Hi all, first post here, sorry in advance because it's probably going to be long!! I've signed up because I'm really interested in looking at an S-Max or Galaxy. I know it's not a great topic but hopefully you Ford folks know a bit about them.

We have three kids, one is in a baby seat and one in a booster so our Vx Vectra just isn't cutting it any more. We're going for 7 seats so the kids can bring a friend along on days out etc. We're planning on buying a big tent this year so boot space with the seats down has to be decent.

My problem with car buying is that I'm poor lol. I've got £6k to spend and won't spend a penny more, I don't want to add finance so that's all I have to play with..... trouble is, I'm doubting that it's gonna be enough to see me in a Ford. I'm being cautious because it's taken a while to save the cash and the car will need to last for a good 4 years.

After looking at a lot of other MPVs the only other option I'd go for is French, which I'd prefer not to tbh. I personally think the best of the French is the the C4 Grand Picasso but it's let down a bit by only coming with a 110bhp 1.6HDi manual, the rest are semi auto crap. Still a nice, functional family car that happily keeps up with traffic, even if it's a bit dull.

So, to the point!! There are plenty of 06/07 S-Max's out there for £6k but they're all carrying a lot of miles. There's one I'm considering taking a look at but it could be an epic mistake. 06 2.0tdci Tit 138k recent clutch and dmf, cam belt and water pump, recon turbo. I don't know how it's gathered those miles, could be lots and lots of shopping! Hopefully not.

Now, in my mind that car "could" turn out to be a better buy than a 90k car, a lot of the expensive jobs have come and gone so they should be good for another chunk of miles. The concerning things are suspension/bushes, gearbox, electrics and general wear and tear. I'm fortunate that I do all of my own work so labour costs are generally very few and very far between.

If anyone can offer some advice on buying old high mileage S-Max's or Galaxy's I've very much appreciated it.

What would you do in my dire situation?