What to think about in a family car?

bigjl

The Kia is a good long term prospect due to the 7 yr warranty.

The estate looks to be a well priced family bus.
I know an estate might not be what you want but i have a Mondeo hatch and many times i have wished i had bought an estate version.

As they handle.and drive pretty much the same as the hatch version of the car they are based on they really are something to.consider.

The mk5 Astra is also very underrated and normally a bit cheaper.than a Focus and much cheaper than a Golf used.

If you are going new then Kia are right up there for value, again the new i40 looks a winner for value.

The current Mondeo is also really huge.inside in estate form, i have used bith that and an old shape Touran when.doing 999 subcontract work in Bristol and the Touran was a nice place to sit.for a shift. A bit bland, but apparently the later ones are better in this respect.

Whatever you chose, good luck with your search.

bauk

Hi,

I know someone explained earlier about ISOFIX but to be a bit more clearer. The ISOFIX mounting points are part of the body of the car. The car seat base latches onto the the metal bars to secure the seat. It is meant to be better than using the seatbelt option for safety and convenience.

The Pro_Ceed is actually the 3 door version of the Ceed. If you are going to run the car into the ground then this is a good option and visibility was good for a focus sized car. In fact I remember seeing it voted number one for reliability last year. I still think you should take a look at the VW Golf MK6 1.4TSI Match as it is a really nice car. I don't know if a diesel is appropriate in your situation as you don't do really high mileage and the servicing is more frequent and higher cost I thought that petrol. (but don't quote me on that).

Vauxhall also have a lifetime warranty. I took a Corsa out when I was deciding but the car I took out was a 1.4 but drove like a 1.2. Perhaps it was just that car but it put me off. Remember though to look out for the safety features. You will find some manufacturers have them as added options like other include them as standard.

Also one other thing I forgot to mention is you may want to make sure there is an option to turn off the passenger airbag. You need to do this if you have your child in the front car seat when it is the two of you...

The Meriva looked interesting with the way the doors opened but I was looking for a big car.

Chimpofdoom

Aye paddy will last a wee while longer.. paid £400 for repairs recently (new brake pipes) but if it gets me another year

Having had a wee think on the commute home, I'd consider a used Prius! Rated one of the most reliable cars EVER.. cheap road tax (£10 on older models) and of course fuel economy.. big boot from what I've read! Not sure about the rear window though...

bigjl

Indeed the Prius is a reliable car, must be thousands of these in use as Private Hire cars in London alone.

I know of many that have gone well past 200k with very little maintenance.

The newer ones have free Congestion Charge in London but not the old shape, meaning there may be many for sale at decent prices after the middle classes find they have to pay £10 a day to drop Tarquin at school.

The Prius is one car that holds its value very well in London.

I have heard that more and more people are getting them converted to LPG aswell, with the new LPG kits they can start and stop on LPG so never really need to run on petrol.

As they will easily do 55mpg round London they make an interesting proposition with LPG, much cheaper to run than a diesel.

grizzly1911

Sound deadening - especially between the front and rear.

Think hard and long about anything new and shiny could be depressing when they empty the contents of there little bellies over yourseat belts and seat.

Loud radio to cover up the "are we there yet?".

Loads of door/seat back pockets for all the sticky stuff that they don't like the taste of or will leave till later. not forgetting empty sweat wrappers, felt pens with lids missing, biscuit entrails, hair grips, bobbles etc.

Strong parcel shelf for nappy changing.

And when they get to 17 you can then provide them with access to your then cherished motor to do loads of pointless miles emptying your tank, wallet and liberally spreading burger boxes and half finished coke drinks around.

Think that's it for now.:rotfl::rotfl:

property.advert

I've got a 2007 Astra 1.8 (140) auto which is a decent car. 19k miles when I got it 6 months ago, 2 years Network Q warranty, decent spec (Design = leather seats, air con etc.) and it does about 30 mpg on 2 mile trips a few times a day with a longer run a couple of times a week. You can get one for about £5k now. At 3 years old many are coming from Motability.

Even considering another for 2nd car as it is about the cheapest, newest, half decent thing around.

pinkteapot

Thanks for all the good points. I actually hadn't thought about kids throwing up in a brand new car (couple of years old by then)... On a similar note, one thing holding me back is that hubby and I are outdoorsy and we'll often get in the car after a hike with less than clean shoes. Upsets me when Oscar gets grubby so I do worry that I'd be a bit Monica over a new car. There is at least a brilliant hand car-wash in town that does a superb inside and outside clean.

I wouldn't actually look at the Pro_Ceed as it's three door. I just thought the name was truly awful.

I don't know about estates and larger-than-supermini MPVs. The new Meriva is 20cm longer than our current car and 10cm wider (I love Parker's car stats site!). I saw a Touran on my walk home last night and thought it looked enormous - must check the size of that.

Off to some dealers this afternoon to start looking. I think we'll start by looking at new and price up the spec we'd want if we do see something we like. I'm leaning towards new but not 100% sold yet and would certainly consider nearly-new (max 2 years old).

As I mentioned earlier, a Ford devotee friend of mine bought a brand new Hyundai i30 last year as it was so much cheaper than the Ford equivalent (the dealer also haggled more than her local Ford) so I will certainly be looking at Kia and Hyundai.

My mum loves her Mazda2 and Vauxhall and Mazda are at the same dealer in our town so we'll see what they've got.

Kilty_2

A Citroen Xsara Picasso ticks a lot of your boxes - unsure if you can still buy pre-reg 10 plate ones (the last of them) but they were cheap this time last year.

I know you said no French though :rotfl:

grizzly1911

Kilty wrote: »

A Citroen Xsara Picasso ticks a lot of your boxes - unsure if you can still buy pre-reg 10 plate ones (the last of them) but they were cheap this time last year.

I know you said no French though :rotfl:

Agree on that one -we had hours when the kids were a bit older. It was a very flexible car and they could see out of the windows too.

Only trouble was they loved flicking the tables up and down and moving the middle ear seat backwards and forwards, folding the backrest down too bless em;)

Kilty_2

grizzly1911 wrote: »

Only trouble was they loved flicking the tables up and down and moving the middle ear seat backwards and forwards, folding the backrest down too bless em;)

:rotfl:

I guess that could get a bit tedious. I just used one (courtesy car) as a motorway battle cruiser for a few thousand miles last year.