Car for city driving - recommendations please!

[Rosa100]

We need to get a new car. I have no idea about cars, can anyone recommend any one based on the below criteria

• environmentally friendly
• Easy to drive/park - my partner normally drives but I want to get more confident
• Small so it’s easy to park in city
• Roomy inside for 2 children and 1 adult in the back. We currently have a Skoda Fabia and we have narrow car seats and can squeeze an adult in the middle but would ideally like a little extra room.

Thanks!

Bump!

I’d recommend a Kia - they usually have 7yr warranty.

a friend has a Honda jazz and swears by it, esp for parking as it has a flatter back. It’s known for being an old persons car but her theory is that that’s because they want something reliable which is straightforward.

Disclaimer; We both live in cities but are both confident drivers so keep that in mind.

If you like your fabia what about a skoda Kamiq?

Small but room for 3 in the back including car seats is a tricky ask.

We've had 2x adults 1x car seat in the back of our 5 door Suzuki swift and that was fine. But when we knew we were likely to have another child we changed it for something with a bigger middle seat. That would fit all your other criteria though.

Thanks for the suggestions, that’s helpful!

Plenty of room in the Kamiq. Decent sized boot, space for three in the back.

do you work for the NHS?'hyundai have me a huge discount when i bought a car from them.
not glamorous but has been reliable and really nice way to buy not pushy at all

That’s great you got a discount! I don’t work for the nhs unfortunately - which Hyundai would you recommend?

I think the words car and environmentally friendly are mutually exclusive.

My sister has the Hyundai i10 and that will be no good for 3 in the back. Middle seat is absolutely miniscule!

Seat Arona. For city driving one of the smaller engines which is more environmentally friendly.

Well that's nice but until we get access to a functional affordable public transport system and safe cycling facilities some of us need a car to do things like go to work, take children to childcare, access leisure facilities, etc etc.

Not everyone lives within walking distance of local amenities or has frequent, affordable public transport where they live. Are we all supposed to sit at home and never leave our local area until the day comes that we have these?

Get any hybrid, if it’s mainly for urban driving you will mainly use the electric function.
Fiesta, Yaris, etc.

Electric/hybrid is okay though isn’t it? I do take your point though and we don’t use our car very often as we do have good public transport. Sometimes it is very useful though! Perhaps we should look into a car sharing option.

Thanks for the recommendations - I just watched some very funny review videos about how the Honda jazz is a car for old people - I don’t really care though and I quite liked the look of it!

I have a SEAT Leon, which I think is the next class up from a Fabia. It's much more roomy on the inside than SUV type cars with the same outer dimensions. Easy enough to park - I am pretty rubbish at parking but manage fine with it. I'll be honest, I don't know about the environmental credentials, as our approach is to walk (me) and cycle (him) whenever possible, and with careful planning we've started to really reduce our mileage. We don't have off-road parking so need to wait a few years for improved public charging before going electric.

What's your options for potentially charging an electric car? Do you have a driveway/garage, or the option to charge at work?

Depends on your budget but a Nissan Leaf might work. EVs can often be comparatively spacious inside because of how they're packaged. (Although some also have a weird middle seat arrangement, so you'd have to look at individual models.)

Outside of electric, it's a shame Honda don't make the FRV any more. It was a six seater, with two rows of three proper seats. (Fiat Multipla same principle.) Genius packaging. That would answer a lot of your requirements but the ones you'd find now would be pretty old.

If you're happy with Skoda, the next one up size-wise is the Scala.