There seems to be a shortage of MPV choice in NZ

[Gnomon]

I have been researching cars for our arrival next month and at the moment we have Subaru Outback and Subaru WRX Wagon (just sold) We have 3 kids 6, 3, and 1. Three child seats in the back are just unwanted hassle in a normal car and I would like to have 3 ISOFIX seats. We would also like to facilitate 7 people( Us and my wife's parents) for day trips. Citroen C4 Picasso reviews well but there only new to NZ market and the Toyota Previa is out outdated and ugly, Mitsubishi Grandis is only available as import which I just don't trust their history, I like the Landrover Discovery 3 and great reviews but my wife does not like the idea of driving SUV type vehicle.

Any ideas?

[Silverwing86]

Have you considered a Honda Stream ?

Hubby has one; a 7-seater, oodles of space, reliable and a very comfortable drive (even for me and I generally don't like driving bigger cars, but somehow this one doesn't feel that way, quite amazing actually !), cheaper for parts than a European car and plenty of them around (that's just a quick look on TradeMe, but of course there are loads of other places to look as well).

Cheers,
Silver

[sizzlingbadger]

You could also have a look at the Mitsubishi Delicas as well. We've got an older one and it's just great We looked at the new model of it and it's pretty impressive but way too new inside for us, it would end up ruined in a week Not sure about the ISOFIX seats though. We've got three kids all still in car seats (9,7,5 years old) and we can move them about easily when we need to plus take a couple of extra people with us.

[James 1077]

I would like to have 3 ISOFIX seats.

Very few cars in NZ have ISOFIX as there is a different system involving straps and tethers on the car seats here.

We just bought Maxi-Cosi Tobis for our kids as they are really easy to fix (we had to get them shipped over from the Netherlands though as you can't get them here and postage from the UK was rediculous). The car seat selection here is a bit poor as well - all browns, greys and blacks and generally velour covered!

[kzn2nz]

Renault Grand Scenics are available and should suit your requirements, as long as you are nearish to a dealer for the servicing.

[NikT]

You need to do the Kiwi thing.

Buy a Toyota Hi-ace minibus/van and drive the whanau around in that.

Nick.

[grady bunch]

We bought a Mitsubishi Grandis when we got here, 1 yr old, only 8k km on the clock, top of the range loads of gismos and lovely to drive for $25k, just sold it and swapped for Honda Odyssey, pretty good too, but got older high mileage one and a Toyota Hiace campervan, also 7 seats. We realised life here more laid back and need to be Kiwi travellers. We are now born again students and have great fun touring at the weekends with our 4 small kids!

There's a few for you!
The Gradys

[janrzm]

Don't know about the isofix seats but we have a an Estima [jap equivalent to the Previa] and have 4 kids to transport around.
It might be 'ugly' but it does the job.
And we had what you might call 'nice' new cars in the UK.
Can't fault the Estima it's 7 years old & it's fab - it does the job nicely.
We've also had a Honda Stream and I really liked that - especially if you don't need the 7 seats all the time.
The one we had was also a Jap Import , 6 years old & immaculate.

[Familyofmonkeys]

We've had a Mitsubishi Grandis for the last 2 and a bit years.....very happy with it It fits all 3 car seats across the middle, with two extra seats in the rear when we have visitors staying......and there is still room for a pushchair etc in the boot! Other selling point for us was that it is more efficient on fuel than a lot of the other 7 seaters on the market.

[Gnomon]

When I wrote my last post the shippers were packing all around me and off went the desk top computer, and since we have gone on a grand tour of Ireland before we go to Chch and the mobile Internet reception is quite bad here in the west of Ireland ( Connemara ) hence my delayed reply. Thank you for all your feedback and lots of research, Honda Stream, Mitsubishi Delicas, Renault Grand Scenics. My wife is fixed on a Grandis but she has never sat in one and I'm fix on the Land rover so it should make for an interesting shopping experience when we arrive.

Dave