What car do I need?

[Snappyteabread]

Need it to be safe and reliable. Cheap to run and repair. Don't care about bells and whistles and looks. Budget up to £10k. Mileage up to 20k. Do ca 12k a year, incl lots of motorway driving but also ferrying children. Have 2 tall children. Currently driving a 1.6 Focus. Need that kind of boot I think. What would you recommend?

You have a choice of about 15000. 🙄🙄🙄

Yes that's the issue! Wanting a car that lots of people drive and love. That way garages know the car inside out and parts are generally cheaper. Loads of cars out there but not many are truly reliable, safe and good value.

Your current car 1.6 Focus is the third best selling car in the UK - could be a clue ! - its little sister (the Fiesta), the no.1. If you go with the 'wisdom of the crowd', you'll stick with what you have.

That's kind of my thinking too but just don't want to miss any other options.

Duster or Skoda Yeti.

Ford Kuga! I love mine

Volvo xc60
Love of my life ❤️

Don't get an SUV, and if you're doing 12K and motorways I'd say diesel. Not convinced any electric or hybrid cars can do any kind of long distance yet.
Normal estate car like Focus, Golf/Passat, A3, 5 series, C/E class, V60, Octavia etc. If you want reliable, avoid French.
There's some good engines out there with £0-£30 VAT and around 50mpg (real usage, not what's quoted in adverts) so those cars would be cheap to run.
Figure out what's most important to you first, and then narrow it down from there.

Get the biggest SUV your money will stretch to.

So long as its Korean or Japanese and NOT a Nissan.

The OP has a £10k budget and wants a car with c20k miles. Two teenagers who will grow.

I disagree about an SUV, totally pointless unless you like buying twice as much fuel as you need to.

I'd go for a Skoda Octavia estate. At 12000 miles, probably petrol unless you can find a deal on a diesel as the extra fuel economy is often offset by higher servicing, purchase, tax costs etc.

Don't worry so much about the mileage and look for something in the right price range at your local dealers, or can probably get a 3 YO ex lease car for a bit less but the mileage might be a bit higher but not necessarily catastrophically so.

Skoda Octavia hatchback. No need for an estate as the boot is truly huge.