Crewmen - Yes / No

[Ristof]

At the moment I have an 01 VU S Ute - 160000km on the clock

I have 1 son at the moment with thoughts of a 2nd child
Just wondering how people have gone with running a crewman as a family car

Also do you loose a lot of the tray compared to a standard Ute

The idea was to maybe sell both the wagon and the ute and get a crewman and a smaller car

What is the better year and models of the crewmans for ie. perforance, fuel econnomy, reliablity and comfort

Thanks

[calais24/7]

A few members on here have owned them, after seeing the comments in a differant thread i'd say that they are not the best of cars and they are much better cars out there for your situation

[Ristof]

Other suggestions would be greatful too

[DevilDRake]

The crewmans tray is soooo much smaller. Not even worth calling it a ute tbh, a wagon has more space.

[MR_VX]

Id go for a new sports wagon over the crewman

[Ristof]

I need a tray though as I live in a small town and often require bringing things home that wouldn't fit in a wagon or I wouldn't put in a wagon and I don't like trailers

Also it helps with loads to the tip

[soop]

Frankly I'd stick with the setup you have then.

[walesy]

my dad has a crewman as a family car for my younger brothers, its good in theory to have a 4 door ute, the tray isnt THAT much smaller, the biggest problem is the room people in the back have, its very cramped, not so bad for kids but its not always gunna be kids in the back, and kids grow :P

[Ristof]

my dad has a crewman as a family car for my younger brothers, its good in theory to have a 4 door ute, the tray isnt THAT much smaller, the biggest problem is the room people in the back have, its very cramped, not so bad for kids but its not always gunna be kids in the back, and kids grow :P

Thanks for that, that is what I thought but without accually sitting in one or seeing the room I wasn't 100%

I guess my main reason for thinking this way was if I had to go to lets say melbourne and pick something up that wouldn't fit in a wagon then we would either have to take two cars or I go by myself.

[soop]

LOL go by yourself for sure!!

Taking small children on long trips is self torture.

[Ristof]

LOL go by yourself for sure!!

Taking small children on long trips is self torture.

lol true but he isn't too bad when he's a sleep

If my son is 2 with going for a second which would make him about 3 when the second one comes along and keep the crewman for say 6yrs would the back be ok for a 9 - 10 yr old

[soop]

If people survive with Camry's and corola's. The Crewman should be fine.

Remember, as they get older they sleep less and whinge more :P

[walesy]

LOL go by yourself for sure!!

Taking small children on long trips is self torture.

AGREED!!! took my gf and 20 month old to sydney ( 2.5hrs each way) and it was torture haha

[nathanVY]

AGREED!!! took my gf and 20 month old to sydney ( 2.5hrs each way) and it was torture haha

Yeah but loooong trips with yourself can be torture as well lol. (Geelong > Sydney 10hrs each way.)

+1 Wagon.

A mate of mine has a crewman... its alright, pretty nice for a crewman actually but I think theres a reason holden stopped making them.

[soop]

Meh, long trips by yourself are awesome compared to a trip 1/4 the distance with a toddler.

I moved interstate by myself 3 years ago, travelled near 2000km in a couple days of straight driving (slept on the back seat for a couple hours).

I recently moved interstate again with a 3 month old. Only drove 4hrs and spent 9hrs on a ferry. Longest 350km of driving EVER.

[nathanVY]

lol. Its all good if you've got a stereo and can have some tunes on. My 10hr trip was without cruise (wasn't working when I bought the car) or any kind of functioning stereo.

[walesy]

Yeah but loooong trips with yourself can be torture as well lol. (Geelong > Sydney 10hrs each way.)

+1 Wagon.

A mate of mine has a crewman... its alright, pretty nice for a crewman actually but I think theres a reason holden stopped making them.

i kinda like it, ive driven across the nullabore 3 times and i quite enjoyed it... 4500kms each way PERTH-NOWRA

[nathanVY]

Wow good effort, Might try that one day.

[walesy]

yeah last time i done it was december last year when i moved back to nsw... drove over with a 2week old respray on the caprice lol

[Ristof]

so to summarise it a crewman is worth it and people prefer to take long drives by themselves as long as the stereo works

[walesy]

yeah sounds bout right lol

[nathanVY]

lol pretty much. i reckon a wagon and a ute both on gas would be the go.

[Calaber]

The Crewman was a compromise and, as far as the back seat goes, a very poor one. There is little leg room and the backrest is too upright. Small kids are ok but once they start growing, even though the legroom may still be ok, the upright seat back would be torture for them. The Crewman was also very heavy and actually longer than the Statesman, so V6 Crewmans are thirsty. We had a VY Crewman at work - it was useful for the sort of work we did with it, but no-one ever volunteered to sit in the back seat.

I would have to agree that a wagon is a far better solution.