 lump, flat out it did about 75mph, and constantly overheated, apparently it was a california spec model so was even more strangulated than most,Anyway, seem to have hijacked this one a bit, apologies to anyone who isn't into 20 year old american minivans that look like semi derelict outside toilets, would still like that pontiac though

[Richard]

I think the Americans have different standards for measuring horsepower. Peak horsepower is a red herring anyway, it's no real indication of how well a car will go on the road.

[Tayne]

.

[Richard]

Wasn't there a Corvette with a 100000 mile service interval once?

[Guest]

To be fair on the more workaday American stuff, there is a lot of sense in how things are done for their market. Some big, simple and very unstrained engine which can cruise quietly at low revs and rack up loads of miles isn't a bad idea for them - the loss in fuel economy through the bigger engine and weight penalty isn't a big deal. It's not all slow either, the torque figures on most stuff V6 upwards will be respectable enough to do a huge wheelspin out of the International House of Pancakes car park.

[CIH]

They also have very poor quality go-go juice. I think 91 ron is considered fairly remarkable over there.

[Lankytim]

Sorry to do this to you but a mate turned up in his Pug 806 on Saturday. 120k miles, FSH, electric everything (which still worked!) and he'd paid £750 for it with 8 months T&T. They are out there, but finding them must be a challenge!

Ive noticed that some of the more obscure people carriers like the pug 806 and the Citroen clone thing often go begging. People only seem to be interested in the more popular models such as the Galaxy, Sharon and Tracey.

Am I right in thinking the S80 is the saloon version of the V70?

Yes, thats right!

[Cavcraft]

What about a Fiat Multispaz? Bet they're cheap to buy now.