The ultimate family car (Nissan Qashqai or other suggestions?)

[nmhermione]

Hi,

We're looking to upgrade our loyal and faithful Ford Fiesta to a bigger car, now that our toddler is getting bigger and we might at some point consider having a second child. We're looking for the ultimate family car, if there is such a thing! We love road trips and we often drive to other countries, so we need as much space as possible for suitcases and still be comfortable as a family of 3 (at some point 4).

I've been told Nissan Qashqai is THE mum car, and I've driven one and loved it, but I want to look at other options and recommendations before we make such a big decision.

Here's what's very important to us:

• safety
• big (especially boot size)
• handy features that make life easier with kids in the backseat (cruise control, parking sensors, satnav, etc.)
• reliability (also as a secondhand purchase)
• easy to repair/get parts for
• roof rack is a bonus

What's less important or we're willing to compromise on:

• wow factor and overall looks
• price (preferably not too high but we’re willing to pay more if it means we’ll have more things on our important list)
• resale value (we’ll likely use it for a long time, until the upkeep costs us more than a new one)
• cost of ownership / running costs (again, preferably not too pricey, but other factors are more important)

Please let me know if you have a car you can recommend!

Thanks :)

We love the VW t- roc. Maybe not the biggest car but good to drive and nice looking and roomy inside. . We can fit three adult luggage in comfortably and have driven to South of France in it.

We have a Mazda CX-5 and it’s a great family car

Personally, I can't stand the Quashqai - it's not nearly as big and comfortable as you think it will be and it's a total gas guzzler.

We have a Skoda Octavia. Boot the size of a football pitch. Plenty of space inside for four or even five people. Extremely fuel efficient - on a long trip on the motorway we can get 600 miles from a tank. Very reliable, cheap to run (and insure).

It IS a saloon style rather than SUV style though. That works for us but I know a surprising number of people who really want the "high up" vibe.

I have a Kia Sorento. It’s a 7 seater hybrid SUV and I love it. Massive boot, great safety rating, full size seats in boot. When I cease having to take hundreds of children everywhere I will downgrade to the sportage. Very economical, 7 year warranty and loads of things that others do as extras, come standard. And it looks good too.

here's a review I just found for the newer models.

Another vote for a Mazda cx-5. We have the 2.2lt diesel and it's a beautiful drive. We tested a lot of others including the petrol version and this was our favourite. We have the sport version so a lot of tech and safety stuff, lots of room in back for car seats and boot is huge.

We add roof bars for bikes and a roof box.

S-Max

I had a qashqai - the boot space is rubbish. Now have a VW t-roc which is fab. Ticks all your boxes.

We've had a Tucson and a Sportage (same car), very happy with both although they're lower budget than you're looking at. We've also borrowed MIL's Qashqai and both hated it. As did she, so she's changed it now.

MIL now has a Rav4 and it's gorgeous. I'd also look at the equivalent Skoda, Seat, VW and Volvo if you want nicer than Kia/Hyundai.

We had a Tiguan and loved it. Driving a Merc now but considering another Tiguan, or potentially a Toureg next time. Perfect size for luggage, scooters, sports gear and loads of room for ferrying kids around in comfort.

Another one for team Skoda, love my Karoq.

We have a Peugeot 3008 hybrid and it happily took 4 of us, two of whom are tall teen boys, down to the south of France this summer.

It cost us about £22,000 for a 2022 model and has been a great car.

I have a Tuscon and love it.

Qashqai is surprisingly small inside, especially if you have rear facing car seats. The person in front of the RF seat will have to move their seat forward as far as it will go

Skoda Karoq or Octavia every time. VW brand without so much of the price.

We have an Audi A6, great family car - lots of space, big boot, easy to get a roof box on/off and to access it. It's 4wd too. The other two we looked at were mercedes E class and BMW 5 series. Estates as family cars are massively under rated 😁

To add, we have two kids in ERF car seats in the A6 and there is plenty of room for front passenger, can even squeeze myself into the middle seat if needed too. The other one I like is the Volvo XC90 (?)

Seat ateca, massive boot and roomy but also parkable!

We have a Jaguar XF and a BMW i4. Both have plenty of space - 4 doors, big boot, haven't rear faced in the i4 but the Jag took a rear facing seat easily and there was still room in the passenger seat for my 6"4 brother to stretch his legs.

Another vote for Skoda, we’ve had a superb, an octavia and a Karoq and all ticked your boxes - I am 5 foot 10 and could lie diagonally across the boot of the superb!
I’m starting to think about changing cars and top of my list is a Kodiaq, I drove one recently and loved it.

We just got a Peugeot 5008 as it has 3 isofix points in the middle row and 7 seats if needed - or a massive boot! Kids are 5, 2.5 and I’m 7 months pregnant.

My friend has a Qashai and I was shocked when I saw how small the boot was. I have no idea why it's seen as a great family car.

The Superb is just ugly though!

Jokes aside, our second car is an Audi and I really regret not sticking with Skoda. I had planned to keep the Audi indefinitely (it's just an A1 so small, relatively economical, potentially a good car to teach DC to drive on etc) but I am seriously considering selling it next year and re-looking at Skoda, maybe a fabia.

We have a Kodiaq as our big family car and it's great honestly. The boot is gigantic but you can also put seats up in the back to have 7 seats, which we've used a few times and probably will more as DC gets older. Got the usual tech stuff, reversing camera etc. Nice to drive. Really happy with it. We replaced a Kia Sportage, as we didn't find it big enough with the kids and dog for holidays etc. We've got a big roof box too which is great.

BMW 5 series touring. I love it. Drives beautifully, reliable and good looking. I absolutely detest Qashqai’s so I may not be the best person to comment if you love them!