Which 7 Seat Diesel MPV

What about the Honda FRV? It is a 6 sitter, 3 in front, 3 in back. So, you always have boot space. Anyone any experience with them?
 
We've ben driving a Honda FR-V since 2005 (bought new). I can't speak too highly of it. Honda reliability, good handling, and a very flexible set-up. We have three small kids and I love the fact that the rear row has three independent seats, each perfect for a child/booster seat. Usually the middle seat in the front row is folded down, making an armrest for the front passengers. When Nana is with us we can convert to a six-seater in seconds. The boot space is excelent, and what I particularly like is that, unlike all 7-seaters, there's nobody sitting in the rear crumple zone. Only drawback is that the 1.7 ltr engine has to work hard, so its a little heavy on the juice.
 
I might have an impossible wish list, but here goes.

-I want 7 proper seats, or at the very least 3 full size seats in the second row so three kids can sit in second row comfortably, including car seats for 2 of them. Back row will be used infrequently.

-I want something 3 or less years old

-I want a high NCAP rating

-I want something not too hard to park

-I want something that looks sleek and not like a van (well as sleek as a 7 seater can be)

Anyone got a magic answer for me?
 
I've got a Ford S-MAX and it meets most of the criteria you outline below - including the price. Only came out last year - euroNCAP 5 star, does not looks like a van and drives like a dream. It is big - most MPVs are pretty large and will take a bit of skill parking - particularly proper 7 seaters. Anyhow if size is your main criteria I'd check out a mini-MPV such as a Corolla Verso, Renault Scenic or an Opel Zafira. You lose out on boot space however.
 
Thanks. We ruled out the zafira after test drive as the middle seat in second row is pretty cramped and the handling was rough, it was not a comfortable experience being a passenger. The back row was very uncomfortable. I could see a lot of car sickness in our future with that one!

I drove new Galaxy and Smax and there was not much price difference. The smax did have harder handling/less comfortable drive but was a bit less van like than the galaxy. Galaxy was very comfortable. But EEK it was €39K for an LX with parking sensors and metallic paint!

I dunno. We've been debating it for months and I gues it comes down to whether you need proper seats in the back and thus accept a big body on it, or whether we will settle for smaller seats that are not very comfy. Must drive a grand scenic.
 
Grand Scenic is made of paper, and it will break your chops. Poorly built, and woefully unreliable.

S-Max isn't a bad compromise. Get a diesel 1.8 Zetec. Not cheap though.
 
If you need 7 seats then by time you have paid for the extra two seats in the s max you mught as well buy a galaxy and at least have some boot space. There is absolutely no room in the back of the s max when the two extra seats are in.
 
There are a number of Galaxy/S-Max cars knocking about second hand at this point - there might be some good deals to be had. Got my own second hand (ex-rental) for about €32k. There is a 10cm difference in length between the two cars. This means with all seats up the boot is pretty poky on both cars (~300 litres).
 
I never thought I'd write this, but my daughter has a Volvo XC90 D5 AWD (6-speed manual) for the last for the last few months and I have to say I'm very, very impressed (as are motoring press reviewers - I wouldn't normally care what they thought about Volvos, let alone Volvo MPV/SUVs). Having driven it a bit lately, including in the snow and ice over Christmas, I'm a convert if this is the kind of car you need.

It offers decent equipment as standard (including rear park-assist I think), good power and flexibility (185 bhp 5-cylinder diesel engine), great safety (special light-weight roof and passenger cell reinforcement), is fairly frugal (35 mpg is not a problem usually), has 7 good seats and a useful boot (5 good seats and a very big boot with the two rears folded), drives more like a car than your typical slab-sided MPV/SUV and is very comfortable even on long journeys, fully laden.

I believe it belongs close to the top of the short-list of anyone who needs a vehicle in this class.
 
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