Help me choose next car please!

Andyo123

Well after a small prang yesterday which resulted in my Ford Focus being more expensive to fix than it is worth has left me with no car in a rural location with a 7 month pregnant wife and one child.

We are looking for our next car with a budget of 2-6 k. We have such a large range as we would be willing to spend more to save on running costs if it makes financial sense.

Milage is variable but I think we can safely say we would do around 10k miles plus in a year a mixture of short hops and longer commutes.

We have heard good things about the Skoda Fabia but think it may be a little small for pram and family, we like the look of the Octavia but think we may end up with huge milage which makes us worry about reliabillity. Ford Focus is also an option but we are finding it hard to pin point the best reg to aim for.

All advice greatly appreciated as I have very little knowlefge of cars and we need to snap something up really quickly!

disco.stu

Hi Andy,

Replied to you over at the Autocar site, but have copied & pasted below:

If you liked your Focus then there's no reason not to get another one. The Octavia would also be very good, and has fantastic boot space. You are correct that the Fabia may well be too small if you are used to a Focus.

Andyo123

Thanks for the reply/s Stu.

We really do like the Octavia but we are worried that for our budget we maay end up with something that has large milage and will be less fuel efficient so may end up pushing up running costs.

arcon5

I'm told the Peugeot 407 or 607 are good cars and have good economy

Ultrasonic

Andyo123 wrote: »

Thanks for the reply/s Stu.

We really do like the Octavia but we are worried that for our budget we maay end up with something that has large milage and will be less fuel efficient so may end up pushing up running costs.

What sort of fuel economy are you after? An average of 55mpg is easily achievable in an Octavia 1.9TDi, and they have a reputation for being good for very high mileages (it's why you see so many Octavia taxis). Note I'm talking real world fuel economy here not just published figures, see here.

poppasmurf_bewdley

Don't touch anything French if you want reliability, especially Renault or Citroen.

My favourite is the Ford Mondeo Mk 3 which range in price from less than £1k to about £5k. An estate costs maybe £300/£500 more and has massive room for prams, cots, bags, other kids, etc, etc.

A diesel 2 litre should give 40mpg plus.

The Mondeo is reliable and parts are cheaper than most other makes.

Ultrasonic

Andyo123 wrote: »

Milage is variable but I think we can safely say we would do around 10k miles plus in a year a mixture of short hops and longer commutes.

Thinking about it the suitability of a diesel would depend on quite how frequent and short your 'short hops' are. Also, as more and more people look to diesels for better fuel economy the price premium you pay over petrols is probably growing, so do some sums to see if the improved economy would actually work out for you.

If you were happy with your Focus then getting another wouldn't be a silly idea. Octavia's do have very impressive boot space though, but I think the crash protection of a Focus is a little better.

Ultrasonic

poppasmurf_bewdley wrote: »

A diesel 2 litre should give 40mpg plus.

40 mpg in a Diesel would seem rather disappointing fuel economy to me.

poppasmurf_bewdley

Ultrasonic wrote: »

40 mpg in a Diesel would seem rather disappointing fuel economy to me.

Don't forget I'm talking about the Mk3 Mondeo, which was designed pre 2000. The Mk4, which I have, gets much more. And the Mondy Mk3 gives an awful lot of car for the buck so it's no lightweight. The petrol version would be lucky to get 30mpg.