Recommendations for family cars?

chickaroonee

Erm..thanks for that Lee!

Davey - I think we will definitely need a new car. We have one of the smallest prams we could find, and it pretty much fills the whole boot (carrycot will have to go on the back seat and then there is the baby car seat too). Shopping is probably not the hugest problem, but visiting relatives and holidays will be. For instance we'll be going to see family about 250 miles away in a couple of months and have no idea where all our bags will go for that - they won't fit in the boot that's for sure!

I will look at a Skoda Octavia, thanks for the suggestion.

dizzyblonde82

Just after I had my son we sold our 3 door corsa 1.2 and bought a 2 year old 5 door focus and it has been great - was amazed at being able to fit 2 prams (mine and a friends) in the boot whereas in the corsa even the 1 pram wouldn't go in the boot.

daveyjp

If you are doing longer trips you will need a larger car, especially in the early days when you do have to take more gear.

Focus Estate is also a decent motor and loads to choose from.

Dave_Z

I'd recommend a Volvo V40. For that money you could get a decent spec. Solid, reliable, safe and ample space for babies/prams/shopping/etc. My Dad had one a while back and it was great. 1.9 diesel version should be easy on the wallet.

emmell

Mondeo has lots of room without having to put the rear seats down. My brother had one as a taxi, so they have to carry prams, wheelchairs etc and still carry four passengers and a driver, He's just replaced it with a Skoda octavia which looks like a saloon but is in fact a hatchback it's not quite as big as a Mondeo but bigger than a Focus, a bit noisier than the Mondeo but feels nippier. He would recommend the Skoda or the Mondeo.
ML.

moggylover

I bought myself a Kia Cee'd last year because we wanted more space. Couldn't recommend it more. There is a diesel model estate (which we have) and it does around 45mpg on mostly local running about. LOTS of leg room as my boys are very tall and so is there Dad so needed leg room to be available in the back even when the driver is 6'4" and has seat fully back:D

It ticked all my boxes, and was cheaper than the Octavia (because you pay extra for absolutely everything that is not the barest minimum of 1930's trim in those).

flyingscotno1

moggylover wrote: »

I bought myself a Kia Cee'd last year because we wanted more space. Couldn't recommend it more. There is a diesel model estate (which we have) and it does around 45mpg on mostly local running about. LOTS of leg room as my boys are very tall and so is there Dad so needed leg room to be available in the back even when the driver is 6'4" and has seat fully back:D

It ticked all my boxes, and was cheaper than the Octavia (because you pay extra for absolutely everything that is not the barest minimum of 1930's trim in those).

I don't know if that is a particularly fair allegation. I mean the base Skodas are more everything you need spec- Air Con, CD player, Airbags, electric front windows. Job done. Sure if you want more you go up the range but this is hardly spartan old BMW radio on the options list style! The Octavia, I'd say is bigger than the Ceed too?

moggylover

flyingscotno1 wrote: »

I don't know if that is a particularly fair allegation. I mean the base Skodas are more everything you need spec- Air Con, CD player, Airbags, electric front windows. Job done. Sure if you want more you go up the range but this is hardly spartan old BMW radio on the options list style! The Octavia, I'd say is bigger than the Ceed too?

You are joking aren't you?

We went and looked at the Skodas. The basic models come with a hole where the glove box "ought" to be and really poor quality interiors. Yes, there is a CD player but the interiors are very, very poor.

The Octavia looks larger, but is not as good on rear seat leg room as the Cee'd I'm afraid. It would also have been around £5K more than our Cee'd unless we went with the hole in the dash and plastic mat flooring of the basic model;)

The Cee'd comes with a reasonable interior, a good stereo, airbags, central locking, leccy windows all round, some very nice storage in the boot, iPod docks front and back plenty of storage places and cup holder things within the car. It also came with a spare wheel as standard, but on the Skodas we would have had to pay extra for that.

The Skodas are nowhere near as cheap in price, as they are in finish:D Probably possible to get a top of the range one quite nicely second hand though so wouldn't rule them out but would not consider one brand new at all:) Not sure how the Cee'd will hold out on re-sale price, but the 7 year warranty should help and it may be that we will keep it for the long term anyway. Tis not a badge tarts car, but is a well built and good value family car that we have been very pleased with.

flyingscotno1

moggylover wrote: »

You are joking aren't you?

We went and looked at the Skodas. The basic models come with a hole where the glove box "ought" to be and really poor quality interiors. Yes, there is a CD player but the interiors are very, very poor.

The Octavia looks larger, but is not as good on rear seat leg room as the Cee'd I'm afraid. It would also have been around £5 more than our Cee'd unless we went with the hole in the dash and plastic mat flooring of the basic model;)

The Cee'd comes with a reasonable interior, a good stereo, airbags, central locking, leccy windows all round, some very nice storage in the boot, iPod docks front and back plenty of storage places and cup holder things within the car. It also came with a spare wheel as standard, but on the Skodas we would have had to pay extra for that.

The Skodas are nowhere near as cheap in price, as they are in finish:D Probably possible to get a top of the range one quite nicely second hand though so wouldn't rule them out but would not consider one brand new at all:) Not sure how the Cee'd will hold out on re-sale price, but the 7 year warranty should help and it may be that we will keep it for the long term anyway. Tis not a badge tarts car, but is a well built and good value family car that we have been very pleased with.

Sorry but come on, it isn't poverty spec. I like the Ceed and it is a good choice, but whilst the Octavia is not exactly as well kitted at base models it is hardly like what your talking about i.e- poverty spec! There is far worse!

Yes, I'll grant you Kia will add more stuff (the same Skoda did when they were trying to shed their reputation too). All the new ones all come with gloveboxes- indeed are you sure the dealer had removed that one! The interior quality on Skodas is some of the best around- the stuff isn't top drawer materials, but it is put together well and similar to the standard Korea achieves.

Checking on What car indicates the Skoda has a smaller wheelbase, broadly similar legroom but a much bigger boot. I still think you'r being harsh on the Skoda!

emmell

I think the basic stripped out Skodas are built for a certain market (taxis). There are quite a few where my brother works, they are owner operators so they choose and buy their own cars and I think, correct me if I'm wrong, Skoda is the only company that will stand on the warranty for high mileage taxi drivers. Out of 48 cars there isn't one Kia or one Vectra.
Kia are doing what Fiat did in the '70's, putting loads of extras in with the price to try and seduce people from buying popular well established cars from the likes of Ford.
Fords adverts at the time said "They can all make comparisons, but they can't make Cortinas" I think that is still true today. Not that Fords are any better, they just don't kneed to add all the extras and offer long warranties to sell cars.
By the way, my brothers Skoda is a top of the range Laurent & Klemin model, '56 plate
ex company car, and looks like brand new.
ML.