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The arrival of twin boys early yesterday morning, in addition to an 20 month son means we can't fit all of us in one car. We've been looking at people carriers for a while and had come to conclusion that a van based minibus would be best for all of us and all our stuff/crap/junk.....
I'd pretty much decided on a 2.5 130PS T5 Shuttle, maybe 3yrs old, 40,000 miles for around 15k or so. However we met someone last week who had a Hyundai i800 and was very impressed with it. Similar size to the T5 but reportedly easier to drive, and seeing as though it'll be my wife Sara who'll be using it most, I think it might be the most sensible option....
Has anyone driven one of these Hyundais. They seem to be new to the range, but there are nearly new ones for sale for similar money to what I was going to spend on the T5.....
Cheers,
Alex
no idea about the wagon, but congratulations...and good luck!!
Congratulations to you both...
Right. On with the real business... get test driving ! (T5, have almost the same ground footprint as a Passat BTW)
Not driven one, but did read about them a while back. Consensus seemed to be they were a very good, albeit unglamorous, way to transport a lot of people and stuff. My mate has a smaller Hyundai and is very pleased with it, a golf size one. Long warranty too.
Nice one - welcome to the STW Twin Club - there seems to be a few of us on here 🙂
Can't help regarding the car though 🙁
Family we know have a 4 year old and also 2 year old triplets and they have an i800 and seem to fit all their stuff in it even for week long holidays and such.
Cheers for the responses guys. Size wise they're pretty similar. I think the Hyundai comes in slightly smaller. Was pretty set on the T5, but we met someone in the hospital car park who really liked the i800. Reading what reviews I can find on it the consensus is that it's nicer to drive than the VW and the price is very tempting when compared to a VW.... Like Rickmeister says, better start test driving.....
I'd get a Sharan/Galaxy if I were you.. but I'm not 🙂
Honest John rates them [url= http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/hyundai/i800-2008/ ]Honest John Review[/url]
He's always recommending them for bigger families.
I can't see why you'd need something that big to fit 5 peeps in.
A Galaxy should do the trick nicely, especially the new model which is a lot bigger than the old. Not cheap to buy but they hold value like anything.
especially the new model which is a lot bigger than the old
More economical too. I reckon you'd save a bunch on fuel and get better handling and comfort to boot.
Is a Galaxy/Sharan not about the same size as a SWB T5?
VW Transporter Dimensions
* Overall Length (mm) 4890
* Overall Width (mm) 1904
* Overall Height (mm) 1969
2006 galaxy
Length 4641 mm
Width 2142 mm
Height 1730 mm
I would imagine a Galaxy would be quite a bit more expensive than a T4/5.
Also with a transporter you could have a cool family / camper vehicle / bike van.
Would you not fit 5 in a large estate car like a V70 or Mondeo?
If you're sticking your family in an MPV, check the crash rating first before looking at other specs.
SMax
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Already got 3 from 5 down to 11 months, and unless you're planning to haul 5 bikes around every weekend I reckon that's overkill. Definitely get your wife to test drive it rather than you, mine was far more pleased with the Corolla Verso we have at the moment than I was.
I've narrowed it down to:
Larger options, with their own drawbacks
S-Max
Landy Discovery
Chrysler Voyager
Smaller options, limited in luggage when all seats in use
Mazda 5
Honda FR-V
Would you not fit 5 in a large estate car like a V70 or Mondeo?
You can to a point, then child seats become difficult to juggle and you struggle to get prams and luggage in. We're fully laden in the Verso with a 450L roofbox and can just about get the camping gear in.
I've also been thinking about a trailer with some sort of racking on it for bikes for that 2 or 3 times a year absolutely everything has to go in. Might make more sense, but I can already see the boys struggling to fit in the back seat now.
Firstly congratulations, and get off here and go get some sleep/riding in.
Fiat Multipla? Peugeot 308SW? C4 Grand Picasso all have three ISOFIX across the rear. That sort of thing would be my choice for day to day use, or a good old Volvo estate?
Ta mlc, 3 more to look at 🙂 Don't like the Multipla myself, but it has a lot of fans.
Forgot Volvo XC90 too. Anyone got any idea on the longevity of the engines? I hate spending big money on a car thats going to be turned into a mobile skip, and few of these are turning up under 8K but with 120K plus miles.. I've no idea how long the D5 is good for without expecting big bills.
You can't get three car seats across a Passat unless one of them is a booster, and then it's pretty cramped.
Fiat Multiplas are weird looking on the outside but don't let it put you off - they are great inside, which is where you spend most of your time looking at it to be honest.
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Wow, as a father of twins, all I can say is good luck with having a toddler as well.
we only have two kids and got a t5!
we got the t5 'cos we thought once we're into an MPV we might as well have something we actually want. we went for the kombi, for a number of reasons, more security, easier to clean out, cheaper tax.
shuttles are cheaper to buy, better spec'd but more to tax.
as has been mentioned above, similiar length to many normal estates passat, mondeo, actaully shorter then an e class but wider... and therefore percect for 3 abreast car seats!
my (very slight and non typical van driver) missus drives ours full time (boo! i want too!) and after initial nervousness absolutely loves it.
it has gone from a luxury "if times get hard we can flog it" to a well loved part of what we do, cracking for extending camping holidays, day van, moving houses, bike transport.
there are a number of options for seating. we went for captains chairs up front for comfort and passing stuff to the kids. there are also 3 classes t28 / t30 /t32, this refers to load weight, bear in mind t32 require a class 7 MOT which requires a specialist centre and costs more.
engines wise we went for a 2.5tdi 130 bhp which i think is plenty fast enough and leggy enough for long journeys, also available is a 174bhp 2.5 and 1.9tdi 84 and 104 brake engine which personally i found a bit wheezy but plenty of people chip them up and are happy with them. i wanted a bit of grunt and the 130 has the potential to chip up to about 160bhp.
all in all we have no regrets, absolutely the opposite in fact and have many plans to pimp the ride from swivel chairs and sun canopies to phat rims and tints (innit)! sorry have gone on long enough, i'll let you get back to the nappies!
CONGRATULATIONS!
Oooh, they seriously hold there value too. Hyundais probably don't.
the above bhp / engine info regards older t5s, the newer one has a 2.0 140bhp and a 180bhp something or other, the new ones are bloody lovely but by the time i'd finished with the options box i was up to 35k! spent 15k on an 07 with 40k in the end.
sorry i'll go now.
You could always buy my T4. 
Cheers for the responses guys. Sorry for the tardiness of my reply but just got back from being covered in puke at the hospital. Whilst I'd like to respond to all the messages, I'm heading for bed, but djlover thank-you for that. When we found out it was twins it took a long time to get our heads around it, and to be honest, we were living in denial until they actually turned up...... I have nightmares about No1 son leading his younger brothers astray and the mischief they're going to get up to in the next few years....
Would like to respond to most of your messages individually, but to try and roll it into one here goes..... There may be inconsistencies in some of my arguments, but forgive me as I'm tired....
Currently drive a focus estate and an old V70. Can't get 2No baby seats & an infants seat across the back of either. Even with just the baby seats in place, there's very little room in the middle - you might get a toddler on a booster seat in there but not an adult.....
So we looked at 7 person MPVs, but we have no where to store the extra back seats (although I will go and have a look at a Galaxy - thank-you for that suggestion) when we need boot space. We almost bought a Honda FRV. The poor salesman was very patient as we brought a load of various baby & toddler seats and tried various combinations. The problem is lack of boot space for when we go away to see parents/friends/camping in future years(think 2No travelcots as No1 child is still in one, double buggy (hoping to get away without having to get a triple!!!), clothes, toys, my biking stuff, etc....) but we have no where to store a roofbox or trailer.
So we came to the van/minibus. SWB T5 is top of the list, and is actually shorter than the i800 (but not by much) and a similar size to Sara's very old V70. Thank-you IanAhh. Would be a long term investment and very useful in future years with three growing lads. Think robob has pretty much summarised most of my thoughts so thankyou there. i800 was a late comer to the party, and honest john & parkers both give it pretty good reviews. I'm afraid I also have to admit I'm being put off T5s a bit (flame me if you want!!)by their popularity with a certain type of people who seem to be buying them as a lifestyle vehicle (who would have previously bought a 4x4). It just seems to grate me a bit, but then I'm probably just about to fall into the same category... Sorry if I'm rambling but I could do with some sleep... Still want a T5 mind..
Once Sara's recovered enough I think we need to start test driving serioursly. She has no reservations about the van as she regularly drives a minibus laoded with young people (she's a youth worker), so think she'll like the T5....
Sorry about the essay and spelling mistakes....
Cheers,
Alex
Er, having slept on it I thought I better explain my comment about certain types of people buying T5s before I start peeing people off.... It's not related to anyone on here, and driven by my middle class insecurities/jealousy of those more well off than me/annoyance at some peoples' waste. A couple of my acquaintances have expressed desires to buy Caravelles which has led to the folowing feelings in me - jealousy as they're very nice vehicles (but deemed not suitable for us), disgust as they'll probably sit on the drive and very rarely used (the engineer in me hates something not being used to it's full potential) and my insecurities lead me to worry about what people might think of me if we get one....
Again sorry for rambling but didn't sleep very well last night...
I'll be back...when I emerge bleary eyed from under a pile of dirty nappies in a few years time...
Alex (just realising how much denial he's been living in and bricking himself about the next couple of years. Laugh all you want to......)
In most MPV's these days the very back seats fold into the floor. Renault Espace is the only one still made that doesn't (that I can think of). Renault Scenic, Citroen, VW, Seat, Ford, Vauxhall, Peugeot all do.
XC90 D5 engines are solid - I've had one to 120k and it was no problem, nothing ever went wrong. I've seen the D5 engines at double at this mileage and they've been fine with routine maintenance.
T5s are great; I went for a Discovery instead as I use the 4wd for about 6 weeks a year. Also the T5 is reasonably noisy at motorway speeds; I regularly do 500 miles journeys in mine, so this was a major consideration.