7 Seaters- SUV's v People carriers

Looked at a new model Nissan x-trail at the weekend and have to say I like it. Very stylish looking and the basic model starts at around €32k. And Nissan is a make that I really like from reliability etc.
So 32k for a new car v's 17-26k for the circa 3 yr old 2nd hand cars we've been looking at so far.

But I'm not one for buying a new car as the depreciation is just too great over the 1st 2 to 3 years. So might stick with what we have for another yr or so and see if any x-trails come on the 2nd hand market early in 2015 and at what price.

Decisions, decisions
 
Just remember Nissan is French owned and has French bits in it. Japanese design flair and French build quality do not give me a warm fuzzy feeling. The other way around would be great but that's not what you get.
 
I have a Santa Fe, 3rd child on the way and kids will be the same age as yours. While I'm very happy with it now, when the baby comes along the eldest is going to have to travel in the pop up seat as you can't fit 3 isofix seats in the back. Other issue is he'll have to get in and out though the boot unless I take the isofix out everytime I'm putting him in and out. The boot seats are spacious though, I've had adults travel in them with no issues.

My bil has the qashqai and is thinking of changing it as they find it far too small and say the popup seats are tiny (their eldest only 6).
 
Most Santa Fe’s are not 4X4 so picking one over a People Mover is done purely for image.
Hyundai make great cars but a 2 wheel drive SUV had all of the disadvantages of a 4X4 (small cabin relative to size, bad access etc) without the advantages.
If you spend 95% of your time on roads and want a 6 or 7 seater then buy a People Mover.
 
Question for those with a Santa Fe or similar 5/7 seater SUV...are you able to fit 3 car seats or 2 car seats/1 booster seat across the middle row?
Was in a new 7 seater SUV at the weekend and saw that the middle row is not 3 independent seats, unlike an MPV. Did'nt have the time to test it for myself but planning to go back soon to do so (will only have 1 isofix seat in use)

Thanks
 
re the seating issue....Santa Fe, Sorento and the new xtrail all are only 2.5 seats across the middle row. In actual fact the SUV's measure the same in width as a Golf, Focus hatchback etc.
This surprised me.

So back to the drawing board
 
Delboy said:
re the seating issue....Santa Fe, Sorento and the new xtrail all are only 2.5 seats across the middle row. In actual fact the SUV's measure the same in width as a Golf, Focus hatchback etc.
This surprised me.

So back to the drawing board
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The cabins on all SUV's are smaller than you'd expect.
If you want size then get a large saloon.
If you want driver comfort and a nice driver experience as well as fuel economy and safety then buy a large saloon.
If you want a large boot then buy a large saloon.

If you want lots of cabin space for passengers and a reasonable drive then buy a People Mover.

If you plan to go off-road or live up the side of a mountain then buy an SUV.
If you are more interested in image then space, safety, how it drives, storage, fuel economy and general running costs then buy an SUV.
 
Purple said:
They are far more dangerous than saloon cars. Not to the driver but to other road users, cyclists and pedestrians.
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I must have missed the canon and anti-cyclist machine gun on the SUV's when I was reviewing them
 
Maybe a car derivative of a van would be the way to go such as a VW Transporter with seats. You'd fit an army and their gear in one and they're not too bad to drive.
 
Anything more recent than 2003? I'm sure all vehicle types have upscaled since then!
And lets not mix up American SUVs with their European counterparts....there's some difference between the 2 from what I can see
 
Delboy said:
The Citroen's and Renault's get such bad reviews normally, that I'd ruled them out straight away
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This is surprising.

I'm not too sure of the difference between an SUV and a people carrier.

But in relation to Renault we've had one for the last 11 years. The espace is great with kids as you can configure the seats any way you want and remove them if necessary. And plenty of leg room and space for luggage. We now have a Grand Scenic and it travels more smoothly if that's possible than the Espace. Or else it's something to do with it's size or I think we got something turbo. The last two seats are not as comfortable as the front and middle seats. For our long distance trips we put on a roof box, Thule, soft type and that worked out really well as I wanted the kids not to be crowed with luggage.

I find the Scenic much easier to park than the Espace. And we once had a Grand Espace for a short while and that was desparate altogether and more like a tank.
 
Delboy said:
Anything more recent than 2003? I'm sure all vehicle types have upscaled since then!
And lets not mix up American SUVs with their European counterparts....there's some difference between the 2 from what I can see
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There's not a huge difference in design as manufacturers aren't going to make fundamentally different vehicles for each market.
a study from 2012. The problem is the shape of the front of the vehicle. That doesn't change with the market.
Issues such as roll-over, bad crumple zones and stopping distances have improved but they are still far worse in SUV's than in saloon cars. Basically the SUV is safer if you hit another car head on but if you hit a tree or wall or other large stationary object then the saloon car is safer as the SUV is heavier so it has a higher relative mass at collision.
 
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