Family sized hatchback suggestions

browneyedbazzi

Lungboy wrote: »

Or the Rapid, a good few £K cheaper, same engine, almost as big.

I've just has a look at the skoda website and saw the rapid - and I think it's worth a closer look. I hadn't seen that model before but I think it looks nice and the price I'm not keen on the Octavia - what's the point of a saloon shaped car with a hatchback???

Thank you for the other suggestions above - I thought about a hybrid and did test drive the hybrid Yaris. It seemed a good little car and very sensible but was exceptionally boring to drive and look at and felt quite cheap for a car that price.

Any opinions on the seat leon?

verityboo

Citroen Cactus? I Get over 50 mpg from my 1.2 petrol (110bhp)

F1F93

browneyedbazzi wrote: »

I'd like a 5 door family sized hatchback that gets decent mileage (at the very least it needs to out perform my current car which gets approx 41 mpg).

What do you need it for? Do you have children, do you need a lot of bootspace etc? And why don't you want anything bigger? (Is it just because you don't need anything bigger so don't want to pay extra, or do you want a small car?)

I have a SEAT Ibiza ST (Estate), which is about the same length as the Leon hatchback. The main difference is that the estate sacrifices some of the rear leg room to give a bigger boot.

Now, thats not to say that the rear legroom is tiny - far from it, in fact, but if you're very tall and regularly take 6 footers on long journeys then they may appreciate the Leon more. But if you were fine with a yaris then you'll be fine with the Ibiza.

Plus, if you shop around you can get a brand new Ibiza ST 1.4 Toca for £9495. You might struggle to beat the current 41mpg, but you should be able to match it. But rising to 51mpg will only save you £300 a year, so worth bearing in mind that if you spent £11,000 on a car that did 51mpg, it'd take you around 5 years to break even.

HTH.

vansboy

Just in case you don't know of the site, do have a look at the reviews in Honest John. Pretty much as sensible and clear as well as accurate opinions of good and bad from every make.

VB

wallbash

You are going to get a lot of suggestions from readers. But you have to put on your list the best selling 5 door family sized hatchback.
i.e the Ford Fiesta/ Focus.
Best selling means people have put hard cash to back up their choice.

browneyedbazzi

F1F93 wrote: »

What do you need it for? Do you have children, do you need a lot of bootspace etc? And why don't you want anything bigger? (Is it just because you don't need anything bigger so don't want to pay extra, or do you want a small car?)

The car will mostly be used for work - both commuting and travelling between sites, including regularly carrying adult passengers. I don't have children of my own yet but I look after someone else's little one from time to time so a decent boot to fit a buggy etc would be desirable. Also, although it's not an immediate concern, I wouldn't want a small car that I'd have to change if I have a baby in the next couple of years.

I don't really want anything bigger because I don't think I need it and I'm used to driving small cars so that's what I'm most comfortable in.

F1F93

browneyedbazzi wrote: »

The car will mostly be used for work - both commuting and travelling between sites, including regularly carrying adult passengers. I don't have children of my own yet but I look after someone else's little one from time to time so a decent boot to fit a buggy etc would be desirable. Also, although it's not an immediate concern, I wouldn't want a small car that I'd have to change if I have a baby in the next couple of years.

I don't really want anything bigger because I don't think I need it and I'm used to driving small cars so that's what I'm most comfortable in.

TBH for young children I'd rather have the Ibiza. They won't need the legroom, yet the boot will be a lot more valuable. I've gone from a Focus hatchback to the Ibiza estate and have noticed a massive increase in boot space despite the Ibiza being fractionally shorter than the focus. Go try one out!

Hyperxr

The Honda FRV is an excellent car.

ACG

Im picking up a diesel 1.5 renault captur on friday. Does around 65mpg (75mpg if you listen to their sales spiel).

You can buy them new for around £15-17k so I imagine one which is 2-3 years old can be bought for around the £10k mark.

Hyperxr

ACG wrote: »

Im picking up a diesel 1.5 renault captur on friday. Does around 65mpg (75mpg if you listen to their sales spiel).

You can buy them new for around £15-17k so I imagine one which is 2-3 years old can be bought for around the £10k mark.

And I thought I gave bad advice....2 very wrong pieces of information you are offering that does not fit inline with the OPs circumstances

1. His doing 12k/year, most of which is urban/traffic. Best to stay away from a modern diesel. Petrol would be his best bet

2. Partly relates to my first point, but the amount of mpg a car can give isn't everything. Yes, I do not doubt that a 1.5 dci Renault can return 65 mpg (on a motorway run) but if one were to do 12k/year in stop/start traffic you'd have a lot of expensive repair bills, one of which is the DPF

Personally I'd avoid French cars, they are riddled with electrical issues and aren't the most reliable of cars when comparing to other brands