Family car purchase. pls help!

katepnlo

I am so stuck and need some opinions before i start going into garages to look at cars.

My family: 2 adults 4 children aged 6, 10, 13,16
Budget 6.5k
Useage: I am mum I do school runs and local runs. 13&16 year olds are in the car maybe once a month, weekends they are all with their father.
On a normal day it is just myself and 6 year old who get in the car to go to school.
Partner has his own car for work.

I have had a 7 seater for years...I don't like them too much. Expensive to run and we never have a full car.
It is useful to take things to the dump once in a blue moon. It is being used this month to take us all to the airport for our first holiday in 5 years.
Next year IF we can afford a holiday our two step children will be coming so we will need a minibus taxi as we wont all fit in the 7 seater anyway.

But for those plus points I am still 90% sure the purchase cost and running costs out weigh that.
Am I crazy??
But for such a costly purchase I need to be more than 90% sure :S any thoughts either way?

Secondly. I would love to have a normal 5 seater. But what to go for?
I keep looking and have narrowed it down to an Audi (good solid car but also a bit of omg i would love one :P) or a VW Golf

Most importantly is a good reliable car and economic. Good insurance cost and lower brackets for tax.
I am 32.

Whats your thoughts?

Thanks in advance. I am going round in circles!

Mr_Thrifty

32 yrs old, with 4 kids the eldest of which is 16....

you didn't hang around then did you! must have been churning them out before you even left school - and can still afford £6.5K on a new car! not bad going ;-) hee hee

ahyhow, i'm not sure which car to go for, maybe an estate?

jumperjohn

KIA Sorrento. Good cars and large enough for lots of people!

katepnlo

Cheeky!! :P

Yes I had my first just after I finished with school. (She is a grammar school girl I might add and not a fool like her mother was ;p)
Nice well spoken children. Oh and we live in a nice house!! Not all young mothers or large families live like the media seem to suggest.
But a tv program about the ones who do well in life is hardly exciting and lacks at giving the shock value the media require these days :P

Mr_Thrifty

hehe u sound like a great mum ;-)

on the topic of young mums, a girl i went to school with got preg at 16 and lives in an awesome house now. the council gave her this huge 4 bed detached house in the centre of a village, overlooking rolling fields. she doesn't have a single brain cell (unlike you) but was very pretty. she has done better for herself that many of the same kids she went to school with who then went on to russell group universities (bigger house, better car etc) and didn't even have to do a single day's worth of work to get it.

you are right though, there are many young mums out there who are hard working and deserve everything they have - u are one of them :-)

i have been thinking more about cars and what about a volvo? some of them look quite nice these days and they are very practical

forgotmyname

Mondeo Estate. Cheap Cheap Cheap. Reliable and did i mention CHEAP.

So many of them around only buy a perfect one. Windscreen washer bottle full? NO go and look at another one. They are 10 a penny.

£6.5k it will only be a couple of years old. Where a Golf or an Audi will be MUCH older.

I would like an A6 all road, But the cheapest 2004 car is £4000 and got close to 160,000 miles.
When in 2009 i bought a 2004 mondeo diesel estate with less miles and 130bhp and 6 gears for £2300.

2009 Mondeo for £4000.

Mr_Thrifty

yeah, i second the mondeo suggestion. they are great cars and very easy to maintain/service. comfortable and stylish too.

katepnlo

I shall add those to my list of cars to check out.

Thrifty Some council houses around here seem huge and if on the open market would go for silly amounts of money!

I am resisting the urge to justify myself too much Thrifty :P
I think the only thing you could get me on is child tax credit....but I am pretty sure half the nation gets that.

Anyway I think finding and economical, low mileage Audi is a bit of a pipe dream. I am optimistic! I can hope.

Mr_Thrifty

nothing wrong with child tax credit at all - if you're entitled to it, u should take it! :-)

i would expect u can find a nice audi for £6.5K, i think u just have to shop around really. have u tried "auto trader"?

Mr_Thrifty

i did a search on auto trader and i am sure u can find a lovely audi for that price

look, here is a link:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/search/used/cars/audi/postcode/wc2n5hs/radius/1500/onesearchad/used%2Cnearlynew%2Cnew/price-to/7000/price-from/5000/body-type/estate/sort/default

buscape

What about this? £170 for a year's tax, economical and lower mileage or newer than Audi A4's at that price.

Good value for money if you ask me, you would need the best part of £9000 for an A4 of the same year with similar levels of equipment and similar miles.