7 Seaters?

[SoVeReIgN]

Thanks for that. Territory has been on the options list for a while, the Kia Carnival has now also been added as all seats 2nd row and back have anchor points, although it IS a Kia..

I have a few months to look so will keep going for a bit.

After the mindblowingly ridiculous failure rates with the older carnivals I wouldn't personally touch them with a 100m pole. (More than 50% blew their engines within warranty period iirc)
Tarago?

[Treza360]

After the mindblowingly ridiculous failure rates with the older carnivals I wouldn't personally touch them with a 100m pole. (More than 50% blew their engines within warranty period iirc)
Tarago?

Yep agreed there about the Kia.

Not sure really on your price range and I know it's a little cliche (Clarkson) but what about the Volvo XC90. Everyone else raves about it as well though. Don't know about the anchor points though.

Another one worth looking at might be the Toyota Kluger. The boss at work has a bunch of young kids and he has one of those. They're pretty clever inside and I'd take a punt and say Toyota are pretty good on the safety front with the latest ones.

Oh and congratulations by the way.

Cheers,
Trent

[bombsquad21]

Carnival is a def no no!!! For my family of 5 I drive an Lexus RX which is basically a tarted
up Toyota Kluger..., the baby seat mounts on the rear of the seat it's attached to. Which makes a HUGE difference. Kluger can seat 7..

[bombsquad21]

Oh and I forgot....Territory drinks juice like no mans business!!

[Treza360]

Oh and I forgot....Territory drinks juice like no mans business!!

Aaron drives a VR6, he knows about fuel economy or lack thereof.
Cheers,
Trent

[mikepologti]

another for the no no on the kia carnival , ive known 3 differant people with them and theyve had inumerable problems with , so its not an isolated incident.

[The_Hawk]

Aaron drives a VR6, he knows about fuel economy or lack thereof.

The wifes car gets around 10L/100km so anything more will be extra, in reality it's more about actually getting something useful rather than being concerned with fuel efficiency, in reality we drive less than 10,000 km a year so at $1.50 a litre the difference between 10L/100km and 15L/100km is $750 a year.

When it comes to price, I'm not necessariy looking for a brand new vehicle, although if I can afford it I might go there. A 2005ish Territory is $25kish an '03 Volvo is not much more. The Hyundai iLoad has popped up as another option, although being a new model to the market it's only 08+ models which means I'd be looking at $30k+. The Kluger is another interesting option, $20 - $25k gets you an 04-05 model with leather (you can wipe spilt stuff off leather, you can't with cloth )

Like I said I have about 6 months to make a final decision and we are looking into some slim line car seats which will fit three across in the current car which is much cheaper than getting a new vehicle, but the allure of something new and shiny is still there (unless of course it's twins in which case I don't get a choice), that and it would be nice to upgrade from a 10 year old car with 200,000 on the clock.

But thanks for the feedback and options, keep em coming if there are others becuase I'll keep looking at the replacement car option while my wife keeps looking at the cheaper car seat option.

[Sharkie]

I have also been looking at suitable 7 seaters recently ...

All the SUV's with 7+ seats are not that much of an option I'm afraid ... the rear seats are only suitable to midgets and kids under 5 as there is no leg room in any of them .... Territory and Kluger included.

A proper van is the best bet if you are going to use it for a number of years ....

VW Caddy Maxi Life - 7 seats, TDI and DSG
VW T5 Multivan - around $30K for a 3yr old
Toyota Tarago - around $30K for a 3yr old

are the best bets IMO. They all have dual sliding doors for ease of acces to the kiddies in the back.

[dubbed]

Oh and I forgot....Territory drinks juice like no mans business!!

The 6-speed made substantial improvements to fuel economy in the Falcon, I'd assume this would be the case in the later Territory too.

The Lexus is a nice car but a bit out of his 20-25k price range. In saying that, I don't know how well priced a 6-speed Terri is.

[KWICKS]

I drove a Terri Ghia 6sp a few weeks back, it had 70000kms on it. It was missing 4 bits of trim, was noisy with wind, tyre, road and creaking noises, towing a 2t van it returned over 22L/100km and on the open road with no load it was about 10.xL/100km. The woodgrain dash reflected on the steepish front windscreen creating a significant blind spot on the front screen during the middle of the day. The cloth looks worn and drab. About the best thing I could say for it was the gearbox IS a gem, smooth, quiet, and reasonably well mated to the big I6.

Based on this experience I'd buy an Odyssey (also driven several times) Luxury, 5 years old, 80000km, $20k every time. But its perhaps more a 6 seater, 7 at a pinch.