Best family car for £2,000

EhJack

I need to get a new car, since my current Ford Fiesta is far too small. Although it's done me well (2000 Reg and 50k miles and no problems at all).

We have a 3 year old and another one on the way, so need to expand for the usual prams etc to fit. Was looking at Renault Scenic's and they seemed perfect, almost too perfect. It looked nice, had some cool gadgets inside and most importantly the space. However reading a lot of reviews showed it's very unreliable and encounters faults on a regular basis.

I will be commuting to work about 40 miles a day and the odd occasion 300 miles down south to London from Glasgow to visit family.

So something that will be able to handle motorway driving with comfort would be good, as well as having a lot of room for the little ones. The drivers seat in my Fiesta has been ruined at the back due to the little one kicking it since it's very squashy.

Thanks

GJ_WRX

Avoid the Renault, infact anything French!! I had a mate that worked at Renault who advised me never to buy one.

Try looking for a Civic 1.6 SE, bit bigger than your current fiesta, pretty good on fuel, nice to drive and very reliable. I bought my mum one a few months ago with 60k, 2003/53 for £2200.

They have the gear stick up on the dash which free up space between seats and they have no transmission tunnel in the back so lots of room for the kids.

A Focus might be another good option, you should be able to get something a bit more modern for the money. Although in my opinion they are not quite as well built as the civic as there are a lot around parts and servicing is cheap.

EhJack

I've definitely steered (no pun intended) away from Renault's. It's a shame because the Scenic would be an excellent car if it was built better.

The Civic looks good, however the space in the boot is still a bit on the small side. We would struggle getting everything inside, especially when travelling away for a few days with prams, luggage etc.

mattyprice4004

Depending how old you are - Rover 75 Tourers (the estate) are pretty cheap these days.

BMW diesel engine (don't bother with the petrol engines IMO) and 40-45MPG from the manual.

If you're under 40, you may not consider it cool enough though

I had one at 21 and loved it. Really handy for chucking the baby and all related items into. Not literally, of course!

muddyl

It depends how big you want.
Focus are good. Vectra are very good and they are pretty cheap as there are loads about. Nissan primera's are big and very under rated.

People carrier wise the Citroën c8 are good (exactly the same car as pugoet 807 and fiat Ulysses). They use the HDi engine which is in loads of cars nowadays and proved to be very reliable.

It depends how big you want really.

Chimpofdoom

+1 for the civic (But I'm biased because I have one)

All bias aside, they are great cars, I've got a 2006 one which is largely different from the previous generation, but I've test driven those and they are good to drive and VERY reliable!

Another car to consider is a Jazz.. as much as I hate to say it.. a mate has one for his young family and it's very practical.

Other wise, toyota corolla?

motorguy

EhJack wrote: »

I need to get a new car, since my current Ford Fiesta is far too small. Although it's done me well (2000 Reg and 50k miles and no problems at all).

We have a 3 year old and another one on the way, so need to expand for the usual prams etc to fit. Was looking at Renault Scenic's and they seemed perfect, almost too perfect. It looked nice, had some cool gadgets inside and most importantly the space. However reading a lot of reviews showed it's very unreliable and encounters faults on a regular basis.

I will be commuting to work about 40 miles a day and the odd occasion 300 miles down south to London from Glasgow to visit family.

So something that will be able to handle motorway driving with comfort would be good, as well as having a lot of room for the little ones. The drivers seat in my Fiesta has been ruined at the back due to the little one kicking it since it's very squashy.

Thanks

Focus 1.8 Turbodiesel in Zetec Spec. Great car, handles well, good economy. Buy privately and make sure timing belt, etc, has been done and its well serviced. Look for one that has been owned for several years.

Bodywise rear arches tend to rot so watch for that.

OR a Focus 1.6 petrol in Zetec spec. Cheaper, so you'll get a younger one for your money.

Cars and engines to avoid

Vauxhall 1.9 CDTI
Peugeot 1.6 HDI
Renault 1.9 DCI and 1.5 DCI
Ford 1.6 Diesel
Volvo 1.6 Diesel
Ford 2.0 Diesel
BMW 2.0 Diesel, found in the 320d

EhJack

mattyprice4004 wrote: »

Depending how old you are - Rover 75 Tourers (the estate) are pretty cheap these days.

BMW diesel engine (don't bother with the petrol engines IMO) and 40-45MPG from the manual.

If you're under 40, you may not consider it cool enough though

I had one at 21 and loved it. Really handy for chucking the baby and all related items into. Not literally, of course!

I'm 35 and I think the rover looks really nice. However I'd imagine it would be expensive to run, since most of the engine sizes are 1.8+

muddyl wrote: »

It depends how big you want.
Focus are good. Vectra are very good and they are pretty cheap as there are loads about. Nissan primera's are big and very under rated.

People carrier wise the Citroën c8 are good (exactly the same car as pugoet 807 and fiat Ulysses). They use the HDi engine which is in loads of cars nowadays and proved to be very reliable.

It depends how big you want really.

I love Nissan's, I used to have a 1989 bluebird premium; how I loved that thing. Although I'm not overly confident in them since their affiliation with Renault. My friend has the new Nissan Note and it's already seeing signs of problems.

motorguy wrote: »

Focus 1.8 Turbodiesel in Zetec Spec. Great car, handles well, good economy. Buy privately and make sure timing belt, etc, has been done and its well serviced. Look for one that has been owned for several years.

Bodywise rear arches tend to rot so watch for that.

OR a Focus 1.6 petrol in Zetec spec. Cheaper, so you'll get a younger one for your money.

Cars and engines to avoid

Vauxhall 1.9 CDTI
Peugeot 1.6 HDI
Renault 1.9 DCI and 1.5 DCI
Ford 1.6 Diesel
Volvo 1.6 Diesel
Ford 2.0 Diesel
BMW 2.0 Diesel, found in the 320d

Thanks for the advice, though I'd probably want something other than a Ford. Unless it was a C-MAX or S-MAX but due to my budget I don't think I could get one of them unfortunately.

mattyprice4004

EhJack wrote: »

I'm 35 and I think the rover looks really nice. However I'd imagine it would be expensive to run, since most of the engine sizes are 1.8+

They're all 1.8, you can get:
1.8 Petrol (K series, unless you're a mechanic they're best avoided. Quite high maintenance)
2.0 V6 Petrol (Poor economy)
2.5 V6 Petrol (Just as bad economy as the 2.0, but some power to go with it at least)
2.0 Diesel (BMW M47 diesel, same as the 320d however none of the issues. Rover changed the turbo and inlet, both of which are the reasons not to get a BMW with this engine)

Insurance on the diesels is pretty cheap, same as my friend's 1.5 Civic in fact. It's worth a quote if you like the car, they're quite capable.

I wouldn't really be inclined to look at much else from our defunct British brand, however - everything else bar the 75 (and MG ZT based on the 75) has it's issues.

I've been a home-based Rover mechanic for many years, the 75 (and 600, but they're getting on now) are the only British cars that have really impressed me.

toomsie

Ford focus MK1

KTF

A clean looking Primera? A local taxi company runs these into the ground and has a stash of others for spares now they are getting 'rare'. 250k is not uncommon.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201304126241769/sort/default/usedcars/price-from/500/price-to/1000/engine-size-cars/2l_to_2-5l/onesearchad/used/onesearchad/nearlynew/onesearchad/new/page/3/radius/20/postcode/so304rp?logcode=p