Family car recommendations?

[jof]

See, you have loads of choice with your budget.
Years ago when we had 3 small ones we got a Berlingo multispace. 3 car seats across the back, slidy back doors so kids didn't smash them into next car in the car park. Loads of boot space. Can get bikes inside standing upright. Plenty of space inside for a car picnic & fairly compact for parking.
We are on our 2nd one & a Renault kangoo.
Very practical, cheap, but most of them are diesel & you can afford better on your budget.

Interesting note: both of ours are 10 years old now. We have to put super diesel in the Berlingo & run it hard the few weeks before mot to get through emissions, but the kangoo just sails through.

 

[stripeyjoe]

Prius Plus. 50-60mpg in town, low or no road tax, cheap to insure and don't go wrong and you'll be doing your bit for the environment!

 

[Covrich]

my ex had a mocka although I found it pokey

my partner has a KIA Sportage and its brilliant

 

[Chippy_Tea]

There are loads of Sportage and Tucson's round here they must be doing something right, I have noticed even the lowest spec models get lots of kit as standard.
The KIA Sportage and Hyundai Tucson are basically the same car they are owned by the same company.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

The Mazda CX5, CX30 and CX3 also get very good reviews.

 

[Oneflewover]

Plenty of power here. Cheap to run. Trailer (boot space for your Molotovs if you insist on using petrol) is optional. You know it makes sense.
View attachment 50303
View attachment 50304

Baggsy sitting on the back seat

 

[Oneflewover]

View attachment 50308
Our family car circa 1980. Working for British Leyland the choice of company car was limited.

Nice colour, was it that or mustard yellow?

 

[Oneflewover]

See, you have loads of choice with your budget.
Years ago when we had 3 small ones we got a Berlingo multispace. 3 car seats across the back, slidy back doors so kids didn't smash them into next car in the car park. Loads of boot space. Can get bikes inside standing upright. Plenty of space inside for a car picnic & fairly compact for parking.
We are on our 2nd one & a Renault kangoo.
Very practical, cheap, but most of them are diesel & you can afford better on your budget.

Interesting note: both of ours are 10 years old now. We have to put super diesel in the Berlingo & run it hard the few weeks before mot to get through emissions, but the kangoo just sails through.

Thank you. Actually we haven't ruled out a van-derived car for the reasons you state. The Peugeot rifter seems to be well received and we could get nearly new with our budget

 

[Oneflewover]

The Mazda CX5, CX30 and CX3 also get very good reviews.

I'll look into those, Mazda not been on our radar yet. Thanks

 

[Oneflewover]

I'd have had one of these if there were any in my price range at the time of our last car change. As it is we have a Kia Sorento which is also a pretty decent car though in the model year we have only comes with one engine choice and that's diesel.

The thing about the Sorento that makes me a bit nervous is the part time four wheel drive system, there's a few known issues and it can all be quite sensitive to tyre wear. I believe the Skoda has a Haldex system so at least all the wheels are being driven to some lesser or greater extent most of the time rather than the Kia where it's only really there for slow speed maneuvering when the system detects it's required (i.e. dragging my caravan out of a muddy site).

Yes we are struggling to find the Skoda with a petrol engine within budget

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I'll look into those, Mazda not been on our radar yet. Thanks

Don't bother with the CX3 it's based on the Mazda 2 so it'll be too small for your needs, the CX 30 is based on the Mazda 3 so is a bit bigger the CX5 is similar size to the Tucson/Sportage.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Nice colour, was it that or mustard yellow?

It was chocolate brown but another colour was what we called shutter derived from **** and butter.

 

[gavp1979]

Got a 19 plate Peugeot 3008 at the minute and had a 16 plate Qashqai before that, both are plenty big enough for 3 kids and luggage. I would say that the 3008 looks nicer but the Qashqai definitely felt like it was built better

 

[robster62]

Skoda karoq could be worth a look. Not as big as Kodiaq, but plenty of boot space and a choice of petrol engines.

 

[Gingerbrews]

We got a SEAT Ateca, which is the same car in effect as the Skoda Karoq.
Takes the car seats for grandchildren or we have had 3 adults in the back comfortably.
My daughter has a Qashqai and personally I think the boot space is rubbish for a car designed for a family

 

[Oneflewover]

Skoda karoq could be worth a look. Not as big as Kodiaq, but plenty of boot space and a choice of petrol engines.

Thank you

 

[Oneflewover]

We got a SEAT Ateca, which is the same car in effect as the Skoda Karoq.
Takes the car seats for grandchildren or we have had 3 adults in the back comfortably.
My daughter has a Qashqai and personally I think the boot space is rubbish for a car designed for a family

Yes, had a bit of a closer look at qashqai and you are right, it won't be big enough. Cheers for flagging the Ateca

 

[Oneflewover]

We've had a look at quite a few cars now and test driven a couple. Wasn't impressed with the Hyundai Tucson. Leaning towards a Skoda, got our eye on a Karoq and an Octavia estate. I prefer the estate car.

On that note I'm not sure I understand why SUVs are so popular. From the few I have looked at I can't see that they are particularly sporty / lend themselves to sporting activities and I don't think that 'utility' is a word I would use to describe them. The vehicle bit I get

 

[jof]

On that note I'm not sure I understand why SUVs are so popular. From the few I have looked at I can't see that they are particularly sporty / lend themselves to sporting activities and I don't think that 'utility' is a word I would use to describe them. The vehicle bit I get

I think it's all style over substance.
Sales men selling a perceived lifestyle.

Depending on your sporting even, the pros will often have middle aged transit vans (or equivalent), maybe crew cab or partial camper conversions to haul all their kit, or an old estate to carry stuff.
They would rather spend their cash on sports equipment than a shiny new car

 

[Chippy_Tea]

On that note I'm not sure I understand why SUVs are so popular. From the few I have looked at I can't see that they are particularly sporty / lend themselves to sporting activities and I don't think that 'utility' is a word I would use to describe them. The vehicle bit I get

As it says below "SUV stands for Sport Utility Vehicle originally described a large, high-riding car that has been built on a bespoke, rugged chassis and possess four-wheel-drive to give it go-anywhere ability" but they have hijacked it and now call any "taller" vehicle an SUV i think most of these should be called crossovers not SUV's.



The answer is… SUV stands for Sport Utility Vehicle. It originally described a large, high-riding car that has been built on a bespoke, rugged chassis and possess four-wheel-drive to give it go-anywhere ability. However, the term has more recently become a catch-all for high-sided vehicles with a general off-road appearance but not necessarily full mud-plugging prowess.

SUVs are, however, designed to be decent off-road, as well as on and are popular with affluent school-run parents in urban and suburban environments, leading them to be dubbed Chelsea Tractors.

A crossover is a specific type of raised vehicle within the SUV class that has been built on an existing family car chassis, rather than built from the ground-up as an SUV; it “crosses over” from one class into another. Generally, crossovers have some off-road ability but they put on-road refinement first. The Mazda CX-5, Nissan Qashqai and Ford Kuga are all examples.

Test your knowledge: What do SUV and crossover mean? (driving.co.uk)