The family is growing and we decided to buy a new 7-seater car. We’re deciding between the Chrysler Voyager and Renault Espace. Does anyone own any of these cars and can give an opinion
Thanks
Hi,
I'm not a big car freak but I'd take a French car any day over an American car... build quality is usually better as is gas mileage.
Have you looked at Mazda 5? We have one and are very happy with it.
There's a thread here with a discussion on family cars, if you're interested...
We owned a 2003 Chrysler Town & Country in the states. (same as the Voyager) We had the 3.3L FlexFuel engine and never had a problem with it in the 86,000 miles we put on it.
IIRC, the Espace has a five star NCAP safety rating, and the Voyager has none.
And the Espace is very comfortable and a decent drive. Nice. Think global, buy local etc.
The Voyager comes with a gold disk containing a message to alien lifeforms by Jimmy Carter.
Cheers,
Nick
We nearly bought a Mazda 5 but then went for a Subaru Legacy in the end simply for the allwheel drive factor plus they are good value and we only needed the five seats. The Mazda did impress us with it's room and clever features,also importantly the two rear side doors are both sliders.
We looked at the Voyager and a Honday Odyssey (in NZ, the Honda is called a Shuttle in CH). Chose the Honda because it drove like a car, not a van, and to make boot space you could fold down the rear row of seats. The Voyager required you to physically remove the rear seats and put them somewhere, which for us would have been a nightmare.
So check out that last row of seats: what happens when you need to carry luggage?
I wouldn't - we used to have a Peugeot 407 which was an utter catastrophe (transmission went out twice, was in the garage about once per quarter, repairs were exorbitantly expensive). Been driving a Chrysler Neon for 3 years - not a single issue.
Seriously guys - French cars are known neither for their reliability (although some of them seem to be quite safe) nor for their build quality. If you want reliable and well built without spending 80'000 Fr., go Japanese.
peter
Espace is more refined and sharp to drive. i have tested 2.2 diesel with 150ps and it really impressed me.
Voyager is more bigger in space but slower with 2.5CRD engine (143ps), feels more like a big van than car. The newer engines are coming with 2.8 lit and maybe better in performance. I have not tried any petrol engines (diesel head)
The Voyager is not SAFE. Please do not buy this car.
Brand new or used ones?
Diesel or Petrol?
There's a Voyager for sale at the bottom of the page, don't know if it's still available.
Oh, here you go , save your mouse...
...but don't buy it anyway, French cars are great second hand buys.
Hi
My Husband has an Espace, it's a really great family car, loads of space for skis etc. He has the 3.0 diesel model. It's nice and fast, responds well to corners etc. The only thing I don't like is the card key thing !! You can't attach it to a key ring and when I drive it I have to root around for ages to find the key in my huge bag !! Small price to pay for a good family car though !
you do know you can leave the key in your bag. I believe it opens when you get near and will start without slotting the car into the slot
we went through the Voyager vs Espace debate about 8 months ago and eventually decided on the Espace. The 5 star NCAP was one of the deciding factors.
We ended up buying a used Espace (2001 model) and love it! We're covered about 15,000km, including a couple of trips from Netherlands to Italy and back, and not a single thing to complain about.
One of the best things about it is that the kids love it too!
I personally do not like the voyager but this test (and your quote) does not tell the whole picture. The Swiss Voyager is safe (potentially) scoring 4 stars which is more or less the norm for "safe" cars. Furthermore, there is no point whatsoever using the results of ncap tests if you are then goîng to go out and buy a second hand car based on an model 5 or 10 years old...
NCAP has tough selection rules such as the car is available in the format in all EU countries. Given that the UK and Eire have right hand drive cars it is often the case that cars bought on the continent and in Switzerland have a different specification! And thus the tests do not paint the right picture...
Two/three other cars to think about plus pros and cons:
Grand Voyager, is bigger otherwise as Voyager.
VW Multivan: For bigger families this is really well thought out. Many nice features and drive quite well although often a bit "van" like.
Mercedes Viano: Can be very big in XL format, very safe, not quite so family oriented as the multivan but drives more like a car than a van, expecially with the 3.0 Diesel engine.
Both of these can be bought in one year old for less than 50K.
We just got ourselves a Ford S-Max 2.0 Diesel.
Fantastic car, lots of bang for the buck and definitely worth considering.
In my opinion Fords seat concept is the best. Each seat at the back can be
folded down completely to form a flat loading bay, whereas in the Espace you
have to completely remove the seats and leave them at home when you have
to transport something bulky.
If you need the 7 seat configuration often and not just for children
you might want to go for the new Galaxy which offers a bit more leg room in
the third row. The third row in the S-Max is only suitable for Children up to maybe
12 years old.
Both were introduced in 2006 so you should be able to find a good low mileage demo
car if you look around.
I don't see your point? The site you link to says it barely has 2 stars for the driver. That's not safe in my eyes. The Espace is a much safer option.
I don't know where you find that is has 4 stars in Switzerland. Do they have different standards or do they make it differently for the Swiss market?
As for used cars, the link you show has ratings for 1999 & 2007 models. Plus usually you can look up the ratings for a given year, which I recommend.