What car do you drive and do you recommend it?

[Dinoswearunderpants]

Hi all

I'm considering changing from my BWM 2 series active tourer to a bigger car. There's only the three of us plus the dog usually but I'd like a bigger boot for camping trips.

What car do you drive and do you recommend it?

My Dad was always the one I'd ask for car advice but he recently passed away so thought I'd ask here sorry.

Yep, my OH and his Freelander are going to have to be surgically separated when the time comes.😅

Nissan Qashqai - comfy, roomy, still quite nippy, very reliable, and cheaper than a lot of similar cars (and it’s the top of the range one with every gadget imaginable). My sister has a BMW X3 and the interiors of both cars are the same size, but the X3 is bulkier on the outside, so the Qashqai is easier to park!

If you have a make of car that 'fits' you, stick with it. We're on our fourth Merc. All saloons as we need room for three large cat carriers.

Lots of cars have collision waiver. You can switch it off, but I’ve no idea how.

My favourite sensible car was a Skoda Karoq. Very comfortable, high seating position which helps my back.

Now we only have one car , it’s a joint decision, so we have Toyota C-HR hybrid. It’s really easy to drive, quite nippy, especially pulling away and runs quite a good part of the journey on electric.

Im very pleased to report that the driving stats record my driving as 85% positive and DH 90%.

Skoda Octavia, we went camping once decided it was too cold and both me & my partner got in the boot with the chairs still up - comfortably so the boot is rather big😂 it runs very smooth and not too expensive x

I swapped my BMW 2 Series Active Tourer for a VW Tiguan. It’s head and shoulders above the BMW and the boot is much bigger too. I absolutely adore it.

Honda civic type r (fk8), its very spacious without being too large in parking spaces etc, fun to drive, big boot etc so very good as a family car.

Citroen Kadjar, Diesel.

Very surprised to find I love it after three Audis.

Chuffed to bits really. Tried it at my local dealer and got it for 12,500 with 450 miles on the clock. It was four years old but had only been used to pull a caravan locally!

Volvo all the way.

I've got a V90 and I adore it. It's an estate, not an SUV, but the boot space is amazing. It's a really lovely car and I'm really sad they've stopped making V90s now.

Ford Focus Activ, it’s fabulous to drive, has a full length sunroof and a decent sized boot though probably not big enough for camping with a family.

I have a Honda Jazz and love it for its ability to be a van when I need it. My daughter has just bought one although it is "uncool".
I can't see why it wouldn't be big enough for a dog.
But it's not as swish as your present car.

@DancingFerret I can understand that! I'm on my 3rd... 😂 through no fault of their own! Brilliant trucks, I'm hard on mine, they toodle across all sorts of terrain and I use it for taking the dogs out (we have working dogs) and for work and everything in between!

Nissan Qashqai, 1.6 diesel. I really like it. Comfy, fuel efficient, good price, drives well. Looking at either an xc60 or vw Tiguan next though I think.

It's the heated seats that I love in my car. I don't think I could ever go back.

Happy to give an opinion on any vehicle on your short list if you need me to 😊

We've got a newish (73 plate) Hyundai Tucson which is fine but I definitely don't love it. We nearly went for a Volvo XC40 and I wish I had done!

drive a mazda cx-5... i'm not a car person, its a manual drive, its an SUV? for the 3 or so years we have had it (purchased 2nd hand) we have had zero issues with it... i love it

A top of the range Audi Q7 that I bought second hand in mint condition a couple of years ago. Monstrously big and greedy on fuel, but I have too many children to carry around really. I love Audi's and have always opted for one where possible but this one, although lovely to drive, feels very wide and fuel consumption is mental. If I didn't have so many offspring I'd change it was a 5 seater Audi.

Sorry about your dad :(

i have a 20 plate VW Tiguan R auto - its brilliant . So spacious in the back for adults , huge boot and goes like the clappers .
prior to this I had an Audi a3, and when my kids were little , a Volvo xc90 . All recommended and swapped due to changes in circumstances not because of dissatisfaction.

Audi Q5 here and bloody love it . Large boot suitable for 3 dogs , plenty of seat space and fantastic car on the open road , just eats the miles . Biggest pain is parking because spaces are getting smaller and smaller .

On my second BMW X3

My favourite car I have owned. It's now 11yo and DH keeps saying I should get a new one but I love it and it's still going strong at 170k on the clock. It'll be replaced with another X3 when it becomes unreliable.

After much deliberation, my work have just bought a fleet of nearly new, top of the range hybrid Kia Sportages... staff out on the road love them.

It's a lovely car but we had one and the repairs were constant, at 7k we cut our losses and sold at a huge (50%) loss

Discovery Sport- a lovely car to drive, fairly spacious but oh so unreliable and ridiculously expensive now to insure. It’s already on its second engine and not long out of warranty…

We are three and a large dog who camp. I have a bmw 3 series estate. I think I love it but being an estate it's a bit "family" so adds about 10 metaphorical years to my already high age. The older models are smaller but bigger inside I think.

So far there's nothing it can't do. Comes with a dog guard too... I just can't work out how to use it 😂

I had a list to choose from as it's a work car. Others I thought about to be highly practical were...

Volvo xc40 - safest brand of cars out there but have annoying safety features.
Evoque - even as a work car, I couldn't risk the reliability aspect.
Passat estate
Some electrics like q4, Tesla model Y and ID4 but guessing you're not into that?!

I think any estate or medium to large SUV would do the job. You just have to pick a brand that you like and are comfortable with.

You bought your car at a high after / during Covid, that's why you've lost so much. The market has settled now so the same is unlikely to happen again. I know because I did the same