7 seat cars

[Bletchleyite]

7 seaters are expensiv.

Depends which one. A used Zafira can come cheap (though you'll need a roofbox for the luggage) and just about the cheapest new estate car on the market (possibly *the* cheapest, I think the MG5 is slightly costlier) is the 7 seat Dacia Jogger.

It doesn't have to be a Discovery or other large SUV.

 

[david1212]

Very grey as to what you define as a 7 seat car ( back ~30 years think of the Montego or Peugeot 405 ), a 7 seat SUV or a people carrier.

To drivers of normal, becoming old style cars, both of the latter two can be a PITA at junctions and where perpendicular parking because you can not see through them. Further even if parked centrally in the bay they often fill most of it, even in recently opened or significantly reworked car parks the lined out bays mostly seem to be the same size as last century. Put two adjacent and too little gap to open the doors. Likewise if one is offset in the bay too little gap with a normal car adjacent.

 

[Bletchleyite]

A 7 seat car is a class B vehicle with 7 seats in it, fairly easy to define.

The issues or otherwise of SUVs aren't in scope of this thread, as plenty, even the largest, are only 5 seat.

 

[Sun Chariot]

Toyota Estima (and its older brethren, Previa) are good value and practical 7 seater cars.

Back in 1998 I took a group of six, plus luggage, in a Previa from London to do the Three Peaks Challenge. The car was comfy and roomy and very easy to drive - even on the rather dicey mountain passes....

 

[krus_aragon]

Depends which one. A used Zafira can come cheap (though you'll need a roofbox for the luggage) and just about the cheapest new estate car on the market (possibly *the* cheapest, I think the MG5 is slightly costlier) is the 7 seat Dacia Jogger.

It doesn't have to be a Discovery or other large SUV.

A used Zafira doesn't even need the roofbox if you're a family of 5, and then it has a cavernous boot. I own one for the flexibility to bring grandparents along on day trips, when we won't bemoan the tiny boot (in 7-seat mode). When the middle bench seats are brought forward, I've carried all sorts of furniture in it: fridges, recliner chairs, two-seater sofas...

And this one came quite cheap: £2000 a couple of years back.

 

[Mojo]

When I was younger I remember a friend of my dad having a Volvo that had an extra two seats in the boot that could fold up and down to allow the boot to be used to convey extra passengers or used as storage as required. I think he called it a Stationwagon.

 

[Bletchleyite]

When I was younger I remember a friend of my dad having a Volvo that had an extra two seats in the boot that could fold up and down to allow the boot to be used to convey extra passengers or used as storage as required. I think he called it a Stationwagon.

Station wagon is just the American for estate car. Interestingly Land Rover has tended to use that term instead of estate when talking about the passenger versions of the Series and Defender.

 

[E27007]

A friend had a Toyota Previa for over 15 years, verdict "unbreakable"
If a six-seater is considered, there is the Honda FRV:
Honda FRV

 

[Sun Chariot]

A friend had a Toyota Previa for over 15 years, verdict "unbreakable"

Agreed - post #4, I took one from Central London to Glen Nevis, then across Wrynose and Hardknott passes (in fog, at night....), then onto Llanberis, then back to London.

The car didn't miss a beat - and it finished in far better shape than we "Three Peaks" conquerors...

 

[EZJ]

We have a 7 seat Grand Picasso from Citroën, 67 plate 1.6 Diesel, an absolutely fantastic car, practical, spacious and has never missed a beat in 7 years. We obviously service it every year and fully expect it to last us the 100K+ the last one we had did. Currently it only has 38.5K miles on so many more years left in it yet.

 

[Sun Chariot]

We have a 7 seat Grand Picasso from Citroën, 67 plate 1.6 Diesel, an absolutely fantastic car, practical, spacious and has never missed a beat in 7 years. We obviously service it every year and fully expect it to last us the 100K+ the last one we had did. Currently it only has 38.5K miles on so many more years left in it yet.

Thanks for this. The C5-X appeals to my wife and I; I hadn't known about the C4 Grand Picasso.
I think it was discontinued in mid 2022 - so hopefully some good examples are still on the market.

 

[507021]

I have a large family, but at the moment we just about manage with two large five seaters. I expect we're going to need a seven seater in the not too distant future though, the contenders being the Citroen C4 Grand Picasso or Renault Grand Scenic, both of which are owned by friends (coincidentally, both examples are from the same year) who rate them highly.

 

[E27007]

Do Ford still make the Ford Torneo multii-seater ? Based on a Ford Transit, modern vans are close to cars in terms of ease of driving and comfort, therefore capable of long distance drives, a slight disadvantage is for some categories of non-motorway roads, they are subject to a 10 mph below the national speed limit, ie 50 mph for a van when a car may proceed at 60 mph

 

[Bletchleyite]

Do Ford still make the Ford Torneo multii-seater ? Based on a Ford Transit, modern vans are close to cars in terms of ease of driving and comfort, therefore capable of long distance drives, a slight disadvantage is for some categories of non-motorway roads, they are subject to a 10 mph below the national speed limit, ie 50 mph for a van when a car may proceed at 60 mph

Are those class N1? Surprises me, most van derived cars are just cars, those don't contain enough seats to be a minibus legally. I believe you can still get them, yes.

Edit: by my reading those are Dual Purpose Vehicles and so would take car limits as my old Land Rover Defender did. This advice is worth exactly what you paid for it, though!

 

[Buzby]

Not mentioned yet, but the Renault Espace came with 7 seats - discontinued in the UK years ago it is still available in France AIUI. Lovely vehicle!

 

[Bletchleyite]

Not mentioned yet, but the Renault Espace came with 7 seats - discontinued in the UK years ago it is still available in France AIUI. Lovely vehicle!

Always thought those looked a bit clumsy compared to the Ford Galaxy (and Seat/VW badged versions) which followed the Ford principle that they only make one car, just in different sizes

 

[Buzby]

Had both the Galaxy and Espace - the latter was by far the most reliable - every time the Galaxy started you could hear your money being spent on maintenance!

 

[bspahh]

I had a 2010 Ford S-Max for a year. The handling was good. There wasn't much luggage space with all the seats, but they were big enough to seat adults.

It had a troublesome Powershift gearbox which had once £3k replacement, and then gave numerous warnings which needed a dealer visit to reset. It is still on the road, so I guess it was fixed in the end. I replaced it with a Mondeo with a manual gearbox, which is basically the same car with different bodywork and has been pretty reliable.

 

[mpthomson]

Thanks for this. The C5-X appeals to my wife and I; I hadn't known about the C4 Grand Picasso.
I think it was discontinued in mid 2022 - so hopefully some good examples are still on the market.

Just avoid the diesel CX-5s. Whilst Mazda's petrol engines are fantastic things the 2.2 diesel engines most definitely aren't! Loads of known issues with them.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Just avoid the diesel CX-5s. Whilst Mazda's petrol engines are fantastic things the 2.2 diesel engines most definitely aren't! Loads of known issues with them.

Another diesel to avoid is the PSA (now Stellantis) 1.6HDi more than about 10 years old, these used to eat turbos. They had a particular design flaw whereby if not serviced by dropping the oil through the drain plug they'd suck in gunk and clog. Most garages vacuum it out via the dipstick hole these days so unless you went to a main dealer or did it yourself a problem would be very likely.

 

[Sun Chariot]

Just avoid the diesel CX-5s. Whilst Mazda's petrol engines are fantastic things the 2.2 diesel engines most definitely aren't! Loads of known issues with them.

Yes, we heard similar and are looking at the ShinePlus petrol

 

[E27007]

I had a 2010 Ford S-Max for a year. The handling was good. There wasn't much luggage space with all the seats, but they were big enough to seat adults.

It had a troublesome Powershift gearbox which had once £3k replacement, and then gave numerous warnings which needed a dealer visit to reset. It is still on the road, so I guess it was fixed in the end. I replaced it with a Mondeo with a manual gearbox, which is basically the same car with different bodywork and has been pretty reliable.

The Ford Powershift gearbox, so unreliable and problematic that Ford were running a campaign for buying back vehicles, how many any left on the road?

 

[cactustwirly]

Another diesel to avoid is the PSA (now Stellantis) 1.6HDi more than about 10 years old, these used to eat turbos. They had a particular design flaw whereby if not serviced by dropping the oil through the drain plug they'd suck in gunk and clog. Most garages vacuum it out via the dipstick hole these days so unless you went to a main dealer or did it yourself a problem would be very likely.

They have so many issues I don't know where to start.
They were fitted to a lot of Ford cars too. I haven't heard of turbo issues, lots of injector issues and overheating/cracked blocks though.
Fitted to cars until 2015, I'm not sure if the current 1.6 Ford diesel is the same?

2.0HDi seems ok though

 

[eyebrook1961]

Since upgrading(?) to five children many years ago, we've had a Renault Savannah, VW Sharan, Seat Alhambra, Renault Espace, Fiat Doblo and currently have a Ford Tourneo connect

The Tourneo happily accommodates all 7 of us, even though all the children are adult sized (now aged 19 up to 29) and, when the time comes, I will look for another one - very happy owner

(also very useful for university runs with all the stuff that needs to be carted around - with one at York and one at Teeside, we can do a single journey loaded up and drop (or collect) both in one go)