Honda Forum

[cavey76]

Hi there all. I am a possible FRV buyer. My wife and i have far to productive loins and have just realised that number 4 is on the way. We currently have a 4.5yo, 3 y.o and 2 y.o. yes madness i know.

So anyway with about 5 months till the arrival of number 4 i find myself having to consider the move to a 6 or 7 seater. Problem is funds are limited. I have a 8 y.o Golf to trade in and possible £5K toward a new purchase. Funds are tight at the moment so i would really rather not breach £7K in total.

Been looking at the usal suspects like the Galaxy/Sharan/Alhambra/Zafira/Verso/C8/Touran. With 4 yound kids a full size MPV would seem the obvious choice especially as we will have to carry a pram with us for at least a couple of years. Thing is i am used to Japanese reliability and build qaulity (current family transport a 5y.o Avensis Estate). The FRV has come as a bit of a curve ball and to be honest it is pretty hard to find where i am in Northern ireland.

I have a few questions for you all. Anyone here regularly use the FRV to transport a family of six( Mum and Dad +4 offspring)?
Does anyone do such a thing with a pram/pushchair in tow? My major conscern is would the boot accomodate a pram easily? The other midsize MPVs mean flattening 1 seat and jamming a pram in at a funny angle
I appreciate with a 5 yo in the front seat elbow room won't be a massive issue but how convenient or annoying is it having a super inquisitive 5 yo stuck between M&D on a long drive?

Fuel consumption isn't a massive issue for us...we top out around 9K miles a year so petrol is fine as that will get me more/newer car for my money.

I have spotted a 2.0 FRV on carginat for a smidge over 6K...2005 with 90K miles. The mileage doesn't really concern me as i have read here and on Honest Johns website that the interior is farely sturdy. Can anyone testify/deny this?

Basically i WANT an FRV but how realistic a proposition do you think it is for someone with 4 kids?

Regards

Cavey

[redvers]

Hey Cavey,

I'm another potential FRV buyer as opposed to an owner. However, I've been doing a lot of research to ensure that I don't end up paying over the odds, or buying a lemon!!

Between us, my gf and I have 4 kids. Like yourself, I've found that due to pram requirements the Zafira et al. don't cut the mustard. The FRV has sufficient bootspace for a suitcase lying flat from what I could tell when I looked at one, so more than enough room for a couple of standard umbrella prams. However, if you're having a child in the front-middle, you need to push that seat all the way back. This means you potentially have to push the read-middle seat back too, which will decrease boot space slightly.

I've found that here in England a lot of Honda dealerships have really ramped up the cost of a used FRV due to their rarity. For example, Johnsons Honda in Milton Keynes are asking for £15.5k for a medium quality '08 that's done 32k miles. The car was £16k+VAT when new, so you know they're taking the micky! They wouldn't negotiate on price with me either! Make sure you get independant valuations of the cars you look at; I've used whatcar.com as well as the Parker's iPhone application. These suggest that the FRV I saw in MK was worth around £13k but the dealer has other ideas!

As well as checking the car supermarkets, speak to your local Honda dealership. Although he may not have an FRV on his forecourt, he might know of one that will be coming in soon e.g. I'm waiting on someone to trade in their FRV for another car later this month! Additionally, if your local dealership is part of a chain or has affiliations with dealers in England, they may be able to get one in for you. That will probably be dependant upon you actually wanting the car though, so may not be an option for you to just see one for test driving purposes!

Good luck!

Kev

[FRV]

Hi there,

I have recently bought an FR-V because of an increasing family
I previously had a Mercedes C Class, but you can fit three car seats in the back, so it had to go

I too looked at the other people carriers, namely the Zafira, C4, Touran and Verso, but finally opted for the FR-V because of the reliability.
We have the rear-facing child seat in one of the ISOFIX positions and two boosters in the rear. Try this in a Zafira - they won't fit without narrow boosters!
Our buggy is a Quinny Buzz 3 (http://www.quinny.com/ot-en/strollers/buzz-3) which unfortunately does not scissor fold, but this is not a problem for the FR-V boot.
Using the FR-V with your four children should be no problem. We have had our 7 year old (126cm tall) and 5 year old (113cm tall) in the front middle position (not at the same time ) without a problem - and not having to move the seat back.

With regards to sourcing the FR-V, I too looked at Cargiant, but found their FR-Vs somewhat tatty and not looked after. Don't get me wrong, Cargiant is a great place, I've bought a few cars from there in the past, but the selection of FR-Vs was not that good when I looked.
I'm located in London, and found the FR-V autos on the Honda website were sold pretty quick. I sourced mine from a main dealer in Glasgow, and they trailered it down to me within the forecourt price.

It handles surprisingly well for a car of its size. I was concerned that coming from the C Class Sportpack, the FR-V would wallow through bends and around roundabouts, but the wider track really helps it take bends with ease.
The kids love the interior as they can stand up in the back, and walk through cabin easily.

A few of niggles.
The window lock function includes the front passenger window.
The car does not automatically lock when you drive off (sorry - I've been driving German cars for a number of years and gotten used to this!)
Radio reception could be better.
Silly tinny sounding horn - which is active even without the key in the ignition (to the amusement of the kids)

Overall, its a great family car!

(Disclaimer: these are the views of some guy on the internet. Make sure you do your own independent research. )

[redvers]

We have had our 7 year old (126cm tall) and 5 year old (113cm tall) in the front middle position (not at the same time ) without a problem - and not having to move the seat back.

I believe that it is Honda's recommendation that the middle seat is pushed all the way back if there is a child sat in it...

[cavey76]

Much obliged redvers and FRV. Will look further afield and start using Autotrader too. Ill post an update if we go the way of the FRV in the end.

Thanks guys

Cavey