Hi all,
I was wanting to get some advice on buying a car.... well actually a people mover. We currently have a station wagon but we want to change to a car that has more seats. We have just bought a house so we don't want to spend too much money. We have been looking at the Kia carnival. To tell you the truth I have not heard rave reviews about Kia but they may be all wrong. The tarago looks great too but we would probably have to get one that is about 6-8years old.what do you all think?

Jodi

Hi Jodie,

We also stayed well away from the KIA as the reviews we heard just scared us to death! These I might add were reviews by people who actually had the cars not magazine reviews.
We ended up with a Holden Zafira, much more affordable then the Tarago and even more affordable again if you get a used one. It also doesn't make you feel like you are driving a huge bus but it is plenty roomy enough for the 5 of us (me, DH, 6yo DD and 18 month twins) plus we can get all our shopping and the double stroller in the back. It is a 7 seater and we are very happy with ours which we have had a year now.

HTH,

Jo

Jodi - Dont do the Kia Carnival Lovie!!!!! Terrible Terrible, terrible. They are cheap and thats what makes them attractive but they also have cheap components! I am very biased but I say GO THE HOLDEN!! LOL


[center]~Hayden Phillip & Brooklen Lily 21/03/05~
*Bubba's In Da Hood's*[center]

We have a Mazda MPV which is a 7 seater. It's been fabulous for us. We test drove the zafira, but it was just too small for us. We also looked at the tarago, but would have had to buy the old model with only one door on the side which would have been a nightmare for putting three kids into car seats!

The MPV is a V6, and the 5 rear passenger seats can be removed if you want as they are all individual seats. We currently have four seats set up all with car seats and it's great. They all have anchor points installed so we didn't have to do that.

Anyway basically wanted to say that it's been a great car for us. My advice is to take a few for a test drive and find what you like best.

oops double post

Kristy

DS 8
Twin Boys 2

This message was edited by crocks on Tuesday, 26 July 2005 @ 6:26 PM

Well we have the Kia Canival and I have nothing but great things to say about them we have had ours for two years and have found it to be fantastic at the school my son went to there were 10Kias and only one person had probs and that was an older Kia.

I agree best to go have a look and a test drive.
I don't think they are cheap at all not at $30 000 but I am sick of friends bagging them (sorry my vent for the day)

Kristy

DS 8
Twin Boys 2

This message was edited by crocks on Tuesday, 26 July 2005 @ 6:24 PM

Hi, we bought a 2001 Tarago and it's been fantastic. We also have a Thule luggage compartment on the top of the car for all our stuff when we travel.
My advice would be try and test drive a few and see what you like!
Good luck,
Maycee

Maycee (35)
DH (33)
Twin boys (4/12/01)
DD (7/10/03)

hi i have a toyota estima, diesel tarago basically and i have all good things to say about it. it nevers breaks down is a 92 model comfortablly seats 8 has plenty of room in the back good on fuel and reliable, although this is a import and not hard just unconvient to get parts for i wouldn't change it. and have you tried looking on ebay for taragos??? there are some pretty cheaps ones on the. when i brought my van it was off ebay and although there was problems with it we were able to come to an arrangement. carravelle, are also something i would recommend the only reason i didn't buy one of them was because hubby dosen't like them i hope thi+s +
he+lp+s +you+. sorry about all the pluses my daughter tried to help me

ohhh ladies..... I can always count on you!!!! Thankyou for all of the info it has helped me emensely in making a decision. I think we have a lot of test driving to do. LOL. if anyone else has any ideas we are definately still open for discussion. LOL.
Jodi

I agree with Kristy (Crocks) We have looked in the Kia's and thought that they are a decent car. We know a few people with the Kia and have had no problems with them.. They have our first vote. And definatly NOT cheap !!

Jodi ~ Just wanted to add this link for you and others considering to upgrade vehicles. You can read reviews ect online before deciding and most importantly use the prices here to haggle them car dealership's down!

http://www.drive.com.au/new/

*I have a very close friend that works in the warranty department of Kia and she has told me they do have a high amount of claims etc, but this is just 'her opinion' she works for Kia not holden, ford or toyota so she wouldnt know their stats. I personally have seen a Brand spanking new Kia with the roof caved in from the rear lift door to the middle. Crocks I am glad you got a good one! :)They do drive nice and are spacious.
Here are some prices of the Brand new people movers mentioned here:
Kia Carnival - $29,990
Chrysler Voyager - $74 - 58,000
Mazda MPV - $44,990
Mercedes Viano - $61,990
Ssang Yong Stavic - $35,990
Toyota Avensis - $36,990
Toytoa Torago - $51,240
Holden Zafira - $31,990
In regards to my previous post the Kia is one of the cheapest and attractive in that it is the most affordable people mover on the market......HTH


[center]~Hayden Phillip & Brooklen Lily 21/03/05~
*Bubba's In Da Hood's*[center]

This message was edited by hayfilfy on Wednesday, 27 July 2005 @ 3:34 PM

Oops double post!

This message was edited by hayfilfy on Wednesday, 27 July 2005 @ 3:33 PM

[color=Teal]We've got a Chrysler Voyager and we love it! But, we drove a Tarago on the weekend as we were in Melbourne and it was also rather fabulous!! ;p

Vanessa

We have a 2004 Hyundai Trajet & it's fabulous. Bought it in april for $25,000.Has another 4yrs warranty too.

If you're looking at getting a Kia or Hyundai, make sure it's one built after 2002. Previous models seem to have a lot of problems, that's what we were told.

Best of luck.

We have a Hyundai Terracan. Its a 4wd 7 seater and has been great while ther were 5 of us. Now that we've got twins on the way we've had a few problems we needed to solve but lloks like we've got it figured out. The main issues (when you need all 7 seats are:

1. Fitting 3 car seats across the middle row of seats isn't easy. We've discovered though that we can fit the two full size reversible capsules along with a "compact" booster seat (still with full sides and hraness etc though) in the middle. BUT, when the capsules are facing the rear, the child in the middle needs to climb through the front seats to get in - and I will need to buckle him up from the front seat as well.

2. The seats in the back are only suitable for children so if you have big kids (i.e. teenagers) I wouln't recomend it.

3. The rear seats fold up when not in use which gives you heaps of room in th back but, when all the seats are down there isn't much storage space. We spent a few weeks checking out all the baby shops before we found a double stroller that would fit.

The car itself drives well. It seems to be a much smoother ride than many of the other 4wd on the market (not that I've been in that many though). As with any large car however, it is heavy on the petrol.

Hope that helps - can't hurt to get as many opinions as possible on different vehicles.

Oh, BTW, we didn't even look at the Kia Carnival because of all the bad things people say about them but a friend has since bought one and she loves it. She's had no problems and says she highly recomends it for the price.



Tanya (36)
DH (36)
DS (5)
DD (4)
DS (2)

Twins due in December!!
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