It has got to that stage where as much as I've been trying to put it off I think that I will have to go to the Halifax to try and get some money from them to buy myself a semi-decent car after years of relying on £300-£400 runarounds.   And I haven't got £1000's to spend either, I live on my own and it will be within my means.

I have been looking at the Espace 2.1 TD (Not brand new - 2nd hand still I'm afraid!) but I am having conflicting opinions about it, so are there any recommendations, anyone seen anything decent for sale?   I still haven't said no an estate but it has to house 4 Large Munsterlanders so would have to be roomy and I'm definitely going for diesel this time, I loved my Mondeo but it loved the petrol pump forecourt too!

Thanks.

I do not know how much they would cost second hand now but I can highly recommend the Nissan X-Trail

What about a slightly newer Mondeo? they are cheep to buy and run, especially the TDCi. Or maybe a Vauxhall, the Sigmun has loads of space, if you dont have to have a people carrier. 

I can highly recommend the Ford Galaxy.  Mine has been converted to gas, which is excellent (49.9p per litre)!  They do also do a diesel version.   There is plenty of room ( fits 5 large sized dogs) and you'll find the parts are not quite as expensive as the Renault!! 

Sarah.

A Vauxhall astra estate is good, with seats down you could happily get 4 dogs in, for a good sized crate though, you'd  need something a bit taller. So it depends on how you "carry" your Munsterlanders :)

Our first astra estate had a few things going wrong with it, but our current one we've had for several years now and there have only been minor things, such as a flat battery once, which the AA sorted out.

Lindsay
x

Ihave a Ford focus 2.0 Estate, the roof of a focus is higher than a mondeo.

Tohme,

I like the Focus too, I don't think the boot is as big widthways as a Mondeo but I read a review about it and they basically couldn't find any fault with the Focus!   Still looking, at least the Halifax have said the money is there for me know...feel quite rich!  :D

Hi Christine,

Guy at my work is onto his 3rd Espace. He has a band and everything has to go in it. HE loves it.

They are not the cheapest in fuel to run to be honest but decent cars.

Pam,

I've seen a diesel Espace in Kirkcaldy for sale and it's 50mpg which is better than my petrol Mondeo was....I said goodbye to the Mondeo today as it was taken away to the big car breakers in the sky, felt quite sad too!

Hi Christine.

I really like the Espace. I am not sure it does 50 MPG .. I may be wrong . It is a big car.

My Zafira does 50-55 MPG it is a 2.0 DTI  but is a lot lighter in weight than the Espace. I think the Espace it nearly 2 ton , the Zafira is only 1.5 ton.  The Gallaxy does about 40 MPG it is 1.75 ton.   I do mostly motorway milage so generally acheive the 55 MPG with mine. Going 20-30K a year the mileage cost is important to me.  However you need a big car so you have to have a little trade off.

I am thinking about buying a Galaxy. I didn't like them but they have grown on me. They are a bit bigger than the Zafira so can get an extra box or two in the back . Been looking at them at Motorpoint this week.

The espace is a good car  Christine and seem to have a good name. Big to drive to begin with ;-)

PS EDITED TO Add that I found this on a  site    27.4mpg/ (extra urban) 44.8mpg average  36.1

To me that does seem about right for the weight of it.

It will be great for your dogs certainly though :-)

Diesel Ford Galaxy...brought one on the recommendation of a mechanic and its great.Versatile,good on fuel for a big vehicle and LOADS of room.Must be a diesel though...petrols are expensive to run and not as reliable
Archer

We have had a Ford focus estate for a few years now and can't recommend them highly enough - VERY roomy (we were told they are as wide as a Mondeo) and economical.  Due to our family circumstances though we have recently bought a Galaxy TD and are very impressed with the fuel consumption - cost us £30 to get to Devon (about 250 miles) with a FULLY loaded boot (2 seats removed) 5 people and a roofbox - so would also recommend a Galaxy :)

Fiona

This evening I've been looking at Ford's - Mondeo's, Focus's & Galaxy's (Diesel Galaxy's are like hen's teeth!), does anyone have an opinion on Astra estates?    Anyone live in Lanc's & would like to suss an eBay Mondeo out for me?    Has anyone on these boards ever bought a car through eBay?

My OH bought his car through Ebay - what do you want to know?

Fiona

Are they good buys?    Did you have a decent seller?    I'm always dubious as the best cars on eBay are never in Scotland which means I can't go & view them!

Hi Christine,

We've got a diesel Skoda Octavia Estate and it's brilliant, and you'd get your four in one no bother.

Lesley 

Lesley!

Once bitten, twice shy - with Skoda's!   Actually I have driven one of the rep's cars which is a diesel Octavia, for my employers, fantastic car to drive but the seats were so hard my back was aching by the time I got back to Blairgowrie from Newcastle!    

Stick with my Ford's if I can, I think!    Actually I only put 3 in the estate bit and 14 year old Asti gets to sit on the back seats. :D

Hi,

I would not recommend a Zafira,we have had nothing but problems,due to design faults.

Weve also had the engine management system replaced,Air mass intake replaced,Head gaskett go,pisto rings and the ejectors go and rear brakes.
We were advised by a mechanic not to buy Zafira but if you want a reliable car to buy a Ford Galaxy.
With 5 children and 5 dogs and we show around the country thats what we need not a Friday afternnon car.I know quite alot people who are discontended with their Zafiras Iused to think it was the car for us what an eye opener we have had and a finicial one too.

Briony

HI Briony,

I have a Zafira  now for 3 years. Never ever had one bit of bother and done 60K in 2 years. My sister has had one for 5 years again no bother.  I really really like them. I am however thinking about getting a new Galaxy . The main reason I am going to change to the Gallaxy is it is 1.75 ton and can pull 2 ton where as the Zafira is 1.5 ton and can only pull 1.2 ton so I need a bigger car for my new caravan which is 1.4 ton :-)  It also has a bit more space and as I now have a huge trolley, grooming table, 4 dog boxes all my over night stuff and sometimes a freinds dog box I could do with a little more room :-)

Hi Blue,

Our Zafira is only 3.5 yrs old ex demonstrator,we had it since 6 months old.My 1st choice now would be the Chysler Grand Voyager then Ford Galaxy going to have to put with the Zafira bit longer unfortunately due to partner going back to Uni.

We also need more room as we are about to do alot more camping and I need a reliable car to take abroad ;-)

Briony :-)

You want to see us going with the caravan. :-OThe Caravan fully Laden weight is too heavy for the car so we have to tow it unladen. This means EVERYTHING has to go in the car. 5 Vari kennels, the Massive puppy pen, all the clothes, food , bedding etc etc We laugh everytime we unpack it.  So the reason we need to go bigger a bit is for the caravan and also at the moment which I forgot to say in my earlier post is I cannot take my bike with me  :-( as I can't put it in the caravan for the weight and I cannot get anymore in the car, and don't want to add a bike rack or the car or it wont move :-D :-D

I looked at the Grand VG but wasn't not the fond of the shape of it for some reason. My brother has it out in Canada and I drove it last year when I was out there . Nice car indeed but I thought the body style wasn't for me. :-). It is  abit heavier in Fuel that the Zafira and Galaxy.

We were away last weekend for 4 days with the caravan but until we upgrade the car to a heavier one we can really only go about 90 mins drive from the house. 

BFN Pam

Meant to ask you what model of Zafira you have.

My sister has the 2.0 DTI Comfort and I have the 2.0 DTi Elegance. Not sure what difference it would make but I think the Elegance is a league of it's own to the others in quality.

Carsurvey.org is good for reviews for all cars.  The Zafira still came out top family MPV again.  Like everything there is always 1 or 2 bad cars that just go wrong from the beginning. My sisters 307 was a nightmare for day one and they tend to be OK she changed it at 2 years for the Zafira and hasn't looked back.

Next car I am having leather seats though ;-)

Hi Blue

We have 1.8i Elegance just not impressed :-(

We loved the shape of the Grand  Voyager over the Galaxy we test drove one and we had one when we were in the States on holiday while back.to us these cars are built to last so i would prefer to pay a little more .The z afira has just cost us £2500 alone this year to put right ,so like I say we have to put up with for now.

Briony

Quite a few of our friends had Zafira they have similar problems and changed cars and I thought they just had one off cars but I don't think so any more.

Briony

I am currently selling my beloved Seat Alhambra (same as Galaxy but more reliable due to having a VW engine) and I am only selling it cos we have just got a brand new Volvo XC90 which is plenty bit enough for my 2 rotts.  The Seat is fantastic though because I could get a huge crate in the back which was big enough to put my 2 in as well - they also have good height.  The added bonus was that if my bitch was in season and therefore needed to be separated from my boy I could collapse a couple of seats and put another crate in :)  I think the MPV's are great because they are so spacious and I have not had 1 bit of trouble with the Seat, sad to see it go really but don't need 2 big cars :(

I was told to go for the Sharon (VW) or Seat as the Galaxy's have a lot of problems (engine and electrics) but they are basically that same style of car - mine also had a tow bar so was great for towing a caravan or trailer.

It is a petrol but was pretty good on fuel really considering it's size but really nice to drive - plus I found it very easy to clean / hoover, as it is cream/grey inside I was worried about this having black hairs everywhere but it was actually very easy too keep looking good.

Good luck

They trouble is they put chips into everything ,so your local garage can't fix them and the car has to go back to a dealership  to hook it up to the main computer to find out whats wrong with the car, electric windows fine they are switches,but it used to be your garage could tweek your car here there and away you go.The main dealers make a fortune and these chips if they go puff after 3 years just out warranity even better they make more money .Our engine mangement chip cost £900 :-O and they can't tell you how long it should last for.
We want a good reilable car so we don't have to keep changing it every couple years they just don't make cars to last like they use to.

Briony

Never had a single engine or electric prob. with my Galaxy!!  Totally reliable!!!

Sarah.

The TD Galaxy has a VW engine!!!! thats why we were told to go for the diesel as its a reliable engine!
Archer

Aah but Archer, mine's not a TD, it's a 2.0 petrol!!  Ex taxi, 1996, gas converted, been owned by me for nearly 2 totally trouble free years!!!

Great cars aren't they!!!
Archer

Love 'em to pieces!  Not only can I get all my dogs in it, but if I'm away to a show with a couple of dogs, I can sleep in it too!

Sarah.

Hi Christine,

I suppose the seats are a bit firm now you come to mention it :D 

Lesley

I think you need to know the price of what you are looking for - whatever car it is.  We actually got a very good buy with ours.  We couldn't view ours as it was a few hours drive away but we made it clear that if the car wasn't up to scratch we wouldn't buy it.  We felt we got to know the seller quite well through email and trusted our instincts.

However, what you need to remember when buying any second hand car is to check whether there is outstanding Finance (which there often is nowadays - and this is quite normal as most people sell the car and then pay off the finance with the money).  What we did was ask the seller whether there was finance outstanding and then for details of his finance company - we then rang the company ourselves to check whether they would chase us for the finance if it wasn't paid up.

Good luck

Fiona

Ps this should have gone in under ChristineW's post

I had a diesel Astra Estate, their boot area is actually larger than a Volvo, I know because my custom made cage had to be forced into a Volvo when I sold it!

If you get one, make sure that it has been regularly serviced, one of their "faults" or weaknesses can be their cooling systems, ie head gasket.

HAving said that I got 165.000 miles out of mine before I bought a Peugeot Combi which is/was fantastic.

Citreon Berlingo Multispace?

Any good?   Are the diesels slow to get moving?

Anyone in Leic's (With some knowledge of mechanics!) wants to go view one for me?

I've heard the Citroen Berlingo's are really bad on safety - think it was in the recent Which car report...

Lindsay
x

How about a reputable car auction, we have one locally here and they do ex police cars as well as ex stock, and company cars not always with high mileage, you can often get good deals on the bigger cars. though take a good friend who knows what to look for.

We are buying a new car my Yaris just doesnt get the dog , the crate, the shopping,the horsey stuff and people in anymore!!! Buffy gets a worried look on her face when she cant see out of her crate over the shopping and my hat and boots etc!!! and thats with the seats down!!

Hi Christine the CV Berlingo is exactly the same as the Peugeot Parnter Combi, both are made in the same factory, different badges, both have peugeot engines.

My Combi had a 2.0 HDi Diesel engine and was extremely nippy and not slow to get moving.

They are extremely popular in the dog world in many disciplines and have not heard of anyone having a safety issue with them.

The council uses them in the hundreds and don't think they have much probs with them.

I did think about buying something like this just for the dogs and keep my Company car but then got the caravan and decided I need a very multi purpose car which will also pull the caravan ..

Something like that would be cheap for you to run Christine. :-) and I think they are quite cheap.

My freind who has the kennels has one , she has the Salukis and it is fine for her. She has never complained about it once :-)

Thanks tohme & Pam,

I was having a good look at Berlingo's, Kangoo's, Partners & Doblo's on my rounds today in Fife and I really like the look of them - the Berlingo is only insurance group 5 too!  

I passed a Kangoo in Guardbridge, Pam, and it had a Border Collie sticker on it so I was trying to estimate the boot size for 2-3 Munsters........as I passed, I noticed a piece of paper in the side window, so I'm assuming it's for sale and I couldn't stop!  Kicking myself now!   In Perth tomorrow so I might have a sneaky look at the Motor Mile!

What about Citroen Synergie's anyone had one of these?   Saw one of those today and liked it too.

I have never heard of auctions like ex-police/Post office vehicles for sale up here and I'm a bit limited on where I can go & view a car - as I don't have one at the moment!   Also I'd need someone who had some knowledge to guide me and make sure I wasn't buying a duff one.

One thing I'm buying - after the necessary dog guard & tailgate - are waterproof car seat covers!  :D

Citroen Berlingo multispace from April 1999; Which car report 2005/6 says they are cheap to run and do have lots of space, but "is poor for interior comfort and refinement and it has woeful safety and security levels" .

Hope you find something good for your purpose :)

Lindsay
x

Hi Christine,

My brother-in-law has owned and run his own garage for 40years so knows a bit about cars and they are onto their 3rd espace. They did try a peugeot 406 for a few months last year, but went back to the espace. They do do a lot of long journeys to France and Andorra so whether they find the espace better for those and that's why they got rid of the peugeot, I'm not sure.   

Thanks everyone for their input,

I have semi commited to buying a Fiat Doblo, I have always thought they were a practical vehicle and bigger than the Berlingo/Kangoo.  I have found a diesel for sale, the mileage is low, the seller has been really helpful and the price is within my means so hopefully next Friday/Saturday I will be mobile again....now it's a matter of finding a dog guard & tail guard for it..if anyone see's anything suitable you know where to PM!  And waterproof seat covers!  :D

We have a kia sedona and they are massive you wont have any problems with fitting dogs in the back!The are great value for the money.

sarah xxxx