Minivans?

Hi there,
I was looking through some of the "for sale" items (I don't even remember what website it was) and didn't see many used minivans for sale.  Are there many minivans over there?  We have 4 kids and will hopefully move there in about a year.  Obviously, we can't have a car that doesn't seat 6. 

Also, I know that most cars are manual transmission, does that go for minivans too?  I've never even SEEN a manual minivan!

What might be other suggestions for a car for someone with 4 kids (and a hubby) that won't break the bank?

Thanks a lot!

I drove a 7-seater Mercedes people carrier the other day, which was manual.  They do exist! 

People carrier?  Is that what they are called in general?

yeah... we dont call them vans.  Vans are what carry deliveries and goods and crates and boxes and stuff like that.

Yeah, we had a 7-seater people carrier a few years ago (there are 5 in our family) - a Nissan Serena - it was a manual too (I'm the opposite to you - I've never seen an automatic one here!). In general, they are a bit smaller than US ones (the Serena is not as wide as you would expect), but still seat more people than standard cars.

I've generally found that you can get used cars cheaper in the UK than in the US. We got our Nissan Sunny for £1,000 (1995, with only 30,000 miles on the clock at the time) and Nissan Micra for £800 (1996, with 80,000 on the clock at the time), whereas when I was in the US earlier this year, everyone was advertising their used cars for between $3,000 and $5,000 and they were usually much older than 1995 and had at least 100,000 miles on the clock!

I drive a Chrysler Voyager automatic.  It's been a really good car and I don't think you would have a problem finding a used one here. 

Great!  One less thing to worry about.  I'm sad that we'll have to get rid of our huge Suburban, though.  :  (

You might be glad when you see the cost of petrol here.

You might be glad when you see the cost of petrol here.

Was about to mention that.

Also, the road tax might be a real shock to you, so research your purchase carefully.

Something may seem quite inexpensive to you to purchase, but once you calculate its running cost that may not be the case.

We're looking at estate vehicles instead and watching the model year due to the road taxes.