7 Seaters?

[melissa]

I think someone at VW finally got it right with the Kombi - a Caravelle is an expensive car (if we are being honest) to have your kids use daily - kids dont care if they spill their drink on the floor or crush their biscuit/rusk/fries into the carpet - they are kids!!!
A Caravelle is OK if you want to ferry adults around in a bit of luxury. Maybe someone in the design department expanded their family and it made them think back to when a T2 microbus had rubber flooring and vinyl seats (the T4 has fabric seats) and how easy they were to keep clean. Hope an auto comes up sometime soon for you Aaron so Mrs Hawk can take one for a spin and fall in love with it - and I hope its red!

[The_Hawk]

Hope an auto comes up sometime soon for you Aaron so Mrs Hawk can take one for a spin and fall in love with it - and I hope its red!

The T5 variants are getting up in price (read almost double) and there is a grand total of 3 available in Australia on Carsales. Trawling the other listings there is one T4, white and manual.

I do wonder if there is any stats on how many of them were ever sold in Auto. Personally I would much rather get a manual due to far less issues (and costs if/when they break).

[melissa]

I have just placed a For Sale ad for my T4.

[melissa]

Aaron, I have had someone on the Kombi Club suggest the Hyundai iMax as one to look at. No one else has mentioned it. Have you looked at it?

[The_Hawk]

Aaron, I have had someone on the Kombi Club suggest the Hyundai iMax as one to look at. No one else has mentioned it. Have you looked at it?

Yep, went to Hyundai during round one of looking, they don't come from the factory with any extra mounts but I have heard mixed reports that they can be added after market. The issue of course is that they are only new (late 08 onwards) so second hand ones are still new, that and they are all $40k+

I want to spend less than $25,000 if possible and really if I'm going any higher the Kia Carnival isn't a terrible option since a new one isn't much over $30k, ticks all the right boxes and has a 5 year unlimited km warranty... In reality Kia (and Hyundai for that matter) are well appointed for the cost, they just depreciate alot and the Kia's are know to break

So Melissa, I saw your for sale thread... you don't happen to be coming on the Annual Summer Cruise do you??

[melissa]

I would have liked to but I have made plans that mean I cant make it - I will send you a PM

[maca]

What about sourcing a RHD Mazda 5 from somewhere?

[gareth_oau]

we had 4 kids, and people suggested we would need to buy a Tarago or similar. I told them i'd rather drown one of the kids than drive a Tarago.

I'm a car/performance fanatic, so your typical people-mover just wasnt going to cut it.

So we bought a Commodore SS wagon, chipped it, big exhaust, CAI, lowered suspension, 6 speed gearbox with quick-shifter - you know, typical mum's school bus type car, then we installed 2 additional seats in the boot and converted into a road-legal 7 seater.

In fact it was probably the world's fastest school bus!!

This option allowed us to have our cake and eat it too.

Oh, and when we sold it, we made a killing, very rare and in high demand!!

[The_Hawk]

What about sourcing a RHD Mazda 5 from somewhere?

They look alright, although there is not information on the child restraint points... oh and I expect them to be stupidly expensive. (and don't seem to be available in Australia).

While looking them up I stumbled on www.familycarguide.com which shows they sell for US$20k ish, mind you the same site says a CX-9 sells for US$30k ish which roughly translates to $60k ish in Australia

[Manaz]

Have you looked at the Subaru Exiga at all?