What Is A Good Family Car For 4 People?

[Birds]

yeah i realise that. my next daily driver is going to be a commodore wagon.

as for the people who are recommending a forester wagon, how many of you have ever sat in the back of one? i have and it's pretty cramped. would be ok if you only have kids, but if you were taking adults i wouldn't get one. leg space sucks majorly. commodore/falcon/magna are about the only cars i can honestly say that i can comfortably travel in the back seat on trips over about half an hour.

Amen to that. Back in the late teens when I was scooting around in a VR Commy...all my friends had the two door imports and the Holden was just a limo compared to them. Then I sat in the back seat of my friend's VQ Statesman...wow...more room than the front.

[pixel8r]

what is insurance like on the Stagea's? Might be another consideration.

Check the stagea section for more results, but for rating 1 and no previous claims etc i'm paying $800 a year full comp through JCI.

The M35 has 206kw/407N-m (@just 3200rpm!) - stock is ~135-140awkw which is approx 20awkw more than the s2 (same driveline, so is it really only 206kw at the engine?). 5sp auto, climate control, AWD (very similar to the system in a GTR - basically the traction of AWD with the fuel economy of RWD).

I reckon the stagea ticks all the boxes that you want a wagon for. The M35 has the most boot space - probably very close to the amount of space in a falcon and I'd guess its slightly more than a commodore. Its even got space UNDER the boot (about 15cm high) in another compartment and also some room around the spare wheel if you really need to cram stuff in. The fuel tank is also 78L which I believe is bigger than either ford or holden.

As mentioned before, rear seat legroom is not much different to any aussie wagon.

On top of all this you get privacy glass to all windows except the front ones and windscreen, option of dual sunroofs, option of leather interior, guages in the dash (if you like that sort of thing. i do), and not to mention the build quality, although Aussie car build quality is much better now than it used to be thankfully.

Fuel economy is roughly comparable to aussie wagons in the city (between 12 and 14L/100km) and a little worse than them in the country (9.5L/100km). A couple of the guys on the forum have managed to improve this considerably by opening up the intake a little more - so it depends if you're up for that kind of thing.

The stagea is a little lighter than the latest ford and holden wagons - at 1680kg compared to somewhere in the 1800kg range for both ford and holden these days (i could be wrong so please disregard that if I am).

At the end of the day a ford or holden will always be cheaper to own, but you have to drive it and thats where the stagea is a notch above (in my opinion). The driving experience is quite different to an aussie wagon. Comfort is a matter of personal taste, and from personal experience the seats in a ford or holden will be more comfortable for the first 30 minutes, whereas the stagea seats are still comfortable after 2 full days of driving (no exaggeration).

[LordMidol]

fuel economy is fine in the stagea.

My last tank is still in, 560km done so far - got another 8-100 or so in it. Mostly on highways though. I only ever need to put in about 65-70L as well.

[jaxt]

Agreed +1

Got my '06 Forester XT for $20K (incl Rhino rack & pod)

So your budget can afford the '04 XT (follow-on from the GT) still with the turbo'd SG9 engine for $15K

Pros

1) One of the most popular soft roaders where the kids can look out over other cars

2) WRX in disguise

3) quicker than the '09 XT

4) only needs a 22mm rear sway bar for decent cornering

5) depreciation is low from here on

6) fuel consumption varies according to your right foot; 11l/100Km - 16l/100Km

7) fits a few bikes in the back

8) in demand and easy to re-sell later

9) upgradable bolt-on propellers

+1 for the Foz...but for 4 ppl only as your thread start says.

I recently sold my XT 04 as I wanted leg room and fit 5 ppl in... which was too much of a squeeze in the foz....so i got the maxima very underrated cars imo.....look into one of them too. love the torque on them just keeps pulling away.

[BigWillieStyles]

My GT-B Subaru Legacy BH (1999) will come to aus sometime early next year and I think I will probably sell it as I want an auto for my wife. Has 55,000km, twin turbo AWD, electric half leather seats, roof racks, adjustable HIDs, cusco front strut brace, cusco front and rear sway bars, fujitsubo diff back exhaust, easy to drive around town but has a bit of grunt when you need it. Fantastic handling.

Edited December 4, 2009 by BigWillieStyles

[jaxt]

how about an:

audi allroad

2.7 twin turbo

airbag suspension

then get an APR chip added later...

you can pick up some good examples now and then with tv and sat nav for around 20k..they get snapped up pretty quick though.

plenty of room too

[Marko R1]

how about an:

audi allroad

2.7 twin turbo

airbag suspension

then get an APR chip added later...

you can pick up some good examples now and then with tv and sat nav for around 20k..they get snapped up pretty quick though.

plenty of room too

that sounds like my kind of beast, what yr model are u referring to?

[GTR-N1]

how about an:

audi allroad

2.7 twin turbo

airbag suspension

then get an APR chip added later...

you can pick up some good examples now and then with tv and sat nav for around 20k..they get snapped up pretty quick though.

plenty of room too

On reading about this, it's an ideal alternative I must say.

[Marko R1]

On reading about this, it's an ideal alternative I must say.

i must agree, looked at carsales and its the full package

[jaxt]

marko,

I wanted to get the 2000 year model,

there was one on consignment in melbourne not long ago

black with 7 seats and sat nav tv for 20k there the ones you got to get...

this was my alternative if I couldn't find the maxima I wanted...but as it was I found the one I was looking for.

but the allroad will probably be my next versatile car or a kluger when they come down in price. but I'm happy with my setup at the moment.

my mates APR chipped hauls and has the torque to make you smile. he is meticulous with his cars too must ask if he wants to sell if you're interested.

love the airbag suspension too.... but i heard a minority have probs with it when they park it overnight..just watch that..

[WTF-33R]

Problem with the Allroad is that being an audi parts and repairs a VERY expensive (think pads and rotors every say 30k at a cost of around $2000 an end, timing belts are due every 3years or 60k (whichever comes first) around $1800 for the full service. They are a nice car and absolutely fly (my old service manager had one and i used to run around town in it) but Euros dont age well in Australia especially once they get to 100k they start falling apart. also as they get older electrical gremlins rear their ugly heads and thats when it gets real exxy.

A cheaper (Japanese) option to the allroad would probably be Subaru Outback H6, wagon, raised ride height like the allroad, Leather and all the luxuries, 6 cyl so u have decent power, reliability (look on carsales theres plenty with 200-300k on the clock) good resale as well. From $13k-20k for a 3rd gen shape and 20k-30k for a 4th gen

My recommendation would have to be the Toyota Aurion. ok it drives the wrong wheels, the park brake is in the wrong spot, but Value for money, reliability, space, economy is hard to beat. That will be my next move for a car in general.

[Marko R1]

my mate has the outback 2005 & its beautiful!

yeah maintaining euro cars is a concern i must say

aurion - very time i see 1 on the road i cant stop looking, to me they have a great shape (even the camry version is nice)

[jaxt]

maintenance yes can be an issue - nature of the beast with euro cars.....however i must also add this experience wherein my mates mechanic (local RACQ bloke in a small town) who also used to be mine before i moved back to brissy had developed a penchant for euro cars after having to take on the maintenance for desperate clients who couldn't find anyone local to do their maseratis, ferraris and a few audis too...he now loves working on them....charges my mate the same rates and almost cost price with parts. moral of the story is that he is still able to maintain it at a reasonable cost if not comparable to a jap car (for the moment ) and it has fallen apart yet after 140k ks on the clock including driving up and down the east coast of oz (north QLD to adelaide) about 3x....no probs at all....i suppose my gtr can be pretty costly to maintain/repair too if things go wrong...all cars have inherent issues

h6 outback is also a good recommendation but would only get gen 4

would prefer that over an aurion mainly cos of the awd-ness but a red one with a nice set of Lavinhard - Fin7 | Matt Black would look the goods in my books plus toyota reliability (perceived from my limited observation)

[jaxt]

also have a look at adventras or a hsv avalanche

[Iron Chef]

^^Lol you could count the number of Avalanches built on one hand - godawful things...

[_Ryan_]

well, since i still currently drive a VN wagon, there is a noticeable size between that and a stagea. I found rear leg room (im 6'2") in the stagea a bit small and rear boot space is at least 30% less.

Im sure a stagea is better to drive however, space wise, the older commodore wagons are bigger.

the front seat was most if not all of the way back it think

what is insurance like on the Stagea's? Might be another consideration.

Same as any domestic car for a P plater, heaps better excess than my skyline.

boot space on a new VE is a joke. can't compare space on new cars to old. if you want interior space, buy something old!

[jaxt]

^^Lol you could count the number of Avalanches built on one hand - godawful things...

he might like them

[GTR-32U]

Considered an XR6 Turbo ? Absolute beast with an exhaust, upgraded IC and a flash tune. If I was confined to having a 4 door family car ( Being an ex holden fan ) That would be the car I would be choosing

Edited December 7, 2009 by GTR-32U

[pixel8r]

Is this "family" car required for a "new" family or older family? I dunno about you guys but the amount of stuff I regularly need to cart around in the boot of my stag would never fit in a sedan (not without things getting broken).

You can survive with a sedan, but I reckon boot space is one of those things you never think you need, until you have it - and then you'll never go back.

[BigWillieStyles]

You know you want it