I have been spending the last few weeks trying to find a replacement for the wife's Multipla. There is nothing wrong with the car but we have had it for 7 years and she wants something new. However the replacement needs to have minimum 6 seats and no-one makes such a car and so we have been looking at the various 7 seaters out there.

Now having said that we did look at the Honda FR-V but it is a poor facsimile of the Multipla. It is narrower, there is less leg room for the rear passengers and all round visibility is awful. The boot is larger but not by much, it just appears so due to being a different shape and by virtue of the fact that space has been provided at the expense of rear passenger comfort.

I did previously have a Chrysler Grand Voyager which was a superb car in every respect but is just too big for my wife. I replaced that with a Seat Alhambra (old shape) which too is a great car and seats 7 adults comfortably but again too big for her to do her daily school runs etc. So we have been looking at the Zafira's, Mazda 5, Grand Picasso's, Peugeot 5008, Ford S-Max and many more. Whilst all of these supposedly are 7 seaters, the rearmost two are small and damn awkward to get in and out of.

In short whilst I have been really annoyed with the stupid things that have failed on the Multipla over the last 7 years I have yet to find another car with the all round ergonomics of this car. Space for 6 adults, an ample size boot for going away, great driving position and feel, good handling, exceptional consumption, fantastic comfort. We have therefore decided to look for a low mileage late model facelift one and hope that one comes along in due course.

Your comments very much echo the way I feel. For the size of car (in fact, for the external size of many larger cars) there is nothing to touch the Multipla for the comfort it offers six adults. I had an Alhambra for 7 years and an older Mk1 of same as a company cay for 3 years before that and was very impressed by them. In many ways I wish I'd kept hold of the second one.

I'm having the 7 year itch with my Multi, but there is little or nothing to touch its balance of interior space, compact dimensions and relative ease of DIY maintenance. A good friend of mine had a 2.2 diesel FR-V which was a nice car (but not really a competitor to the Multipla in my view) but when it had engine problems, it was a nightmare. Well beyond DIY scope for mere mortals, it went to his local Honda dealers where it had its engine removed and rebuilt at a cost of over £3k. When it came back, it still had the problem....

That's why I continue to pour time, effort and money into my Multipla. I don't like the looks (or the DPF) of the later models and the facelift ones don't offer much if anything over the roundnose type. Unless something monumentally groundbreaking comes out, I can't see my view changing. Example: As I've mentioned on here before, the Fiat 500 MPW is 18" longer, has no luggage space, mickey mouse rear seats (smaller seats all round, in fact) and doesn't drive as well as the Multi. If that's progress, I'd rather not have it thank you. Just because it's getting old, it doesn't mean it's inferior.

interesting thread

I will probably get a 500l MPW or trekking in a couple of years, possibly a dualogic, even though the biggest engine is the 1.3.
The main reason is the superb panoramic opening sunroof, an improvement on the strange dual sunroof setup on the multi!.
I have driven a standard 1.3 500l and did like it a lot, liked its looks and funkyness, airy interior, and superb brakes, bit slow though.
The worst bit was the terrible blackspot created by the front quarter lights, either side of the front windscreen.
Even though on balance I will probably get one due to the value for money secondhand, and worsening parts availability for the multi, It was a relief to get back in the old bus (2008 multijet 120).
It was roomier, faster, and seemed to handle better, ie wider track , with the smooth 1.9 engine giving the car a lovely ride with its gobfull of lowdown torque. A classic design, appreciated by the thinkers and practical amongst us.

I had a '52 uglybug elx then a '57 nosejob Eleganza, both diesel. The nosejob was more reliable but the uglybug had more toys. I now have a 500L Easy twin-air. I have a year to go on the contract and I'm seriously thinking about replacing it with a very late nosejob Eleganza, again. The 500L can't touch it, for me.

I miss the room, the smoothness of the engine, the economy, the reliability and most of all, the character of the Multipla.

I know it is very subjective, but I would love one more affair with the Multipla.

I also realise that rose tinted spectacles can be a very comfy fit.....

Interesting viewpoint, I've never driven the twin air engine, seems great in principle, but I imagine it would be a strange choice for the heavy 500l.
Chris Evans, DJ, Mail on Sunday 500l review, loved it, and his kids, he had the sunroof model , so very light and airy, I assume you dont have the sunroof one?, the 500l I drove didnt have one and was quite dark as a result, different character, makes a big difference everyday, alters mood, happiness etc, well for me anyway.
I get 42mpg from my 1.9 multi 120, and am pretty pleased with that, however I did have a 75bhp 1.3 multijet 16v Qubo (same chassis as 500l, punto?) which was remapped by celtic tuning to 110bhp, sounds unlikely, but it felt like it, and its mid range torque was amazing, it flew on the motorway, albeit narrow torque band and terrible flatspot (not celtic tunings fault) at exactly 1500rpm, which was about 40mph in 6th!, anyway it got @52mpg, which is what the 500l gets with the same engine.
I imagine a 500l 1.6 diesel would be a tidy little mover, rather than a twin air, and more economical.

I have to be careful what I say cos I have moaned about my 500L elsewhere and been a bit chastised for it, but the MPG is a disappointing 37 on average whereas the Multipla was 42+ on average.

The Twin-air is very enthusiastic however, 100bhp of enthusiasm and it does drive a bit loony, if you want it too. Terrific fun. It is a fabulous drivers engine, with a cute little roar and excellent response. Now that I have stopped trying to make it economical, if I drive it like I stole it, it's a hoot! I've surprised the odd boy racer with it. The 75bhp version in the wee 500 must be fabulous.

I don't have sunroofs, but I have a light interior and the rear legroom is almost as impressive as the Multipla. The real problem with the 500L is that it doesn't have any character, any soul. I couldn't help but love both of my Multiplas. They were fat lasses trying to please, all the time. I loved them both dearly.

And I've been in a Multila that was remapped to 155bhp. Lunatic and a clutch devourer, but my word did it go! The sensible remap I think was the 140bhp from 115 or 120. A friend of mine said it transformed his Multi as a tow car.

Well for now anyway I have decided just to hang onto the ugly bug. I decided rather the devil I know. I have given my wife the Seat Alhambra to drive so I will drive the multi now and just keep it going until it will go no further. If I amortise the purchase cost 7 years ago of 3995 at 59K it has cost me 570/year to own the car. (obviously not taking into account monies spent on repairs) It has done just under 50K in 7 years now sitting on 104K, so the longer I keep it the better the return on investment. If I could have found another car that really matched all the criteria upon which I originally bought this one then I would have bought it.

I did look at a number of later models but despite having lower mileages they seemed to have suffered more issues than mine much of which became apparent when I delved into their MoT history. There are too many people out there who have NO idea how to look after a car. Driving and caring for, are two different things. Hitting speed bumps at speeds above 20mph is just plain ignorant, as too is revving a cold engine first thing on a cold winters morning, over-revving an engine, riding the clutch on inclines, relying solely on the brakes to slow down the car instead of leveraging compression braking through the gearbox etc etc. I mention these as all were very apparent on the cars I viewed. So inheriting someone elses ignorance would just cost me more than hanging onto that which runs fine and has done so for 7 years.

Cars are a bit like wives, you get complacent with what you have and you concentrate on the bad things so start to look and think hmmmm....that one looks nice. However you then realise that the one you are admiring comes with much baggage and in fact the old one was pretty damn good when you think about how much happiness she has brought you over the years and how much she has done for you.

Very philosophical!, but I agree with you on the last few paragraphs..., having been divorced twice, ahem..
We have 2 multiplas in the family, which I look after. I've just replaced the rear subframe in my g/f's 2005 110k 115 jtd, as described in recent posts, one of the easiest potentially catastrophic jobs I've done so far on the old bus.
The secondhand complete subframe cost me £150 and is from , probably a 2002 multi with drums, it is actually in much better condition, why, I dont know.
So basically It should last a few more years, hence very cheap running costs as you described using the biggest cost factor, depreciation.

Now interestingly or I suppose fortunately, at 104K my rear subframe is still absolutely sound, I am still on the original factory clutch (I know this because the car came with full service history and all receipts) and the sun roofs only slightly leak for a day or so after I have used them then they magically stop.

What I have had to fix

A short while after getting her both front springs snapped in unison (must have been a suicide pact )
Replaced the MAF that same year
Did the glowplugs (did a write up on doing them on this forum)
Have replaced the front lower arms twice in 7 years
Replaced the front ARB's
Replaced the rear brake cylinders and front flexible brake lines
Replaced the entire thermostat housing and temp sender
Changed the Cambelt twice
Changed the *&^%$%^& crankshaft pulley MANY times (stupid design)
Replaced the offside rear wheel bearing this year
Drilled holes in the rear drum plates so I could get to the release mechanism to get the drums off (another stupid design)
Am about to replace the aux belt tensioner and idler pulleys (one of them is squeeling can't figure out which one)

In the 8 years I owned my previous Nissan Primera 2.0GX I replaced ...... NOTHING and did 77,000miles
My Chrysler Grand Voyager after that which I had for 4 years I changed a water pump, an injector and a pulley and did +-60K

F(ix) i(t) a(gain) t(ony) - you gotta luv em. Certainly never a dull moment.