Good Family Car suitable for camping trips?

steve-L

Deborah1970 wrote: »

Hi all, just wondering what you would recommend as a good family car suitable for going camping with 2 children.

Ideally up to £4K price perhaps at a push up to £5k. Hubby favours diesels but is not fussed if manual or automatic as has driven both. Also would like a low Insurance group, reliable & not costing a fortune in parts & servicing!

Have noted that Citroens have problems with the electrics so they would probably be out. Not going to get another Peugeuot as although we loved both Peugeots we have had (a Partner Combi & a 407 Estate the parts were horrendously expensive when anything went wrong! Not that it did often.

Hubby was wondering whether a Ford Focus Estate would be a good idea or poss a VW Passat? A 2005/2006 is the oldest we would ideally want to go to.

Anyway over to you lot with any recommendations please? Thank you

Citroen and Peugeot are the same company, same cars with different trim.
Although both do have problems with electronics I owned 2 and parts were really not that expensive.

Unless you do your own mechanics (what you can do at home is diminishing quickly with modern cars) then parts are not usually the biggest cost anyway due to labour costs.

For the stuff you can do at home, eBay usually can provide!

In general its worth noting that the vehicles with the generally higher priced parts are more expensive for a reason; that is better quality parts.

i.e. My Honda parts are quite expensive (new) but built to last.

wba31

Honda Accord estate is a great car, also the civic is surprisingly roomy. the 2.2 diesel engine in them is incredible, get a decent spec and you'll have more kit than you know what to do with

gord115

Deborah1970 wrote: »

Thanks getmore4less. I wondered about a Mondeo as see a lot of them about. What are Skoda's like for cost of parts/servicing?

Skoda have come a long way. I am of an age when years ago Skoda were considered the pits, lol! Do like the look of their more recent cars though.

I've had 3 Skodas,they are by far the cheapest cars to run I have had,in 30 years,due to the fact the parts are reasonable and they are mega reliable.

The boot in the Octavia is also massive.

Look out for ex mini cabs though...

sunshinetours

Run a smaller car and then get a large roof box for camping bits or a box trailer and tow everything. Advantage of trailer is if you go for a secure one (lockable top) You can leave some of your items in then trailer stored for whenever you wnat to get away

CKhalvashi

Skoda Octavia 1.9TDi is pick of the bunch for us (and we own a taxi firm)

If you can get the 2.0 with the DSG for this money, you won't be moaning, but don't buy a pre-'55' one is the only advice we can give.

Most our fleet is the 1.6 TDi stuff now, and the '60' plate ones we have (just chucked the last of the '10' with 250k+ miles) have been brilliant, returned 60+ mpg and one has 416k on it :eek:

Caddy Maxi (which we also use) is a good larger solution, and exactly the same car underneath.

CK

SailorSam

I'd go for a small trailer, they come in handy all year around moving things at home to the dump etc.

poppasmurf_bewdley

I tow a touring caravan, and I'm on my second Mondeo 2.0 diesel estate. Both are good family cars with as much room for camping equipment as you are ever likely to need.

Both cars have been comfortable, reliable and have given 40+mpg. The current Mondeo is actually LARGER than the last Granada.

Deborah1970

Thanks everyone! Will bear all your suggestions in mind

Just got to work out how we are going to get to car dealers without a car now!!!

steve-L

wba31 wrote: »

2.2 diesel engine in them is incredible

I wouldn't say its incredible but certainly functional.
It's only 140BHP so its not really very quick and equally it gets less MPG in real life than my 3L BMW on motorways at 75 but it is durable and a nice engine to drive.

Our Accord has 180,000 on it and will hopefully last another 5 years.

JQ.

My wife has a Ford C-Max and the boot is enormous - bigger than a Range Rover, and 2 litres bigger than a Skoda Octavia Estate boot. Plus if you need some extra room the middle rear seat can be removed entirely. In fact any of the rear seats can be removed. It's a very versatile car, although my wife doesn't always appreciate that, particularly when I borrow it for trips to the tip !!