Holden captiva? Large SUV, reliable and heaps of room

halper86:

 

Holden captiva? Large SUV, reliable and heaps of room

 

Holden Captiva reliable?????? you have to be kidding. They are one of the worst vehicles ever produced by Holden and have a terrible history of reliability issues. You only need to do a bit of research to reveal that. Try Auto Expert on YouTube. 

I had a series 2 Captiva for a period off time and had no end of troubles with it. Three others in the fleet were also disasters. The Captiva is a glowing example of why GMH is no longer. 

MikeB4:

halper86:

Holden captiva? Large SUV, reliable and heaps of room

 

Holden Captiva reliable?????? you have to be kidding. They are one of the worst vehicles ever produced by Holden and have a terrible history of reliability issues. You only need to do a bit of research to reveal that. Try Auto Expert on YouTube. 

I had a series 2 Captiva for a period off time and had no end of troubles with it. Three others in the fleet were also disasters. The Captiva is a glowing example of why GMH is no longer. 

With regards to cars with no center conceals, my Lexus RX400h (well within budget) doesn't have on (fold up seat mounted armrests instead). Unfortunately it is a bit tight in other dimensions. (I am 183cm - long legs) and can't fit behind my own driving position.

Seems to be a rare feature these days, limited to MPV's, van's and compact hatchbacks.

I know you said no van's, but they do represent the ultimate in space. As an example the Hyundai iMax has fold up arm rest's  on the drivers & passengers seats. The rental one we had allowed the 2nd row bench seat to be slid 200mm more than normal if their was nobody in the third row, giving massive space.

[edit] Never been in one, but the Mitsubishi Delica D5 is basically an outlander with a boxy body. https://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=2632560462

halper86:

 

Holden captiva? Large SUV, reliable and heaps of room

 

As "Large SUV's", the captive is pretty small.  In american terms it is a compact crossover. 

Also it has a poor reputation of reliability. 163/493 one star reviews here: https://www.productreview.com.au/listings/holden-captiva For comparison the Rav4 has 21/254...

I've only been in one once, but I don't recall it being roomy relative to a modern Camry that OP has stated.

Scott3:
As "Large SUV's", the captive is pretty small.  In american terms it is a compact crossover.

I am neither large nor tall but my father inlaw is (not excessively) and loves driving my Subaru legacy who thinks it is one of the more comfortable cars he has driven.

Could the Outback (which has almost the same footprint) be an option?

Id suggest you start looking at european designed vehicles, these are generally made for larger framed people vs the Asian brands. 

I'm 6ft5" and impressed by the amount of room in the Outback, Skoda Superb would be worth a look too.

We tried out lots of cars over the last week. Then yesterday saw the Toyota Highlander, tried it, son fits comfortably finally. He loves it.  Hubby really happy.  I love it too. It’s more expensive than my budget but seeing how comfortable it was and how well it drives I think we will get one.  I didn’t want the one we test drove because it’s paintwork was damaged.  It looked like it had been driven on gravel roads, it was covered in nicks out of the paint and looks like kids had scraped the paint off around doors with their shoes.  Also paint was badly scrapped off around headlights?! it had lots of other damage as well to the interior despite being only 4 years old.
I am now looking for another Highlander in reasonable condition. 

Thanks everyone for all your suggestions.  I have investigated a lot of these and it has helped a lot.  I hope to be buying a car very soon.  I will get an AA check done before I buy. I was hoping to get my mechanic to look at it as well.

For roof clearance and easy of entry and exit I recommend a Nissan Cube Daihatsu Materia or Toyota BB.

Your initial reaction will be to dismiss but go and sit in one you may find your initial reaction wrong.

Pro: Roomy great head clearance maneuverable easy parking variable interior configuration(tumble forward rear seats)

Cons: Only available as Jap import and not suited to open road driving.

Another tip for headroom:  If you find a car without a sunroof that fits, don't assume the same model with sunroof will fit.  The sunroof shaves about 50mm off the head room.   

You said a van is not an option. I would suggest trying a Delica D5 though. Quite big inside and not that much bigger a doddle to drive with a tight turning circle and good visibility (but make sure you have the rear camera! you need that for reversing). 

I meant to reply to this ages ago but forgot. We are 6'5, 6'0, 5'11, 6'4 and our 12yo daughter has size 12 shoes so she's no shrinking violet either.

The only vehicle we've ever been comfortable in was an X5. We tried over a dozen cars before settling on the BMW and they all had at least one issue for each of us.

The rear seats are relatively flat but the best thing was no transmission tunnel for the middle passenger. All three had space for feet and legs.

Since one of them has moved to uni we traded it for an F10 535D. Whilst we all fit in (and it's as big externally as my old 740i) it's nowhere near as roomy inside.