We're a family of 4 plus dog, after camping holidays requiring two cars, we went and bought a caravan and ditched the tent! A week in Somerset saw me driving my Audi A4 Avant packed to the rafters plus bikes, with the other half in a fiesta with the kids, dog and extra bits. After three hours packing up, I put my foot down and we pick up the van on Saturday.
Do you have a tow bar already? It's just cost me £550 for a detachable one with dedicated electrics, so another cost to bear in mind if you go down the trailer route.
Looks like Clare's got her heart set on the MPV option now - the extra utility of being able to carry grandparents around (not taking them camping though!) has sold her on it.
We've just come back from looking at a 2007 Kia Sedona. The price is good at £2700, but there were a few issues that made us uncomfortable. The rear seats were hard work to remove and the sliding mechanism didn't work on either of them. In addition, there were a number of bodywork issues, all the tires were different and so on. We're going to check out another one of similar age and look into other MPV options.
We had a Sedona but changed it due to age earlier this year.Struggled to get a newer Sedona around here so ended up with much more costly and significantly smaller Ford Galaxy.Not been on camping trip yet but worry about size difference based on what kit (bikes, regular hol etc) we have tried so far.
Would strongly recommend Sedona as a space winner for camping gear. Seats are big and heavy to remove...we kept the back row out of the car on the whole. worth effort for space options though. like the lixury of Galaxy but would have a Sedona over it any day if we could have got one.
I've got a Kia cee'd hatchback, got it last month and had a toe bar fitted with electric, also Kia roof bars for £500, we brought a trailer to help us out and it great the cee'd has no problems towing even when packed.
We are kinda in the same boat as the wife will not drive if we are towing as she hate it.
I'd say get the biggest trailer you can afford and go about it that way because if you get a bigger car it going to cost you more in the long run at least with a trailer it a one off payment
Personally, unless a 4x4 was actually needed (for work? for heavy towing?) then I'd probably steer clear of that route.
A mate had a 4 door Navara (?) and although the load bed was obviously larger than your average car boot, to my mind it was still quite small when considering the overall size of the vehicle (which was a bit of a barge!). Also, he alternated between a Truckman type top and a flat, hinged cover..and when either were fitted, getting to what ever was loaded involved much reaching and scrabbling about..
Probably just drag a trailer behind what you've already got?...or if looking to change vehicles anyway, consider decent sized people carriers..or maybe look at a tidy swb windowed crew van (eg Vivaro etc)?
For overall load and kit "luggability" the crew-van (perhaps with a removable/opening ,cage type bulkhead?) would be my preferred option.
We've had a look at a couple of Kia Sedonas now. It looks like there's a common problem with the rear sliding seat mechanism. Every one we have looked at has had some sort of problem - seats not tumbling forward properly, sliding mechanism not working, issues getting them back in. The seats are also very heavy to work with - Clare can't get them in / out by herself. That might not be too much of a problem though - it is likely the seats will be out of the car most of the time.
We've had a look at a couple of others. The Mazda 5 was too small, as was the Vauxhall Zafira. The Ford Galaxy looks like it has enough space - and maybe even the S-Max. We need to have a good look round an S-Max to be sure it will fit everything, but if it is big enough we're quite keen on it. The folding seats are a plus, even though they'll spend most of the time down, it means we won't need to store the seats. TAX / MPG looks good on them as well.
We're not in a massive hurry. I don't think we'll get out again this year and we only need it for camping (though it would be useful for the frequent visits from grandparents). Once we know what model we're after I'll keep one eye on autotrader for any bargains.
The Galaxy id definately nice to drive and can see an S-max being good for us as our teenagers opt out. for now, we take too much though! Miss the height predominantly of the Sedona, something lost with permenant seats of the Galaxy etc. Swings and roundabouts really, take your time and try some out. we took our bike to test in the Gaglaxy and knew it wouldn't go in before we bought it but as I said, were struggling to get a Sedona.