Strangely a review by fleet cars puts the resale value above that of a VW Touran which I would not believe!
There is 2 years with the Peugeot and you can extend for another 3 so if (???) we went for that one I would not want to be holding onto it after that.
Actually I looked at a few of the GM and other cars and some have their plus points. Mercedes had a bad period and I have to say I am dubious still on some of their cars. I am not up to date with what is the latest and greatest so was after seeking other recommendations.
Read the reviews for Toyota versus the Peugeot and all the ones I have read put the Peugeot ahead. I still find it hard to believe but there you go, the Peugeot is still to be proven mind you.
Chrysler is off the list btw.
There is by default a 3 years warranty at Toyota. 3 years or 100k of km. So, for the same price you got more reliable car with better warranty. Why still to hesitate?
If it was me, then I would not blink to buy the Toyota, however the wife will be the one driving and using the car 95% of the time. Looking at the practicality of the Peugeot it is very good, I have to admit. It is slightly bigger width wise and length wise, we are only talking a small amount but it seems to make a big difference. Ferrying the kids around and the ever increasing list of activities means we have to consider being as practical as possible.
Will go on Wednesday to the Toyota garage and give the seats and space arrangement another go over and see if we could live with it. After all if we went for Toyota I would like to hang onto it for much longer. Also I need to ask a few more questions on the specification, there is nothing worse than ordering a car and then going, oh, I wish I added that as well.
We've been driving a Toyota Verso for the last 5 years (almost) and have never, ever had a single mechanical problem with it. Comfortable (I'm over 6ft), easy to drive and the 2 stowable seats are just so easy to use. I would recommend it to anyone.
I would go for the VW Caravelle. It may have more room than you need but what about in 2 / 3 years time ? Maybe you will want to go camping with the whole family or just bring lots of junk (bbq, icebox) with you when going for an afternoon by the lake. I also find the high seating position of the VW caravelle very comfortable for driving, you can see much further / have a much better overview than in a normal car. Plus they are based on a commercial vehicle (van), they are build to a much higher quality/durability level that normal cars (as this is what companies select their commercial vehicles by).
I have a T4 (the van), it is as solid and reliable as a tank. Also has the driving characteristics of a tank though
The only things that broke in 7 yrs was the horn (from overuse ) and the knob for the heater (both cheap repairs).
You probably mean Corolla Verso, as the "simple" Verso is a new model started from 2009 only
I can only mention that these days the quality of VW is getting worse. Yesterday there was a report saying that VW beat Toyota by amount of sold cars in the world. But the quality of VW now is worse than VW five years ago
I know, but I didn't want to confuse the issue. The new Verso is more or less the same as the old Corolla Verso.
That is what I have read as well, so it seems quality can be cyclic for some manufacturers.
The wife has been chatting to people at the kindergarden on the daily run. This morning she talked to someone with a Citreon Picasso who said it quite often has a fault and because it is all electronc, you are stuffed. She gave a quick tour of the car to my wife. It is the same age as our Skoda and my wife commented that it looks well worn. Asked if she was happy with the car, it is okay but that is it.
Anything Citreon is now off the list.
Toyota due to quality and reliability is back at number one. Also there is virtually no discount on the Peugeot, can they seriously price the same here as Toyota.
Just going to pop into the Volvo garage to look at the XC90 & XC60 but think they maybe too big. I know XC60 only five seats but if it can do 2 adults and 3 kids with full car seats in comfort.
Yes, agree about the VW caravelle it would be nice to have all that room and never to think about where to put the baggage.
Yes, for me, the french cars are "brittle" ... They look attractive, but they are not reliable... I have to admit, Toyota is looking worse than Peugeot ... But ... quality is more important. For me
Don't you also consider Honda FRV? I know, it is only 6 seats but it is a good alternative to in terms of price/quality to what you already considering. Plus, FRV looks really good in terms of design
FRV is of the same dimention of quality as Toyota. Worth to consider as well.
We have a Ford S-Max 2.0 Diesel for about 2 years now and so far are very happy with it. Never had any problems with it. Don't make a decision until you've been on a test drive with this one ;-)
And it's only ~38k: http://honda.ch/auto/fr/fr-fr/index....etail_frv/prix
for FR-V 2.2 i-CTDi (a very good engine, got good feedbacks about low vibrations, low noise and good fuel consumption)
But you have to compare it's features list with Toyota Verso.
Wow! OMG
I ship two Jeeps to and from California and the UK regularly. Typically I pay $2300 for a 40ft container and about £700 for haulage, port fees and documentation. That works out at about $1250 per vehicle each transatlantic journey. The same ship stops at other European ports and I'm pretty sure that it's not more than another $200 to the furthest. Going to the east coast USA is about $300 to $500 less depending on the port.
Update on the Peugeot:
I think this is best summed up by my wife "it is a good car as long as it is standing still"
I would sum it up as I hated the drive, it only had 11kms on the clock and some of the switches and gadgets did not work! The salesman was with me and said, he would need to get the mechanics to look at it.
The foot pedals on the manual were too close together, I am English size 10 foot and I struggled. There are 4 storks around the steering column, switches everywhere and would be a nightmare for my wife to drive.
The worst is the electronic brake did not work properly on a hill start. The drive was firm but nothing special and overall felt a cheaper car once you are driving it.
Okay all of the above is subjective a bit as there is our emotion in it but anything Peugeot or French is off the list.
Update: Ford S-Max 2.3i 16v Titanium Auto
The interior is way better than the Peugeot and looks and feels quite good quality.
Went for a test drive, it was a very nice drive I have to say. It is a quite firm but precise drive.
Overall very impressed with the finish and the drive.
Everything works, okay took it a bit to extremes after the Peugeot experience. It also has the electronic park brake and had no problem with a hill start, plenty of buses, scooters, building wok going on and it was a very relaxed drive. The seating appears to be more spacious and 3 rows of adults and child onboard all seemed to be happy.
Quality definitely seems a lot better than the old fords I used to know.
Price wise I was surprised as in the online configurator this car was heading towards the 70K CHF mark. This is currently 50,100 after a 2,500CHF discount.
S-Max definitely on the list.
Just in case the Ford dealer didn't tell you this... If your old car is 8 years or older you can currently get 6000 CHF car scrappage bonus from Ford when buying a new S-Max.
Also if you are using the 3rd row on a regular basis the Galaxy might be worth having a look. It's pretty much identical with the S-Max just a bit higher and longer. The 3rd row in the S-Max is only really suitable for children and mothers in law...
Update: The Volvo experience so far!
We looked at the XC60 - not big enough seating wise. XC90 well, the wife uttering "I love this colour", "I like the seating", "wow this is comfortable hoping into the driving seat".
I asked a few questions about the size of it and we did the guess the length of this compared to the Volvo V70 estate. He has obviously had this question before and had his assistant drive one beside our Skoda Octavia to compare the length, then to the front for the width.
He then I have to say was most probably the best salesman as he asked all the right questions, what must you have? what options would you like? How long do you intend to keep the car? etc, etc, Have to say he knew how to get all the boxes ticked off.
He suggested a test drive with all the children onboard, so we have that booked for Wednesday morning.
Hard to fault the build quality or the finish.
Really did not help my wife gushing praises about that exact car, colour, finish and other praises This was the time to mention that if we go over budget and I buy this one then I need a third push bike (the all terrain version)
Lets see how it drives, yes I know this is way above the budget but they have an interesting service plan up to 10 years or 100,000km. Currently we are under 10,000 km per year so maybe more expensive to buy but more reasonable cost of keeping it on the road.
Volvo XC90 on the consideration list.