Car recommendations/finance advice please

[Amioutoftouch]

Hi all,

Unfortunately my car has died on me! Absolutely gutted as it was worth £2500 part ex.

So I need a new car but am completely clueless!

I have 2 questions....
Firstly any car recommendations? I had a Suzuki Swift. However I want something bigger (have 2 kids and regularly travel) but something reliable. Doesn't need to be overly high spec.
I was thinking of a Nissan Qashkai (Kia Sportage is a bit too expensive).

However, my second question...

How does finance work? When I bought my last car, I part exchanged my old one. Then took out finance with Motofinance, paid monthly for a few years and that was that.
However, I can't seem to find anywhere that does cars on finance! They all seem to be PCP (Personal Contract Purchase) which seems to be completely different.
Does normal car finance not exist anymore? I unfortunately don't have the option to buy outright.

Bank loan, then you buy where you want.

Look at a loan but PCP might work out cheaper depending on loan rates vs offers from dealers and manufacturers.

You just need to save the balloon payment separately (or get a loan) if you're planning on keeping the car past the end of the initial contract.

The end result of owning a car after 3 years could be the same just a slightly different way to get there plus you'll have the option of just handing it back or trading it in for something else.

If you go this route, look for scrappage deals on your current car. It being a non runner doesn't necessarily make it worthless.

We always do PCP. Put down as much deposit as you can to keep payments as low as possible. At the end of the PCP we always sell the car (either to the garage who you’re buying from or elsewhere), pay off the rest of the loan and use any extra as the deposit for the next new car. This has always worked out cheaper than a bank loan.