To ask if you bought a family car outright what was it?

[LilyPinkNoah]

2 adults two DC 8 & 5

Our car is 11 years old - it's 'ok' but has some issues (took it to a garage and they said not really worth doing all the work that needs doing). We bought it outright at 3 years old and have done over 100k on it so it's served us well.

A BMW 3 series it cost us £10k 8 years ago.

So kind of want to do the same again - what do you recommend and not really Aibu!

The best family cars we had were VW Passat estates, very reliable, huge boots. Plenty of room for growing boys, rugby team friends, towing sailing boat, holidays abroad and musical instruments, Cello and double bass.
They never let us down and the first one was sold to a local similar family, who kept it until it had done 300,000 miles.
Still buy VWs, but just for ourselves.

Kia Sportage, 12k for a 2 year old one. Drives like a dream, 7 year warranty, best car we've ever had.

I'm taking note as I'm in a similar position- also don't want to buy on finance (I read somewhere that 91% of new cars are bought on PCP and other finance
What about Volvo XC60s, are they any good?
I've been put off BMWs as in my many miles of motorway driving a large proportion of the aggressive and truly dangerous driving I have witnessed is in BMWs, with Audis a close second (it may be just that there are a lot more on the road due to much more accessible finance).

@Bubblesbuddy when did Volvo switch to being Fords and of lower quality?

DH is more brand aware than I am

If by that you mean he is stuck in the 1980s, then you might want to show him this thread:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/3701233-To-not-buy-a-skoda-just-cos-its-a-skoda

We bought a hybrid 4x4 earlier this year. It's a plug in and we're saving a fortune on petrol. V roomy and if either of you are self-employed the tax breaks are excellent.

VW T6, lwb, 9 seater, 2016. Just shy of 25k but it’ll last us until the dc (5 of them) are grown & gone so it’s worth the cost. It has the added bonus of an amazing boot I’m so easily pleased.

Yes he's definitely still in the 80s! Apart from being born in the 80s lol!

I will be showing him this thread and the Skoda thread. We have loved our BMW it's a basic one but has really been good to us - in all fairness with a bit of body work it might well keep going for much longer. The mechanic who looks after it for us said he'll buy it from us since he's looked after it for 8 years he knows it.

It was a BMW garage that told us not worth doing the work

Don't live in the city but in a commuter village however I use the car to visit clients and it's getting embarrassing!! Especially when I visit automotive clients - then I do stick out like a sore thumb when I rock up and park. In some ways I actually don't mind I quite like the talking point an 08 BM becomes lol especially with it's roof box on!

We have a Renault megane. Love it.

I have a 10 yr old Volvo XC90. I’d happily keep it another 5 years but we live just inside the area which will be the ULEZ in London so even driving down our street would trigger a £13 per day cost. So it will have to go in the next 18m. Which is a shame. It’s been v reliable although services are not particularly cheap. We do the bare minimum to keep it running. We don’t do massive no of miles (being London and all that) but often do UK holidays where we need space and travel biggish distances. It was 12k 4 years ago, bought cash from a dodgy Iranian on the edge ware road 😄

We've always bought cars outright. Not new though, 1-2 years old.

Current car is a Hyundai Ioniq -
Electric ⚡️😀. If you have off street parking I would highly recommend you consider. Our fuel bill of £120+ a month has turned into an increase in electricity bill of less than £10 a month. 150 miles range so more than enough for daily runarounds, only have to think about finding rapid chargers for very long journeys.

I bought a new Dacia Logan estate car it was 10k new, has fancy computer panel with sat nav, dab radio multi media stuff air con, reverse camera & it fits the 3 kids in the back easily . We plan to keep it till it dies.

A 4-year-old Ford C-Max for £8,000. It’s our second C-Max (I totalled the first 😳) and I really like it. The boot is huge.

Recently bought, and asked people who work at garages, RAC, AA etc what to buy. They said Japanese (lots of Toyota and Honda around with 100k plus miles second hand, still going. Garage said most reliable and most affordable to fix), Skoda (the Yeti, for example, got rave reviews), and 3 separate people said give Vauxhalls a swerve

Seat Leon
We are city dwellers and don't want or need a mahoosive off roader. The Leon fits 3 teens comfortably in the back. Despite being about the same exterior dimensions, it is much roomier on the inside than the Mokkas, Jukes etc we always get lumbered with as holiday hire cars.

2 years old, 9k.

Year-old VW Sharan TDI SE, 11k miles, for £21k - we were very fortunate to come into a bit of money which meant we could buy it outright. Hoping it'll do 10 years or so.

Just bought a Duster outright. Bought it new as it was actually cheaper than the 2nd hand 10yr old comparable of the one we were replacing!! Excellent value, all the stuff you need in it, and doesn't lose value the same as other new cars apparently (due to its comparable low purchase price)

Vauxhall Mokka turbo that had done 7,000 miles for £13k.

Absolutely love it, so spacious and loads of room in the back for kids. The WiFi and entertainment system is great and really easy to use. We looked at loads of SUVs and this one ticked every box without being ridiculous money.

I have a Volvo VC60. It transports the 3 children and myself around. I have had it for nearly a year and got a good deal on it ad it was previously written off and repaired. I need something big to carry Ds's special needs trike around which he goes on every weekend, as well as a bike carrier for my bike.

It cost me £17k new,which was a massive expense but I had savings to cover most if it from a couple of old PPI claims. I don't think I could have justified it otherwise.

Before I had a cmax which I loved but like yours it got to the point where it wasn't economical to keep fixing it.

18 month old Toyota avensis tourer for about £13k. Ex-Toyota fleet, so low mileage. It's now 8 years old with 100k on the clock and looking scruffy in places but still running well.

As PP mentioned, Land Rover Discoveries just go on and on. Mine is a work horse, very comfortable and v practical. Looks good too

Sorry that should be Land Rover Discovery SPORT

Another here who's always bought outright, but 1-2 years old.
Current car is a Jaguar XF we've had from 18 months old. Very comfortable and very easy to drive, but they're only available as automatic ( which I was dead set against at first, but wouldn't want go back to a manual now).

Plenty of room for 2 adults and 2 DC, 16 and 8.

Ours is diesel, but uses the Adblue, which the dealer we bought from tops up free. Because of the reduced emissions, road tax is only £30 for the year.

Nissan Qashqai. Nice and roomy. Very beepy though. The directional sensors go off at the slightest provocation and I can’t work out how to disable them