What car?

ddebski_us

gabbleRatchet wrote: »

Excellent

So..back to the OP. It may be useful for you to decide which class of car would be most suited to you needs.

Super mini, small/medium, large, hatch or saloon, petrol or Diesel, all have their pros and cons.

The Golf, Focus and Civic are all good choices, even that unreliable old clunker the Honda Jazz has a few fans.

If you can be a bit more specific about your needs it'll be easier for people to make suggestions, although for those who are so inclined it's possible to criticise any choice

Thank you

Just a small family hatchback, not sure about petrol/diesel (always had petrol) or manual/auto (always had a manual but drove my dad's auto diesel a few weeks ago and was impressed).

Reckon I'll do up to 7k a year, handful of long trips (400 mile round trips), mainly commuting/local trips of 20 miles or so daily. Has to be 5dr for ease of getting my 1 year old into the back and have a reasonable size boot for the buggy. Keeping running costs down (don't mind spending more on the car if the upkeep is cheapish)

Relatively simple requirements I guess.

xDx

verityboo

ddebski_us wrote: »

Thank you

Just a small family hatchback, not sure about petrol/diesel (always had petrol) or manual/auto (always had a manual but drove my dad's auto diesel a few weeks ago and was impressed).

Reckon I'll do up to 7k a year, handful of long trips (400 mile round trips), mainly commuting/local trips of 20 miles or so daily. Has to be 5dr for ease of getting my 1 year old into the back and have a reasonable size boot for the buggy. Keeping running costs down (don't mind spending more on the car if the upkeep is cheapish)

Relatively simple requirements I guess.

xDx

With a relatively low mileage I think it best to stick to a petrol, problems with DPF (exhaust filters), Dual mass flywheels as well as fuel pumps and injectors can mean big bills when a diesel car goes wrong and they don't like lots of short journeys

Several friends who have owned Civics have changed them after having children because the boot is such an unhelpful shape, and because of the shape of the car access through the back doors is poor when when trying to lean in putting children into car seats etc

Probably the best car is the Ford Focus which has a good reputation and with plenty of choice. Alternatively the Mazda 3 and Volvo S40/V50 are based on the focus and are a similar size. It just depends on the OP's preference with regard to Badges

p.s. I can understand the OP's concern about the badge. SIL is a Garden designer / landscaper. The SIL found there is a huge variation in whether people employ her services depending on the car she arrived in to measure up (BIL is a dealer so she likes to try different cars!) She found the Mitsubishi Evo gave the worst impression