We've changed our lives in last couple of years and moved from London with two kids to remote-ish part of UK with very kind and generous community. Lot more driving is unavoidable.
In London we didn't have a car for years, then had the smallest thing practical. Now we need a grown-up car.
Partly this is because where we are people tend to have big cars and are always kindly giving lifts to our kids to and from activities.
It's got to the point where we really feel we need to be able to reciprocate, our kids are just early years in school and preschool and already we owe so many people. We have fifteen more years of running kids around to do! Plus we'd like to be able to take other members of the family out like our nieces and nephews.
Money isn't the biggest issue although we are not massive spenders. The priority for me is efficiency, cleanness of engine, the likelihood of it breaking down (we are both shit with cars). I was thinking of something like the new Honda CRV which has seven seats... also interested in people's experiences of the Volvo XC90 which I hear is very safe although probably pushing the budget.
My next question is, we've only ever owned second-hand cars... been looking at car-giant and they seem to be very pricey now - are we better off at this point getting a new model on a car payment plan? (No one in our extended frugal families have ever done this, considered the height of profligacy! But when we look at what we paid for our last car, and the money we've had to spend on it on MOTs and services even though it's a trusty VW, plus the depreciation from about £9k to £1k, we're down about £10-12k in 4 years anyway.)
Mums netters seem to be very knowledgeable about cars, especially driving them outside the city. Give me your advice!
Only proviso is it has to be automatic.