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We recently moved over from the UK to NZ and we are looking for a family car. I'm trying to narrow the options down but have the following requirement based on our needs:
- Seats 3 adults and 3 children (in child seats) with space for a (large) pram.
- Easy to drive (i.e. not too big) and park.
- Reliable and with decent fuel/maintenance costs
- Can get the children seated with ease (like the idea of power sliding doors)
- $15 to $25K price range (but a bit flexible)

Can you suggest options that would meet our needs? If we were still in the UK a diesel Ford Galaxy would likely be at the top of our list.

Suggestions so far have been the Mazda MPV or the Toyota Estima which are both grey imports and automatics. Whilst I don't mind an import, I can't find out much information to compare them against apart from the transmission on the MPV is liable to fail and that the Estima has a large V6 so thirsty.

Either the Mazda MPV or Toyoua Estima (or NZ New version, Previa), would be good options. In our experience, the Mazda transmission is no more likely to give trouble than any other automatic. As for Toyota engines, 90% of Estimas and Previas will not be V6, they will be 2.4 litre 4 cylinder engines (the same as the Camry or RAV4). Therefore, while any vehicle of this size will use a reasonable amount of fuel, the 4 cylinder engine will be more economical than a V6.
A personal preference might be the NZ New Previa, but any of these vehicles should meet your requirements.