What 7 seat vehicle options are best?

Do you like me either have a large immediate family or lots of friends (or kids friends!) to cart around. Well, you would agree 5 seats just don't cut it. So where does that leave consumers on choice? On my count there are approximately 200 new vehicle options available on the market at the moment, inclusive of commercial vehicles such as dual-cab utes as they are treated in reality as passenger vehicles. This allows quite the choice!

VIEW PART 2 HERE: New/Used and impact of age and feature on price?

When we distil this down to those that carry more than 5 people, choice becomes a little less vast at about 40. 20% ish, fair enough given about 10-15% homes have 5 or more people, but it does mean choices are down to quite a bit.

Now for me personally this gets a little tighter, I won't accept a van/people mover as an option. Why, I'm not ready to give up on life just yet, and I don't really have a need for a bus. So, we are now down to ~20. Some of these options are just too expensive (eg Mercedes/Audi), those with terrible resale (eg Chery/SsangYong) and one with fuel consumption that is from a bygone era (Nissan Patrol 14.4/100km). This leaves us with a select few, <15 to my count.

The key differentiators now are:

• Petrol/Diesel/Hybrid

Does it really matter! I guess if you are keen on a hybrid then that limits your choice to Toyota Kluger or Peugeot 5008. If you're likely to tow for any significant distance, time or weight then you will want a diesel and likely Toyota Prado / Ford Everest / Mitsubishi Pajero Sport / Isuzu MU-X.

• AWD or real 4WD (plus a few cheaper options for FWD or RWD which I will just pretend don't exist)

Do you need a 'real' 4WD. Most likely not, but it's nice to dream big, at the likely disadvantage of ride and handling.

• Towing capacity

Non-issue for me but this will obviously be a big-ticket item for some. This restricts the list to just 4 options. 

• Safety

Actually, all have 5 Stars ANCAP at this point, so let's call it a tie.

• Pricing and Resale

I might loop back to this at a later date as on-roads may change this, however pricing starts from about $45k all the way to $75k RRP for base trims. I always like to take into account resale in this equation, yes purchase price is king but strong resale vs poor can make a big difference.

Case in point, see the below. Seems the higher the prices the better the resale. You can see the Prado has the best resale of 60% after 5 years with the largest purchase price above $75k. At the other end the Mitsubishi Outlander might only be $45k but resale is a killer at just 53%. Two outliers are the Everest, with a stellar resale, and Pajero Sport, terrible resale. 

 

Does any of this really matter, some rough numbers suggest the following: Not a whole lot...  Prado is still the most expensive, and the Outlander is still cheapest. What is interesting is that the Pajero Sport jumps to 3rd spot even though it's on the cheaper end of the scale.

• Fuel consumption 

Across the group we see a variance of 6 to 9 liters per 100km. The lower end relates to Hybrids. Pajero Sport and Prado are at the expensive end of the list, again. Hybrids make up some of the lower end of the list, the CX-8 (diesel) being an exception.

• Luggage Space

Not sure about you, but for a 7-seater used as a 7-seater there needs to be space left over for luggage, at minimum school bags or a weekend away as a family. More is better, but there is a minimum that must be met. There seems to be a clear loser here, the Prado, and again the Pajero sport is lacking. 

• Maintenance Costs

Other than the Toyota Land Cruiser, which is above all others, this is pretty much $600-$900pa. Not much in it so let's not dilly dally.

• Warrantee

Expect minimum 5 years unlimited km, although Mitsubishi Pajero Sport does 10yrs (200k) and Isuzu MU-X with a cheeky 6 years (160km) to differentiate from the pack.

Verdict

Well, tbh I came at this with a predisposition to the Everest. And this has not swayed me. I've never had a 'real' 4WD and I like the opportunity it presents, regardless of the likelihood I will actually use it in all its glory. It seems to sit mid pack across most of these metrics, higher price point offset ever so slightly by strong resale, reasonable on fuel given its size and drivetrain, and among the best luggage space all seats up. It is actually the only vehicle I have road tested and there is no denying it's a big heavy vehicle, however the examples I drove were reasonable to drive (i was coming out of a Toyota 86, quite a different vehicle), a bit floaty of large undulations for my liking and a little vague on steering response, not exactly peppy but feels strong and the 10 speed makes everything feels easy.

The big surprise in all this was how terrible the Prado rated. Other than resale there is no other reason I would look at this as an option (well, except longevity). The lack of luggage space on its own makes this a no go from the outset.

If I was to ignore my desire for a 'real' 4WD I think the sweet spot looks to be the CX-8. My instinct says that a test drive with the family would result in a great drive (zoom zoom) but ultimately a lack of overall space. Pity the CX-9 has been discontinued and replaced with the excessively priced CX-90.

What would you pick of these? Do you think I should ignore my beliefs and bring in the MPV's to expand the options?