Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Kevin Wood]

the running costs , parts costs and servicing costs on the Voyager are obscene.....      seriously....   

.. and you still can't take 7 people plus luggage. It's an estate car where you can trade the boot for 2 extra people at the end of the day.

Kevin

[MaxV6]

Kev....   you ever been in one??    the Grand Voyager, and Grand Espace, both have a huge amount of luggage capacity even with 7 people in there....




while the v6 sintra was the best "drive" of all the bigger MPV's,   the Voyager  was the most comfortable, and capacious,   (in grand form) very much like taking the living room for a drive.... 

the renault was just horrid.

[Psychoca]

The Voyager is a very nice looking 7 seater, converted to LPG, I'm pretty sure the running costs wouldn't be overly excessive, but, they only have a 2 star NCAP...

Quote from NCAP
"The Voyager did so badly in the frontal impact that it earned no points, making it the worst of the group by some margin. The body structure became unstable and the steering column was driven back into the driver's chest and head. The Voyager acquitted itself better in the side-impact test, but there was still a fair risk of the driver injuring his abdomen. Chrysler chose the child restraints used in the tests, but the company makes no set recommendations to buyers. Euro NCAP believes it is the manufacturer's responsibility to provide proper restraint for every occupant and is surprised that Chrysler do not recommend a child seat for the Voyager."

I personally would look towards VW...

[bigegg]

Before buying the zafira, have a good test drive - make note, especially, of the pillar at the side of the windscreen (dunno what it's called) - driving a normal distance from the kerb, I estimated about a 10ft blind spot on the pavement because of it - not good driving past parked cars near a school etc.

This was a while ago - 5+ years, so may have been re-designed by now.

If the Grand Espace is anything like the Grand Scenic I had, I'd go for that.

If you need 7 seats + luggage all the time, I'd consider a transit with two rows of extra seats in the back.

Insurance and maintenance are ridiculously cheap, resale value usually good. Economy is not bad either - I get around 30-40mpg out of a 2.5d on a standard weight of about 3T.

Course it IS a pikey wagon, and you might have trouble getting onto campsites (if that's your thing!)

[Richie London]

thanks very much everyone for your views, i have paste this thread to her 

[belldarr]

If it's not too late have a look at the Ford Galaxy, I have just sold my 4 wheel drive one and it was a brilliant car for getting my family around - and I am looking for another one to replace it! get one with a comprenhensive service history and top spec (ghia).  I looked at a lot of 7 seaters and chose the galaxy as it's easy to get parts for and there are loads out there so the buyer can be picky.  I found that a roof box for when you need luggage space solved that problem and it had 7 fully functional seats that weren't compromised on comfort so they would fold into the floor.

Darren

[Kevin Wood]

Kev....   you ever been in one?? 

Admittedly not a grand Voyager . I drove a (less grand) Voyager across Canada, and the rear seats caused a huge PITA because there was no room for luggage with them in place, and nowhere to stow the seats when not in use.

We picked up the vehicle at Calgary and dropped it in Vancouver, and the only way it, us and our luggage were going to get there was without the seats. In the end we made the hire company ship the seats to Vancouver separately.

My parents had an Espace (mid-90's, before the Grand Espace came out) and, IIRC, this had plenty of storage with seats in place. Let down by the ancient, asthmatic and very thirsty PRV V6 and clunky "replaced once or twice under warranty" autobox though. The interior was a bit "fisher price" as well, as I recall.

Kevin

[TheBoy]

There is a reason the majority of Zaffy owners also own roof boxes

I'm not taken with the concept myself, but as MDTM says, for very occasional 7 seat use, they are OK. Zaffy-B is a million times better than the Zaffy-A.

Still reckon I would personally go for Ford/Seat/VW one, if I had the desire for that sort of motor (I'm not old enough yet)

[jerry]

Have our toyota emina import still. its a 94 plate and still in very good nick. Had it 8 years now and got it from an import specialist as a 4.5 grade at auction (top grade being 5). Best car ever had. Paid just under 5k at the time. G spec with moonroof and 7 seater rather than 8 seater with 2 swivel "captain " chairs in the middle row. Rear seats can fold up against sides to create loads of room in back. We got it following a hired one we had for a holiday we had in cornwall. It is a 2.2 turbo diesel rather than the uk spec previa which were petrol. Is 7" narrower than uk previa and styling is nicer. Also had more room in boot (ie behind last row of seats) than the galaxy and similar seat/vw platform. Daughter has a Zafira but there is far less room in them and no where near as comfortable on longer journeys.I know mine is quite old now but newer models are still popular imports. When we got ours you hardly saw any about but there are loads on the road now. Dont get hung up on it being an import as there are good forums for support (eg TEOC website) and places like bbc spares for very reasonably priced parts. If you need a 7 seater this is def one to go for. Seriously , check them out.

[kevinminton]

I recommend Chrysler Grand Voyager after driving one for  50,000 miles a few years ago.

Good experience 1: me, Mrs KM, son, daughter, 3 friends, luggage, bikes in comfort to Wales at 40mpg. Since there were 7 of us that's equivalent to 280mpg 

Good experience 2: son & 5 band members, Marshall 4x12 cab, amp, gtrs etc, SOAD on loud, and still cool 

Not so good: van suspension on rough roads. Useless handbrake - always park manual in gear.

Must have powered side doors, unless you want shoulder injury. I'd recommend power tail gate also.

One of my favourite vehicles ever.

K