Best family friendly cars

Beckyboo1986_2

Hi all
I appreciate this is very much a preference thing but I wondered if you could recommend some of your family friendly cars please? I'm expecting my first baby next month and I've fitted my isofix car seat and it's pretty tight fit in my BMW 1 series 118.
There are a few things that are a must for me but I'm sure I can look for these when searching for specific cars. Things such as sat nav, leather seats, automatic headlights are what I'd like. I also have a dog so space for him in the boot is a must. 
I'll be looking for petrol/hybrid and either automatic and manual is fine.
I have a budget if £15,000.
Thanks.

jimjames

Our VW Passat estate has been fantastic for family use. Great for young family but also good rear leg room for them as they grow older

Goudy

Soft Roaders/SUV's are popular with families for a reason.

Apart from the preceived safety, anyone that's had to force a rigid toddler into a car seat while bending over will know that height matters!

For your money I would look at a Suzuki Vitara SZ5, either 1.6 petrol or the 1.4 Boosterjet (turbo) petrol.

Leather/Suede Seats, Sat Nav, Auto Lights and Wipers, Active Cruise, City Brake System, Front and Rear Parking Sensor and Rear Camera, Twin Sunroof, Keyless Entry and Start, plenty of boot space for the dog, super reliable and you might even find the odd auto version out there.

Steer clear of the Allgrip 4x4 and it'll hum along the motorway at 50mpg easily all day.

BOWFER

That kind of dough, you're getting a really good choice.
As others have said, for the sake of your back get an SUV.
I'd look at the Kia Sportage, you'll get one that still has years of its 7 year warranty left and loads of them have the spec you want (look at trim level '3')
We've had two and both were perfectly reliable.
The Hyundai IX35/Tucson (they changed the name) is mechanically identical to the Kia Sportage but only has a 5 year warranty - but you might prefer the Hyundai looks)
Or if you want to stick with BMW (and why not), an X3 - but that won't have any warranty left.

mgfvvc

If you aren't convinced by SUVs, we upgraded from a Civic to an Octavia vRS when our eldest was one. The Civic was pretty good with just one child, but we wanted a bit more boot space for our second. The Octavia had loads of space, reasonable reliability and the vRS went like a rocket.

Clive_Woody

mgfvvc said:

If you aren't convinced by SUVs, we upgraded from a Civic to an Octavia vRS when our eldest was one. The Civic was pretty good with just one child, but we wanted a bit more boot space for our second. The Octavia had loads of space, reasonable reliability and the vRS went like a rocket.

I went from an Ibiza to an Octavia vRS estate when our first little one arrived. Nearly 15 years later I'm on my second Octavia vRS and love it. Great family cars with loads of space, plenty of gadgets and cheap to run and service. My kids have had plenty of picnics in the boot when it's raining.

mobileron

Skoda superb estate, youl get all the family and next doors as well into it.
Very reliable lots of gadgets and cheap to run.

Herzlos

If you can get something with individually folding and sliding rear seats, you'll never want to go back.
More boot space for a buggly whilst kid on the left is small enough without impacting on kid on the right?
Got bigger passengers who need legroom but not luggage?

Need to carry a longish item and 2 kids?

All dead easy.

BOWFER

'First baby syndrome' always makes me laugh a little when it comes to cars.
Many panic and totally overestimate the size of car needed, some friends went and bought an S-Max for one kid!!
You have to remember the buggy stage really is very temporary, and it won't be long before they're climbing in and out of their seats themselves either.
One tip i would give is that the GRACO bases for baby seats are a godsend.
They remain permanently belted into the car, then the baby seat just clips on/off like a satnav clicking onto a mount.
routing seatbelts around the baby seat for every journey is so 1990s.

Flight3287462

After years of 4x4 (mainly for towing horses) I have had a Skoda Superb for two years.  Since then I have added a Fabia for my daughter and a Kamiq for her indoors.  Great cars, great value for money and not stuck in the Suez Canal.

[Deleted User]

How. An you get your family and next doors family in a skoda superb estate if it only has 5 seats?
do they have seats in the boot like the olden days?