FR-V - any good?

[Sym7]

I currently have a Mercedes R-Class which is great for the two children we have (one at 3 yrs & the other at 18 mnths). However, we now have a 3rd on the way and we realise that the R-Class, despite its size, isn't actually that practical. The car does have a third row of seats but they are inaccessible when you have child seats connected in the second row.

Therefore we're looking for another car and the FR-V looks like it could be ideal. However, I know nothing about this car. I went to a dealership today and what I saw I was quite impressed with (confused why there are only two engine choices and no sat nav as an option though). So, if anyone has any knowledge of this car (good or bad) your feedback would be really appreciated. I'm not sure if there are many alternatives that are good for 3 children (except the Multipla which just looks 'orrible!).

Thanks to anyone who can help me.

[odyssey2200]

Been thinking about getting one for the wife too. ( 3 kids to carry round)
So I would also be interested in anyones experiances.

To be honest I have experiance of just about every other Honda and would never worry about buying a Honda but am torn between the FRV, CRV or an Accord Touring

[Pooh]

The multipla has been boringised and no longer looks orrible,(the FRV is hardly pretty) it is however in many ways superior to the FRV. The Multipla is built on a bespoke semi-spaceframe chassis which enables it to be wide enough to accomodate 3 full size seats accross it and stiff enough to have a huge glass area, giving superb visability. I had one for 6 years and 90k miles and I loved it. I looked at the FRV but because it is based on the civic it is too narrow for 3 full size seats and has small windows giving poor visability, I much preferred the Multipla. If you want two rows of three seats, try them both before you decide.

[odyssey2200]

Pooh said:

The multipla has been boringised and no longer looks orrible,(the FRV is hardly pretty) it is however in many ways superior to the FRV. The Multipla is built on a bespoke semi-spaceframe chassis which enables it to be wide enough to accomodate 3 full size seats accross it and stiff enough to have a huge glass area, giving superb visability. I had one for 6 years and 90k miles and I loved it. I looked at the FRV but because it is based on the civic it is too narrow for 3 full size seats and has small windows giving poor visability, I much preferred the Multipla. If you want two rows of three seats, try them both before you decide.

are you seriously suggesting buying a Fiat as opposed to a Honda???

[Pooh]

odyssey2200 said:

Pooh said:

The multipla has been boringised and no longer looks orrible,(the FRV is hardly pretty) it is however in many ways superior to the FRV. The Multipla is built on a bespoke semi-spaceframe chassis which enables it to be wide enough to accomodate 3 full size seats accross it and stiff enough to have a huge glass area, giving superb visability. I had one for 6 years and 90k miles and I loved it. I looked at the FRV but because it is based on the civic it is too narrow for 3 full size seats and has small windows giving poor visability, I much preferred the Multipla. If you want two rows of three seats, try them both before you decide.

are you seriously suggesting buying a Fiat as opposed to a Honda???

Yes if he prefers it, as I said I had one for 6 years 90k miles and was very happy with it. How many have you owned?

edited to add

My main point is that he is after a car with two rows of three seats he should try both availabe cars. The Fiat is also a fair bit cheaper especially if he goes for a 1 or 2 year old one.

Edited by Pooh on Sunday 25th November 08:19

[odyssey2200]

Pooh said:

odyssey2200 said:

Pooh said:

The multipla has been boringised and no longer looks orrible,(the FRV is hardly pretty) it is however in many ways superior to the FRV. The Multipla is built on a bespoke semi-spaceframe chassis which enables it to be wide enough to accomodate 3 full size seats accross it and stiff enough to have a huge glass area, giving superb visability. I had one for 6 years and 90k miles and I loved it. I looked at the FRV but because it is based on the civic it is too narrow for 3 full size seats and has small windows giving poor visability, I much preferred the Multipla. If you want two rows of three seats, try them both before you decide.

are you seriously suggesting buying a Fiat as opposed to a Honda???

Yes if he prefers it, as I said I had one for 6 years 90k miles and was very happy with it. How many have you owned?

edited to add

My main point is that he is after a car with two rows of three seats he should try both availabe cars. The Fiat is also a fair bit cheaper especially if he goes for a 1 or 2 year old one.

Edited by Pooh on Sunday 25th November 08:19

I had 2 consecutive Fiats
The last one bought brand new and the reliability, attitude of the dealer, ability of the dealer to fix the car and the attitude and customer care levels of Fiat UK were enough to make me vow NEVER to buy an italian product EVER again.

A vow I have kept to this day and has served me well.

I have, by comparison had over 70 Honda cars since and have NEVER once had a problem despite minimal maintenance costs.

[Pooh]

odyssey2200 said:

Pooh said:

odyssey2200 said:

Pooh said:

The multipla has been boringised and no longer looks orrible,(the FRV is hardly pretty) it is however in many ways superior to the FRV. The Multipla is built on a bespoke semi-spaceframe chassis which enables it to be wide enough to accomodate 3 full size seats accross it and stiff enough to have a huge glass area, giving superb visability. I had one for 6 years and 90k miles and I loved it. I looked at the FRV but because it is based on the civic it is too narrow for 3 full size seats and has small windows giving poor visability, I much preferred the Multipla. If you want two rows of three seats, try them both before you decide.

are you seriously suggesting buying a Fiat as opposed to a Honda???

Yes if he prefers it, as I said I had one for 6 years 90k miles and was very happy with it. How many have you owned?

edited to add

My main point is that he is after a car with two rows of three seats he should try both availabe cars. The Fiat is also a fair bit cheaper especially if he goes for a 1 or 2 year old one.

Edited by Pooh on Sunday 25th November 08:19

I had 2 consecutive Fiats
The last one bought brand new and the reliability, attitude of the dealer, ability of the dealer to fix the car and the attitude and customer care levels of Fiat UK were enough to make me vow NEVER to buy an italian product EVER again.

A vow I have kept to this day and has served me well.

I have, by comparison had over 70 Honda cars since and have NEVER once had a problem despite minimal maintenance costs.

I am not trying to claim that a Fiat will be more reliable than a Honda but that does not stop it from being a superior car in terms of how it performs its function as a people carrier. I have had 5 Alfas and 2 Fiats and have been happy with all of them. The Mitsubishi I have now is a different matter and the dealer has been far worse than the admittedly fairly poor service I recieved from Fiat dealers.

[Sagacitas]

NO idea about the FRV. I don't like the idea of 3 seats in the font - a bit too cozy when you are the driver.

Have you thought about a CRV? The new one drives better than the old style. SatNav is an option as well (although to be honest a TomTom would be better) and it comes with the reversing camera. There is plenty of room in the back seat for 3 kids and a goodly amount of storage space as well.

Richard

[TotalControl]

Is this a Fiat forum?

[hellsbuddha]

My wife looked at getting the FRV and while it looks nice I thought that the seats were cramped and not sure if you could easily fit 3 child seats in it either.

The mazda 5 maybe also worth looking at - although I confess I like Mazda's and the fact that the 5 has a sliding door facility

sam

[Steff]

Just bought a FR-V for the wife and for a sprog mobile its great.

The seat in the middle in the front can be folded flat so you can use it as a armrest/table the two middle seats move forward and aft so if you have three big people in the front and three in the back you can stagger the seating to create more shoulder space.

It goes pretty well for a diesel and the ride is quite smooth.

We did look at the Accord tourer but there wasn't much space in the back seats but the boot was huge.

A friend of mine had a Multipla and he had no end of problems with it which included the drivers door falling off, which doesn't inspire confidence. He's now got an FR-V.

Get one on a test drive, for a family car you cant go wrong.

[Steff]

hellsbuddha said:

not sure if you could easily fit 3 child seats in it either.

Yes you can.