Choosing a used family car

Suznm

I've been reading old threads on used cars with interest and am hoping to get some advice. After being very fearful of driving for years, I can now drive and need to buy a car. I am a competent but inexperienced driver (I had an excellent driving instructor) and I have a young family. So I'm looking for advice on a car that is safe, cost-effective and suitable for a family. I don't expect to be doing much long distance driving. I'd be able to pay about £5k-7k cash, and would probably look to a personal loan or 0% credit card to cover the rest. Before I confirm the financing, I need to narrow down my search.  

Cash limits me to maybe an older Ford Focus or similar. (Though the Focus doesn't sound too reliable.) 

If I do borrow/finance, I would be comfortable paying about £15-17k for the car which opens up a decent range of options and I would be able to pay back the borrowed sum at a decent rate. On the list might be a newer Ford Focus, Volvo V40, Skoda Fabia or Octavia (if I can afford it) or a crossover like a Mazda CX-3 or SEAT Arona. I am wondering if a crossover might help with my confidence on the road. 

I will opt for petrol and an automatic. 

I have good credit and could secure a loan for a newer or more expensive car but I'm not convinced that makes sense financially and it would probably push my level of debt for the car higher than I'm comfortable with. 

My priority is safety (and value for money!). Any opinions? I am one of those people who can get obsessive researching reviews and details, so if the answer is 'just buy a car' then that will be useful advice too. 

Flight3287462

Your list looks fairly solid.  Your biggest problem just now is there is no value for money out there at the moment, if you can hang fire I think prices will come back as folk decide eg two cars is an extravagance

iwb100

Have you thought about leasing? If you aren’t doing huge miles and want to get something easy that doesn’t lock you in to potentially the wrong vehicle then it’s very good. You can lease for say £1000 deposit and then say £150 a month for 3 years. Or something like that. 

It obviously is somewhat more expensive, but takes out the high cost in the second hand car market currently and also potentially the worry for someone new to it not really knowing what to go for. Would also depend how quickly you need a car and what leading companies have in stock. Worth a look though.

Whatever you decide I’d go small family hatchback or small crossover (if you think there is enough space) as a starting point as really going bigger is probably not advisable unless you really need to.

I’d also say that you can avoid the expensive badges and still end up with good cars. An Audi is the same more or less bar the trimmings as a Skoda. All the same parts under the bonnet as all VAG cars. For your first I’d definitely look for something that is well kitted out and comfortable rather than flashy. 

Stubod

..as above you can forget value for money, as due to various factors now is the worst time in the history of motoring to buy a used car. 
8n general your car choices seem pretty good IMHO, and I think "ordinary hatchback" will be more cost effective than SUV's due to the popularity of the later.
I have had 3 Octavia's and they have proved to be a good balance in terms of practicality, running costs and size. (can particularly recommend the 1.4 petrol, but avoid the 1.8). 
Always worth checking the various forums for know problems on any car you think you may get. 
If buying older I would tend to avoid anything French, and if possible consider something Japanese. 
Also consider that the less the fancy options, the less there is to go wrong!

Grumpy_chap

Suznm said:

I've been reading old threads on used cars with interest and am hoping to get some advice. After being very fearful of driving for years, I can now drive and need to buy a car. I am a competent but inexperienced driver (I had an excellent driving instructor) and I have a young family. So I'm looking for advice on a car that is safe, cost-effective and suitable for a family. I don't expect to be doing much long distance driving. I'd be able to pay about £5k-7k cash, and would probably look to a personal loan or 0% credit card to cover the rest. Before I confirm the financing, I need to narrow down my search.  

Cash limits me to maybe an older Ford Focus or similar. (Though the Focus doesn't sound too reliable.) 

If I do borrow/finance, I would be comfortable paying about £15-17k for the car which opens up a decent range of options and I would be able to pay back the borrowed sum at a decent rate. On the list might be a newer Ford Focus, Volvo V40, Skoda Fabia or Octavia (if I can afford it) or a crossover like a Mazda CX-3 or SEAT Arona. I am wondering if a crossover might help with my confidence on the road. 

I will opt for petrol and an automatic. 

I have good credit and could secure a loan for a newer or more expensive car but I'm not convinced that makes sense financially and it would probably push my level of debt for the car higher than I'm comfortable with. 

My priority is safety (and value for money!). Any opinions? I am one of those people who can get obsessive researching reviews and details, so if the answer is 'just buy a car' then that will be useful advice too. 

All of those cars are good choices. 

The hatchbacks are likely to be more affordable than the crossovers.  The crossovers might be more flexible if you are transporting young children.  That is going to come down to a personal preference as much as anything so no-one else can advise what is the "correct" thing to do.

With a cash budget of £5k - £7k, I would be looking out the best car I could find in that cash budget and not getting embroiled in finance / lease or any of that ongoing burden.  Use the loan payments that you would have paid to build up savings for the next car when the time comes.  The older Ford's with the Zetec engine are virtually bullet-proof.

Suznm

Thank you everyone for your comments. iwb raises a good point in that, truthfully, I don't really know what kind of a driver I'll be or what kind of car I'll want in future. I may do some careful weighing up of the cost of a used car vs a lease -- never would have imagined saying that but with prices as high as they are it seems worth weighing all options. On the other hand t's easy to get lured into the shinier newer cars and the relatively cheap finance deals, but maybe a decent 5-7 year old hatchback will cover me for now. 

Herzlos

Crossovers are popular now (and command a premium), partially for the image but some people like the extra height which can be handy when loading smaller kids into car seats. They tend to have less internal space than the lower hatchback/estate equivalents though.

If you're borrowing and at the £15-17k range then it might be worth looking at MPVs like the Vauxhall Zafira or Combo Life. Tragically unfashionable but hugely practical.

RobM99

I'm in the same boat - Honda Civic worth a look? I like 'em!

iwb100

Herzlos said:

Crossovers are popular now (and command a premium), partially for the image but some people like the extra height which can be handy when loading smaller kids into car seats. They tend to have less internal space than the lower hatchback/estate equivalents though.

If you're borrowing and at the £15-17k range then it might be worth looking at MPVs like the Vauxhall Zafira or Combo Life. Tragically unfashionable but hugely practical.

Take the T Cross and Polo. T cross has same space in back, more headroom and 100L more space in boot which is pretty significant for a family car.

Herzlos

iwb100 said:

Herzlos said:

Crossovers are popular now (and command a premium), partially for the image but some people like the extra height which can be handy when loading smaller kids into car seats. They tend to have less internal space than the lower hatchback/estate equivalents though.

If you're borrowing and at the £15-17k range then it might be worth looking at MPVs like the Vauxhall Zafira or Combo Life. Tragically unfashionable but hugely practical.

Take the T Cross and Polo. T cross has same space in back, more headroom and 100L more space in boot which is pretty significant for a family car.

T Cross is also 20cm longer and 3cm wider than the Polo, though?

So it's more the same size as a Golf, which has 100L more space again.

VFR

Check out a Honda FRV, built in Japan which always helps.
A petrol auto with 6 seats so plenty of room for a family.
2010 is the latest as they were not imported into the UK after that so a really nice one would be around (?) 6k absolute max but there are places importing later grey imports.