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Following our Zafira Tourer's (1.4T petrol) engine dying and us rejecting it, we're looking to get a replacement asap. The existing dealer has found us a Grand C-Max 1.5 turbo-diesel which they'll swap it for or I was going to buy a Zafira Tourer 2.0 turbo-diesel from another dealer today.
What would you get if you had five family members (children age 6, 4 and 0) and needed reliable transport which isn't horrible to drive or terminally slow?
C-Max
Would be the c max for me too.
What would you get if you had five family members (children age 6, 4 and 0) and needed reliable transport which isn’t horrible to drive or terminally slow?
Out of your two choices? The CMax.
The right answer is though...
A Galaxy.
My kids are now 15, 14 and 11 and i've had an extensive range of beige MPV's to cart them about in over the last 15 years.
For practicality, the Galaxy was the best, by a country mile. It doesn't feel as massive to drive as you might imagine.
Don't understimate the usefulness of being able to stand ( albeit bent over) on the floor inside the car to attend to whichever child is in the middle seat. Especially with a newborn. Sometimes, bigger is better.
The SMax came second in practicality and was the nicest to drive.
Nissan Pathfinder was my favourite but hugely expensive to run.
Wife has had three Scenics in the same period. All super reliable and nice places to sit in.
My current Outlander is nice but wouldn't be practical for use with kiddies child seats but is fine for teenagers.
Grand cmax is perfect for us.
It is slow though.
Congrats on the new kid chief!
no input other than we squeeze 4 kids into a 2014 Zafira and it works OK (roofbox for big trips & saris bones 3 on the back & thule freeride squeezed next to roofbox)
The Grand S-Max is certainly worth a look, the rear sliding doors give good access to the interior, especially with the front doors open, and give a bit more shelter around the back when the hatch is up, for doing things like changing after a bike ride or swimming.
I've got a tourer and really like it. We looked at a c max but I found the rear seats had an annoying lip on them that made car seats hard work. The tourer seat is much flatter and we find it easy enough to have a mix of car seats across the back (kids are 10,9 and 5). The 1.4T is a great engine - I think it's the newer petrol direct injection version that has a few niggles. Ours is a 64 plate with the older engine.
Obvs a V6 Elgrand, Reliable and fun to drive and quick. Virtually no depreciation which offsets the fuel economy 😉
Just driven and measured a Grand C-Max 1.5 turbo diesel. Surprisingly big on the inside for how small it is on the outside. Nice balance of ride and handling as I hustled it down a back road to the surprise of the salesperson. Not terribly quick, am concerned how it will handle being fully loaded, and the middle row seat looks narrow, so may be hard to get three car seats across there. When the engine wasn’t being asked to go fast it was very smooth and remarkably free revving for a diesel.
Off to try a Zafira Tourer with the 2.0 turbo diesel now. Will compare measurements and driving and report back.
I liked how the late 2015 1.4T Zafira Tourer drove, I thought it was a decent little engine until it died, leaving us without a car for the last four weeks... So I’m not feeling terribly trustful of these small capacity turbo direct injection petrol engines!
Unless you very regularly do significant long distance mileages I'd be wary of a diesel. Multiple short journeys over the course of a week is not what modern diesel engines cope with best.
“Unless you very regularly do significant long distance mileages I’d be wary of a diesel. Multiple short journeys over the course of a week is not what modern diesel engines cope with best.”
This was why I was wary of diesel engines but then I did some more research and also some deeper thinking about how we actually use our car. The children walk to school, I cycle to work and the car doesn’t do many short trips at all, not as short as is considered problematic. And we head out into the countryside and beyond quite often, so I think we’ll be ok.
Anyway, drove both of them today. The 2.0 CDTi Zafira Tourer SRi was much more my sort of thing, rather a nice grunty engine and I preferred how it felt on the road to the Grand C-Max 1.5, less roll, more grip, much much less slow and although less smooth riding certainly comfier than my previous cars. And on the practical sense, a bit bigger inside with just that bit more boot space with all the seats up.
I had a 1.6 diesel Zafira Tourer for 85k and it was faultless. Much preferred it to the SMax I had before. The 1.6 is the later gen engine and smooth as anything. So one of them with SRi spec for the comfy seats would be my pick. Only got it as it was the only 7 seater on the company car list, never loved it as was still a bit white goods but it was an excellent car.
Also had a 2.0 diesel Insignia SRi for a few months as an infill, I really liked that too but whilst the engine had a bit more torque than the 1.6 it was much less refined, noiser and more vibration. Give the 1.6 a test if you can Chief
My first experiences with modern Vauxhalls and I was surprised they were so good as all the old ones were proper shit!
“Also had a 2.0 diesel Insignia SRi for a few months as an infill, I really liked that too but whilst the engine had a bit more torque than the 1.6 it was much less refined, noiser and more vibration. Give the 1.6 a test if you can Chief”
Too late, already bought the 2.0!
I suspect the 1.6 Vauxhall diesel is like the 1.5 Ford one - the reviews suggest that for sure. The Ford engine was extremely smooth and quiet, it felt more like a turbo petrol. But I actually preferred the character of the bigger Vauxhall unit, noise and all. And it’s so much quicker!
“My first experiences with modern Vauxhalls and I was surprised they were so good as all the old ones were proper shit!”
My first car was a Nova saloon! Never had a car do handbrake turns better. I think that’s the entire list of talents, if you exclude the foot on the floor “cruise control” method, giving a steady 90mph, hills not withstanding.
My Dad had a succession of Carlton’s from 1986 to ~1994. They were good cars, the last one had a really smooth straight six and LSD and drifted well for a big estate car. The Omega which replaced it wasn’t as good. The Vectra he got when he had to take early retirement was utter shit. And my Mum had two Astra’s which were pretty bloody awful (one snapped a conrod within a few weeks). We got some of them cheap because a friend was high up at GM. Had a few rides in the Lotus Carlton they had on loan and that was hilarious, so fast for that era!
I don’t think I’m the MPV target audience but as no-one makes a seven seater hot hatch (all these stupid off-roaders can **** right off!) the lower firmer riding SRi Zafira Tourer with the most powerful engine will have to do!
Used to get Zafira Tourers as hire cars for work, and I was always pleasantly surprised how nice they were
Have you checked you can put a child seat in the middle position in the Vauxhall? Some zafira models specifically state that the middle seat in row 2 is not suitable for any kind of childseat. Check the manual online if you can
I did loads of research on this a couple of years ago, and zafiras were ruled out pretty quickly due to this. Ridiculous for a family car.