Alphard or Maxi Life- easy choice or not ?

[smallzoo]

Have a choice between these two as a simple day van ( 2nd car ) for my wife and I and our two dogs..we will do about 4k miles a year max

2005 Toyota Alphard 2.4 petrol 7 seater, import , 64k miles, been told nothing wrong with it. Owner had it since february 2026
Asking £ 6500

OR

2015, 2.0 tdi caddy maxi life 7 seater, dsg highline, fsh, adblue deleted, high miles 248k but owner has it for years and says it drives as per age not mileage
Asking £2000

If it lasts us a few years we will be happy

[Doesitdrive]

Hmmm, 6500 for a twenty year plus vehicle?

2.4 japs I have owned have been less than economical, older though,

Parts might not be so easy , especially bodywork.

For me the VW diesel, but then I like diesels.

[smallzoo]

Thanks

So is 248k nothing to be worried about if its had proper oil changes etc ?

[_Rodders_]

They're totally different propositions. At £2k if anything serious goes wrong you've got the option to scrap it and it's not the end of the world. Bit different for a £6500 vehicle.

I keep an eye on Alphards. £4k is around the bottom of the market for something presentable with reasonable MOT. Parts are available online and even from UK dealers for some bits.

At that age it's all down to condition, very little to do with mileage.

[Doesitdrive]

smallzoo said:

Thanks

So is 248k nothing to be worried about if its had proper oil changes etc ?

Not at all, I sold a 2011 Fiesta 1.25 with history and 236k to a friend's daughter, 4 years and well over 250k it was written off. I did do the belt and water pump on it.

Any used car is a gamble, but one that has done miles ain't a lemon, it wouldn't have got there. Not without being looked after either.

I bought a 2009 E Class with 386k, it had a Mercedes full health check at 380k, slight wear on a ball joint and inside of rear tyre was all that was noted, doing sterling service in Nigeria now lol.

[smallzoo]

Am I rushing this...

If I was to restrict to under £5k are there motors big enough for us ( 2/3 seats in front, 2 seats/bench seat at back, space in middle for dogs to lie down and maybe a very mini kitchen ) ?

Just seen a 2010 1,6tdi caddy maxi life already kitted out with rock n roll bed, fsh, 116k miles £4995

[smallzoo]

Am I rushing this...

If I was to restrict to under £5k are there motors big enough for us ( 2/3 seats in front, 2 seats/bench seat at back, space in middle for dogs to lie down and maybe a very mini kitchen ) ?

Just seen a 2010 1,6tdi caddy maxi life already kitted out with rock n roll bed, fsh, 116k miles £4995

[andy43]

We had a 2018 caddy diesel dsg wheelchair adapted van and it was one of the most unpleasant things I’ve driven. Took an age to warm up and get any heat into the cabin, it rode like a bouncy castle, the emergency braking was lethal and it sounded like a broken cement mixer until it was fully warmed up, then it just sounded st.
The Japanese vans look way nicer to me, I have no experience of them though.

[smallzoo]

A quick look on Pistonheads and all these cars are available well under our little £5k budget

2007 LAND ROVER DISCOVERY
2011 VOLVO XC90
2007 KIA SEDONA
2008 CHRYSLER VOYAGER
2002 FORD GALAXY
2008 SEAT ALHAMBRA
2011 VOLKSWAGEN SHARAN
2007 TOYOTA ESTIMA

Would you consider any of them would suite our needs rather than a caddy type van ?

2 seats in the front, 2 seats in the back and room in the middle ( with any seats if they are there removed ) for our 2 sometimes 3 dogs to travel ?

Example pic attached

[Davie]

£2000 for the Caddy? That seems cheap?

[Jonny1984]

I know it's a bit more miles apart, but I owned at 3.5 Vellfire and a 1.6 Caddy at the same time.

They're completely different prospects to be honest. The Alphard is more of a big car with a bit of luxury, the Caddy will drive like a van. Don't get me wrong though as the Caddy is better than most over vans I've driven.

Our Caddy is on 190k miles and it's feels nice and sharp to steer... engine is a different story. My Vellfire had 40kish miles and felt incredibly smooth.

Apparently there's hardly anything between the 2.4 and 3.5 for fuel consumption. Basically the 2.4 will be a lot thirstier than the Caddy. Also, it will be a CVT box if that bothers you.

[MattsCar]

Davie said:

£2000 for the Caddy? That seems cheap?

248k miles, DSG box... go figure.

[andy43]

I’d discount the Disco and Volvo due to height (and complexity) - our Cockerpoo needs help in and out of my X5.
Of the rest, any would do I’d think, the Galaxy/Seat/Sharan are all the same car iirc, just pick the best condition one. Again I’d guess the Toyota could be the reliability winner.
Do check car tax carefully as some of them could be close to 800 per year - virtually unsaleable at this price point.

[smallzoo]

Thanks for the messages

Took a look at some cars/vans over the weekend ( wife not happy lol )

- Saw a Galaxy ( same as Sharan/Alhambra ) would fit us in but not a lot of head room and probably zero chance of putting anything like a mini kitchen in

- The Caddy is actually smaller than my passat so has enough head room but would be a squeeze for 3 plus 3 dogs..the Maxi would probably be fine

- Japanese .. Saw an alphard, size seems fine but heard quite a lof of mumblings about parts issues if anything goes wrong ?

- Same garage saw an old Mazda bongo, would suit but old and parts difficult ?

- Going to look at a T4 tomorrow but 235k and still £5k !

discounted all the others I mentioned

..so decided to start looking at a SWB/MWB Valuxhall Vivaro and Mercedes Vito...a van I know but may have more room

[ZX10R NIN]

smallzoo said:

Thanks for the messages

Took a look at some cars/vans over the weekend ( wife not happy lol )

- Saw a Galaxy ( same as Sharan/Alhambra ) would fit us in but not a lot of head room and probably zero chance of putting anything like a mini kitchen in

- The Caddy is actually smaller than my passat so has enough head room but would be a squeeze for 3 plus 3 dogs..the Maxi would probably be fine

- Japanese .. Saw an alphard, size seems fine but heard quite a lof of mumblings about parts issues if anything goes wrong ?

- Same garage saw an old Mazda bongo, would suit but old and parts difficult ?

- Going to look at a T4 tomorrow but 235k and still £5k !

discounted all the others I mentioned

..so decided to start looking at a SWB/MWB Valuxhall Vivaro and Mercedes Vito...a van I know but may have more room

Don't forget about the Hyundai i800 they're a very good alternative at your price point & they'll have a lot less miles too:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202508155...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202605122...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202510066...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202604061...

[smallzoo]

Oh..missed that one lol

Are they reliable

Do you know if you remove the middle seats the floor is flat ?

Cheers

[ZX10R NIN]

smallzoo said:

Oh..missed that one lol

Are they reliable

Do you know if you remove the middle seats the floor is flat ?

Cheers

You can remove the middle seats & yes the floor is flat.
They're reliable & imo an option that should be at the top of your list especially compared to a 200+k German options.

[TommoAE86]

smallzoo said:

Thanks for the messages

- Japanese .. Saw an alphard, size seems fine but heard quite a lof of mumblings about parts issues if anything goes wrong ?

Yes & no, you have to know your car/have someone that knows the car so you know what bits are shared.

Toyota will be able to get you parts no problem BUT they like to be specific to the car so if those are not here then you have to wait - I was quoted mid-july for rear calliper's on my Crown. What's frustrating is that there is no way that Toyota only make generic bits for just one model, turns out that Crown rear calliper's are also used on Lexus IS/GS so I had new ones within 4 days and they've fitted perfectly.

The above is actually the first time I've had a 'problem' with parts in 6 years of owning the car and really it was me being pedantic going to Toyota first.

What I would say about any import is that you really have to want it to own it, I've seen it where if you don't then if something like the above happens then the annoyance is more than normal.

[Ian_SW]

ZX10R NIN said:

smallzoo said:

Oh..missed that one lol

Are they reliable

Do you know if you remove the middle seats the floor is flat ?

Cheers

You can remove the middle seats & yes the floor is flat.
They're reliable & imo an option that should be at the top of your list especially compared to a 200+k German options.

I'd agree with that, the i800 is probably the best option at that budget. The problem the OP has is that van derived MPVs either get used up quickly in later life as taxis, or get bought by decorators, window cleaners, gardeners etc. as a cheaper, cleaner and more reliable option than an old builders van. I think the i800 doesn't have its price inflated quite so much just because people forget it exists. Have a good look for underbody corrosion though as Hyundais of that era can suffer a bit from rust.

Two minor things to think about though - firstly that 2.5 diesel, although quite powerful isn't particularly economical. With an auto gearbox I was struggling to better 25mpg when I had one for work for a few weeks. If you're not planning on doing many miles this isn't a huge issue though, even a really efficient van is unlikely to do much better than 40mpg.

Secondly, the indicator stalk is on the right hand side, not the left. Arguably this is the correct side for a right hand drive car, but it can make swapping between it and other vehicles a bit embarrassing when you switch the wipers on instead of the indicators!

The

[ZX10R NIN]

The OP's budget means he'll be manual only fuel wise they're not super economical but they're not terrible when you take into account size & weight.