Recommend a car for me, please

[GrooveArmada]

I'm looking for a new car, ideally:

• hatchback
• good safety rating, particularly for kids
• reliable
• decent boot, although this isn't key because we have a large main car already
• petrol or diesel
• happy to buy second hand, so doesn't need to be the newest and it doesn't need to have super low mileage as I don't drive a huge amount
• nippy, but I'm not a racing driver, a 1.8 engine is absolutely max
• budget £15k-ish but can stretch

I'm not looking for small cars, eg a Yaris. I'd consider something bigger and up to size of say Seat Leon.

I like cameras and built-in sat nav, so those options need to be available.

I have some recommendations already through my own research, but asking for your practical recommendations, please 😊

We have a Seat Ibiza. It’s an older one but when we bought it, it had the best size boot for a car of that size. It’s not nippy but it does the job and is perfectly capable of motorway driving, though I’d like something with a bit more oomph. Ideal for town driving and you can park it anywhere. It’s been very reliable for us and has only ever needed routine maintenance. Cheap to run and good fuel economy.

Two close family members both have VW Golfs as their only/second cars. That’s a bit bigger and not sure how they cost up, but they’re definitely better suited to motorway driving than ours and have a bit more boot space. I’d still pick ours over something like an Aygo, though.

Thanks! I was looking at Ibiza before I bought my current car. I think I'd go a bit bigger next, Leon is an option. Not liking the newer design of the Golf much 😬

Honda civic

15 years in the motor industry here so my advice is have a look at a Mazda 3, great little cars.

Also a Subaru XV, I had one for years. They're roomy, and AWD means a little extra safety in winter.

You can't beat a Toyota for reliability but they hold their price well

Hyundai and Kia are brilliantly reliable, if a bit boring.

I'd personally avoid German, they're just as (un)reliable as anything else and parts are ridiculously expensive. Avoid French too, just a bit rubbish

I should add, definitely not French, been there, done that!

I agree with not French, not a good reputation. Toyota however are generally really good cars. How about something like this:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202510157167465?sort=relevance&searchId=04efefbb-3a46-4002-8474-ce56440bf5ef&body-type=Hatchback&make=Toyota&maximum-badge-engine-size=1.8&maximum-mileage=40000&model=Corolla&page=1&postcode=Rh43dl&price-from=12000&price-to=15000&year-from=2021&advertising-location=atcars&fromsra&backLinkQueryParams=body-type%3DHatchback%26channel%3Dcars%26flrfc%3D1%26make%3DToyota%26maximum-badge-engine-size%3D1.8%26maximum-mileage%3D40000%26model%3DCorolla%26postcode%3DRh43dl%26price-from%3D12000%26price-to%3D15000%26sort%3Drelevance%26year-from%3D2021

It has excellent fuel consumption, a good spec, FSH and only 1 owner.

Citroen Berlingo

Saab 9-5 Turbo

Fiat Coupe

Volvo 850

Ok cool! Anyone actually driving any of the following:

• Kia Ceed
• Mazda 3
• Seat Leon
• Toyota Corolla
• Honda Civic
• Lexus CT?

This is my shortlist following own research, glad to see some overlap with your recommendations!

Orrrrr....a Volvo? But hard to come by, did they stop making mid-size hatchbacks?

Or a Skoda?

Similar position here.

Am giving Dd my Yaris.

am considering-
polo
seat ibiza
audi a4

would love something with a bit more welly to it.

BIL has a mid size Skoda and he loves it.

Skoda and Seat are essentially all VWs, but usually cheaper. Hondas are great but fiddly engines with their vTec technology so could be a bit more expensive to service

Sorry I'm coming at this from a mechanical POV

Keen to hear professional opinions too as I'm planning to keep the next car until I switch to EV, ao probably good few years still. Would rather have something not hugely expensive to service/fix, so slightly hesitant about discontinued models.

Skoda Octavia or Karoq
Cupra Formentor.
I've owned both of the above and really enjoyed them.

Agree with mazda 3 or cx30, toyota corolla and Honda civic for reliability.

Volvo stopped making hatchbacks (v40) when they introduced the xc40 about 8yrs ago.

We have estate versions of the Seat Leon and the Kia Ceed in the family, and both I have found to be good. 3 and 2 years of ownership respectively and no issues (though this can be luck as much as anything with absolutely any brand). I’d test drive them. I drove the hatch of the Leon before getting the estate and going forwards there’s not much on it in terms of feel (obv parallel parking the estate is a bit different) but I’d be happy to recommend either.

Cupra - nice shout! Would you say they are reliable? What did you like about Formentor? I don't know much about them, but see them more and more frequently around where I live and they are nicely designed.

Everyone will have different priorities. My personal view, and the view of much of this thread, is that you can't go wrong with: Toyota, Honda, Hyundi, Skoda.

You have a budget, you know what fuel and transmission you want and that you are probably looking at about 1.5l. Plus seats and boot space.

Visit your local main dealers and see what they have. It will quickly be evident if there is something you feel comfortable with, at the right price, mileage and condition. The best deal that you like best usually cinches it imo but I'm not fussy. Do be mindful that if find something that hits your sweet spot, has fsh, warranty and is in good nick, it will genuinely not hang around whilst you test drive another half dozen cars.

Negotiate hard vis the overall price - your trade in and purchase combined. Nowadays, not much comes off for cash because they get commission on the finance deals. But if say, with the trade in value you have £10k to spend - look at cars marked up to £12000k and then negotiate. I once test drove a car marked at £13950 - 10 months old (long time ago) because it was 1.6 auto diesel and was clear it was outside my budget. I really liked it and said as I left, if you could do it for £11k, I'd buy it and shrugged. A few days later the dealer said he'd raised with his manager, it was the end of the accounting period and yes they could do it for £11k. Times have changed I know and I only got £500 off my last car but a good trade in.

Always always offer less and if it's not much try to get some consumables: petrol, mats, etc, or negotiate a good servicing deal.

Never buy anything without a full service history, write off check and a warranty.

@GrooveArmada I've had a lot of VAG group cars over the years and whilst not as reliable over very long term ownership of say 10-20 yrs I prefer the driver experience vs japanese offerings. We've also got an 8yr old golf gti owned from new in the household that's only ever needed consumables and servicing over the 90000 miles its done so far. We do have the luxury of a very good independant garage and aren't reliant on dealerships for any works.

My Cupra formentor is a stealthy Golf R in sheep's clothing vz2 4drive version which wouldn't be the engine you'd go for. I'd suggest the 1.5 petrol or hybrid and if you get a top spec trim level there's a lot of tech in them for the money. I picked the formentor for a couple of reasons; looks, reviews, most bang for my buck spec wise whilst being a hoot to drive, aged relative can transfer easily into it from wheelchair and the chair fits in the boot mo trouble. Unexpected bonus is that I love the adaptive cruise and safety aids on very long journeys. Bought at 2yrs old high mileage at 32k miles. Hasn't cost me a dime apart from tyres over the following 2 years and 15k miles. I expect to run it for at least another 3 or 4 years at least.

We have had our 2017 seat leon estate for 7 years and it's been brilliant and only needed 2 minor repairs in that time (£200 max for both items) We've got the 2.0 diesel model which is the tried and tested VW engine, which is good for 200k miles plus, if well maintained. There's also a smaller diesel and various petrol models. The VAG brands are reliable but make sure they've got a good service history and have been well maintained. I've also had a VW Golf and 2 polos which were relatively trouble free even in old age.

My partner had a Mazda 3 from brand new until last year, a nice car but I found build quality wise it felt a bit cheap and not as solidly built as the VAG brands, but very reliable and nice to drive. Toyota are indeed very reliable but again build quality isn't as good as VAG and IMO, they are just a bit dull. Undoubtedly a sensible choice but if you enjoy driving I'd say something from the VAG brands or Mazda would be a far better bet.

Sorry I've just seen this is an old thread OP! Hope you got sorted in the end!

I love my skoda fabia. It feels like the right size of car. No one can comfortably sit behind dh when he does drive it but has the seat all the way back and as low as it can go, for anyone not 6'4 it's fine. Boot good size and I am often surprised at how quickly I can pull out into gaps and accelerate up a hill!

Noooo! Why didn't I check the date! Now I want to know what car OP got!

I'm still around! Hunting for a new job first before investing in a new car, but now I'm possibly leaning towards a Nissan Leaf which wasn't a consideration before, but I enjoyed driving it. I'll update in a year's time at this rate 😆