Kia Carnival or ??

[visitor2]

We just sold our Kia Carnival and never had problem with it. We now have a ford territory and love it. It does drive so much better than the kia.
We did look at the Kluger and it didn't have the room space we needed. Yes it sits 7 but you couldn't get the child seats into the back.

I would have a good look around as you can get some many cars now that will hold 7ppl.

[amanda_81]

Thanks everyone for your replies! So much to think about. Once DP is home I will be getting him to read this and see what he says.

Celsie.. that was a great post thanks, heaps of info!

Looks like we will be doing a bit more research before we jump into anything.

ETA hadnt even thought of looking at the Ssyangyong might have to give it a squiz and the toyotas too.

[Lulu]

The Ssangyong is HUUUUGE!

One thing I also love about the Kia is it has big, sliding doors on both sides. Some people movers only have one, or worse great big opening doors. It is a total bonus getting kids in and out without worrying about the door hitting something.

Liz - I think I'm getting confused! I was behind an Odyssey today and it was very, very spacious indeed. The Kia is a bit higher- not as high as a FWD, but not as low as usual.

I think it comes down to your personal tastes for sure. I saw sooo many different types of Kia's, but I liked this one in particular as it wasn't so people-movery iykwim!

Have fun looking!

[*Efjay*]

WTH is a SSangyong?

[Celsie]

Fiona - It's a Korean made car, with a Mercedes motor. They are HUUUUGE , but they are very spacious inside too and are a true 7 seater. I'd post a link but, I'd get in trouble, but if you're interested, you could go to ssangyong and have a look for the Stavic.

HTH

Celsie. xoxox

[wardygirl]

OK, so I'm opening up the discussion again...

We are looking at getting new car with more seats (how general is that!) under a lease through DH's work. I've read everyone's comments and discussions, and my initial thoughts were of the Kia Carnival or Carnival Grand - obviously brand new. Seeing its a lease. all the parts, servicing etc is covered. I know you've said Kia's are expensive in the way of servicing/parts but if it's included, what does it matter?

Caro, I hear all your comments pro Toyota, but its base model Tarago is $50K with a 4cy engine which is too small for my liking. i'd prefer a 6cy and the costs are just going higher and higher.

Will also suss out the Ssangyong Stavic. Could be worth looking at!

Hi Amanda, in my opinion I don't like the Kia's or Hyundai and would personally stay away from them.

We have a Honda Accord Euro so have thought of getting a Honda Odessey ourselves down the track. We are Honda fans all the way

I have heard Ford Territory are great too, our friends have one.

I hope you choose what's right for you guys! Good luck

[*Efjay*]

So far in the time we have had the Kia which is coming up for a year (gees times flies) we have needed to get the radio replaced as teh LCD display went funny & now only 3 monthsish later the LCD on the new one is gone. Also the button for the automatic transaxle thingy has broken. The function still works but the button doesn't stay pressed in. Only little things but problems none the less. I am glad we took out the extended new car warrenty thing because its orginal new car warrenty ran out in August. The extended doesn't kick intill December so I will hold off getting the above mentioned things fixd till then. I ain't paying for it thats for sure!
We have also just moved up the mountain & the kia has NO guts at all. It struggles to do more then 40 going up the mountain.
Im not about to ruch out for a different car but I don't recomend the Kia for outside normal surburban/city driving thats for sure!

[Trillian]

Rachel, we are getting a new Holden Captiva LX delivered tomorrow which we got through a novated lease with DH's work. We pay $1100 per month and that includes all of our running costs - servicing, new tyres and we get a fuel card, so techinically we don't pay for fuel with cash at all as it is all included in the monthly payment. We did a lot of research into this option vs a normal personal loan and this one was the better option for us as 1 it would cost $200 p/mth less and 2 the lease is salary sacrificed meaning it reduces his taxable income as it is taken off the gross. One thing is that it is a fringe benefit so you pay fringe benefits tax on it. Another thing is if it is a salary sacrifice set up, it is really only beneficial if you earn over $75k. Also in regards to the fringe benefits tax, you have to do a certain amount of km's per year. For us we've nominated 25,000km (there are different brackets you can choose) and this means it is only 11% FBT. If we fall under that 25,000km per year, the FBT goes up to 20%. There will also be a $16,000 residual at the end of the 4yr lease. The only real downfall is that we have to sell our old car privately as they don't do a trade in.

We looked at both the Tarago ($55k plus onroads), the Kluger (about $50k from memory) and we couldn't justify the cost of them. Plus they don't have the engine capacity we need for towing our boat. We looked at the others (carnival, territory, honda oddessy) and they just didn't compare to the Captiva for what our needs were. The captiva is a AWD and the clearance is perfect for driving around on the farm and having AWD is a real benefit when driving on a slippery wet gravel road.

You really need to look at what your needs are for the car. They all have crappy amounts of storage space when you have all 7seats used and there is usually bugger all space for a pram though - it doesn't matter which one you go for.

One big tip we used was look what was around in the second hand yards - we saw that many reasonably new territory's and kia's it wasn't funny - signalling to us that people were keen to get rid of them. Also look at what the resale value on them is - some of the foreign made cars have very little resale value. Holden and toyota tend to hold theirs very well and Fords are negotiable on resale - some models resale better than others.

[wardygirl]

Thanks for all that wonderful information Sherie. I'll pass it onto DH.

Congrats on your new arrival tomorrow. How exciting!

FJ, my g/f is currently onto her second Carnival - this time a Grand - due to her novated lease expiring and them chosing to upgrade instead of buying out the previous model. She's never had a problem with either car. Funny isn't it? She doesn't do mountain driving around here, but hasn't had problems with them not being gutsy enough either.

Oh decisions, decisions. Will look into the Captiva too.

[Lulu]

Hey Rach!

I drive up to Warburton all the time and I'm always surprised at how it powers up the hills.....maybe FJ lives up a really steep hill!??

[katkins]

Wardy girl. We have been debating the same thing for months. Dh is also getting a bigger new car thru a lease wit his work and we have looked at nearly every large car out there (the Ssangyong ones are hard to actually view due to there being far too few dealers). How long are you leasing it for? Dh and I are looking at a 5yr lease. We have looked at ALL of the ppl movers out there and he (being male) wants power, we both want room and we want reliable and economical. We have pretty much decided on a Tarago as the Kias have a bad engine (Dh's best friend is a top mechanic and he has to repair them all the time, Kia is also not very good with living up to their warrantee obligations. Size wise, if you HAVE to go one of the Kia's. Def go the grande as with a large family, the extra space is fantastic!
We decided the Toyota v6 Tarago as it has the most power, the room we will need and the best name. It also keeps it's resale value and that is important if you lease as when you sell it/trade it back in, there is less of a balloon payment or you even come out even which is nice. Kia's drop value VERY fast and they drop HUGELY. A one year old Kia Carnivale grande is valued at around 17k trade in. When you've paid 30+, that's HUGE.
The oddessy looks small from the outside, but actually suprises with size inside. But DH says not powerful enough. The Chrysler is way too expensive, chews petrol and has poor power output (also the roof thingys are flimsy and break easily and when u have kids, things will get broken!), As I said, Ssang yong, we asked for brochures, got two pages for each car that showed nothing really about size and didn't give a good look at interior or exterior and it's such a hassel to find a dealer...
The Picasso is too small with very little luggage space and the others we looked at weren't worth our time really. We had a look at some volkwagons and they were good space wise, but sooooo ugly and basic. Dh didn't like them really and I thought they looked like buses. I don't wanna be known as the bus driving mumma hehehe.
Anyway, if I can help in any way, give me a yell. We're just waiting for Toyota to have a deal on Tarago's now......we'd like 5 yr warr and road side. Got it with the Toyota Camry we got a couple of yrs ago so.....hoping.
Let us know how u go and what u pick. AS long as u r happy hon, stuff others. I'm just giving you our reasons for our choice....

[*Efjay*]

Yeah it is a pretty steep mountain side I have to go up. Unless I really gun it, its struggles to do more then 40/50 going up. If I really floor it, it will pick up but you can hear it really struggling. Or maybe thats how they all sound? I'm not really use to driving an automatic??

[Trillian]

Fiona, if your hill is that steep, knock it back into 2nd gear (don't leave it in drive) if you have an auto -thats why it feels like it is struggling.

[katkins]

As I said, the only reason we haven't looked into the ssangyong further is the difficulty in finding dealers and being able to get somewhere where they have one to view. And yes, delivery time is a HUGE problem because there are so few dealers and so little stock atm. I did think it looked big enough, but when you're dragging two tired toddlers and a preg woman around car shopping, it's tedious to have to drive hrs just to see that one extra car.....

[wardygirl]

I'm loving all the feedback, thanks Kerrie in particular, you've given me more food for thought. We'll probably be leasing for 4-5 years - will have to work out the figures. I hear you on what you say about trade in/resale price on the Kia. My g/f who's onto her 2nd only got about $13K for their trade in on their second. Not much really.

We're half way between two Ssangyong dealers - Bundoora and Frankston, but would probably go to Bundoora cause we can drop the kids at Mum's which is 10 mins away and look/test drive without them.

DH isnt' so fussed about which one we get. I'm primarily the car driver in this family - he's had a motorbike for 25yrs and has only had a car (ute) within the last 3-4yrs. I love driving and I WANT a vehicle with enough guts and response to do what I want it to.

I think we've just got to make the time to have a look at all of them, and as you said Kerrie, make up our own minds.

FJ, I don't think we'd have any problems with power on steep climbs/driveways. I don't know when we'd be in that situation, but good food for thought all the same.

Keep it coming girls, I'm loving it!

[Danni]

wht about mazda mpv? they have 7 seats and my sister got a brand new one 2.5 years ago and its been great!

[katkins]

they don't make MPV's anymore Dan, sorry hon. We looked into it as a girl at work has one. The new one will be Mazda cx9. It won't be out till next yr which is a bummer as by the time it comes out, bub will be almost a month old and I am not struggling to get 3 babyseats across the back of our Holden VY. heheh