7 Seater - up to £35k. Sorento, 5008 or... - Page 1 - Car Buying

Original Poster

1,520 posts

173 months

Friday

I'm probably going to end up answering my own question, but perhaps the task of typing this will provide some cathartic relief.

Our beloved (that's a lie) but perfectly reliable 2014 Grand Picasso is now showing it's age. The requirements from it's replacement are:

- 7 seats
- large boot (needs to take a bulky wheelchair)
- 3 kids so 3 good seats in the back (don't have to be separate). The middle seat can't be an after thought (looking at you Nissan)
- Not more than say 3 years old (ideally has some warranty left)
- Panoramic sunroof
- Not Q7 / X5 / XC90 size. A lot of our driving is on lanes, and they're just getting that bit too big. Plus fitting 3 cars on our drive is tight, these would make it extremely difficult.

It'll do c.7k a year, so not a great deal in the grand scheme of things, mix of lanes but with some longer motorway trips.

We've narrowed it down to a pretty small selection of:

- 2021/2022 Kia Sorento (words I'd never thought I'd type). Both MHEV and PHEV are available.
- New Peugeot 5008 MHEV.

The new Peugeot is just above budget, by around £1,500 in GT spec with the sunroof pack.

We've looked at and discounted:

- X-Trail. Whoever signed off putting the seat belt clips where they are in the middle row should be shot. Not comfortable at all with the leather seats.
- Kodiaq / Tiguan Allspace. Obvious choices, but seats 6/7 are really poor compared to the Kia or Peugeot
- Tarraco. Boot doesn't quite work with the wheelchair (shame, as we saw a lovely one locally)
- Tayron. Can't get one below £40k at the moment.
- Santa Fe. Interior of the Sorento is a nicer place to be in our opinion.
- Touran. I struggle spending £30k on a very old design, however practical it might be!

Uness i'm missing something obvious, that's where we are! I'd imagine the Peugeot will 'cost' more in depreciation over the c. 7 years we'd keep the car for, which is leading me towards the Kia.

Edited by Miocene on Friday 8th August 17:47

occasionalranter

97 posts

62 months

Friday

Allspace/Tayron/Tarraco are all v similar under the skin so not surprising they all fail if one fails.

Touran has amazing packaging for the external size but yes the 3rd row is very tight.

How about a late Ford Galaxy ? From about £20k at 3 years old. Probably nicer to drive than the Kia and Peugeot you might otherwise inflict on yourself smile

kiethton

14,271 posts

196 months

Friday

Dacia Jogger

My in-laws got one on motability and it fits all inside (inc wheelchair) and is relatively narrow for its size. Can likely get a new one in budget. Their high-spec hybrid is rather gutless though.

Original Poster

1,520 posts

173 months

Friday

Galaxy is a fair shout. Design is aging, but they'll probably get a cult following now that type of car is more or less dead!

The jogger, I must admit we assumed would be too small for the 5 of us to be in comfort, but worth seeing one in the metal to confirm it is.

Chris_i8

2,220 posts

209 months

Friday

Definitely investigate the Jogger, deceptively spacious.

I'll add -
S-max?
Grand Scenic?
Model X?

occasionalranter

97 posts

62 months

Friday

S-Max is quite a bit tighter than Galaxy in 3rd row. Touran levels of contortion. Had both when kids were younger...

bearman68

4,878 posts

148 months

Friday

Don't have the 5008 with the Puretech engine.

Asking for trouble, and no doubt getting it.

rgbpixel

18 posts

31 months

Friday

We went through a similar exercise a few years ago and got the 5008, 2nd gen 1.6 turbo petrol auto.
3 individual 2nd row seats, each seat is def wide enough with plenty of legroom. I imagine enough space in the boot for a wheelchair plus extras with 3rd row seats down.
Go for the most recent 1.6 to avoid problems with earlier timing chain issues. We also turn off the stop/start every drive to avoid wear.
Regular oil changes are a must (same for every car really)
This is older than 3 years but the more recent are 3 pot Puretech 1.2's and I wouldn't get a wetbelt 1.2. Also I don't think a 1.2 is big enough for a 5008, even with a turbo.

Original Poster

1,520 posts

173 months

Friday

bearman68 said:

Don't have the 5008 with the Puretech engine.

Asking for trouble, and no doubt getting it.

Wouldn't dare go near one.

Some of the later ones, i.e. 2023 had the new MHEV engine, which is in the new shape 5008 and doesn't have a wet belt.

rgbpixel said:

We had been looking out for a 1.6, but as I'm sure you found, they're few and far between, let alone with a pano roof!

It's basically what we have at the moment with the Grand Picasso. We have looked at one, and the seats are literally the same in the back. It's worked perfectly for the past 10years, but niggles are starting to creep in and time has come to change it over.

Edited by Miocene on Friday 8th August 22:09

andy43

11,711 posts

270 months

Saturday

A Sorrento ‘4’ would do it - full spec - heated and cooled seats, self drive, sunroof, and they get a 7 year warranty if the servicing is up to date. I rate their hybrid systems - Hyundai/Kia seem to be almost as good as Toyota on that score.
I prefer the Santa Fe inside personally - they do a white/cream leather option that’s really quite posh, maybe not too practical though!

ZX10R NIN

29,311 posts

141 months

Saturday

Edited by ZX10R NIN on Saturday 9th August 14:30

Wheel Turned Out

1,521 posts

54 months

Saturday

Sorento, absolutely. A very pleasant place to be.

Pickle_Rick

530 posts

76 months

Saturday

Another vote for the jogger.

Even though it's fairly narrow, the rear middle seats are all pretty flat, so no bulky side bolsters making 3 seats near impossible (looking at you, lexus). Depending on type of car seat, you can fit 3 child seats in a row. The car is also flexible on layout, so could have two kids in the boot, one kid in the middle, and fold 2 seats down and put wheelchair in.

Also has clever built in roof bars if you ever need extra space.

The 1.0l is fine, chain driven too. Potential 7 years warranty too, cheap to service (£198 for a minor service, but extends the warranty for another year)

andy43

11,711 posts

270 months

Saturday

ZX10R NIN said:

Gensis GV80, posher version of the Santa Fe/Sorrento:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202508045...

They're hard to find as a 7 seater but they're out there.

Bloody hell. Yes. That all day long. I didn’t realise they were that cheap. I’ve driven a GV70 which was deeply impressive, and sat in a GV80 - it’s a lovely place to be.

Original Poster

1,520 posts

173 months

Yesterday (00:23)

I'm not sure I've ever seen a GV80! Unfortunately for that one, a pano roof is a requirement, but it's another car to add to the list.

I've considered the Lexus, but currently the nearest one to us is nearing 100 miles away, which is a bit far just to view a car.

I'm going to consider the Santa Fe again, the colours are dull, but there's a lot more of them than the Sorento and they're generally a couple of grand less for the equivalent spec.

Really appreciate all the suggestions so far. I knew you'd come up with some crackers, and you haven't disappointed!

Edited by Miocene on Sunday 10th August 00:38

Screenwash

147 posts

38 months

Yesterday (03:23)

Mitsubishi Outlander?

Matt_T

858 posts

90 months