To ask what you drive

[Ritasueandwhatshisfacetoo]

Putting here for traffic.

what do you drive as a family car?
What do you really love/not love about it and why?

Im looking for a new family car and just not sure what to get. Budget is not fixed massively although it won’t be newer than about 2018.

For day to day, a Toyota Yaris (2021) - bjg enough for four people, reasonable boot space. Hybrid and super fuel efficient. Decent acceleration. Automatic. Generally a nice little car to drive.

For long journeys Jaguar F-Pace (2020) - Dh's choice. Super comfy. Annoying to park.

Citroen Berlingo. It's basically a little van but with windows and extra seats so the insurance is cheaper. You could convert it into a little camper or a 7 seater. Handles really well like a small car not like a big cumbersome suv or saloon with a big boot. Engine is really easy to fix too. The Peugeot Kangoo is exactly the same car with a different badge so there are parts are easy to get hold of.

Volvo XC60. Most comfortable car I’ve ever driven, feels safe and secure, plenty of room for everyone plus big boot. Love the slightly higher driving position too.

VW Touareg. It’s ok. It drives nicely, is very spacious and comfortable. Huge boot which has come in handy for the tip and charity shop runs ( renovating) Downsides- no rear reversing camera, it is big ( long and wide) so can be a pain to park if spaces are narrow, and for the size I’d like it to have 7 seats. Not fuel economical. Going to trade it in for a hybrid Kia next year I think. Had a Kia Sportage until recently and loved that. Obviously it’s not a cool brand ( my dad has one) but for the money I don’t think you get better.

I've got a Mini. It's stupidly impractical, but I'd always wanted one. It's fun to drive.

I used to have a Grand Scenic, which I loved, and was a terrific family car. Huge boot, occasional 7 seater when needed (but sacrificing the boot for it). Back seats could slide forwards and backwards in the same way as the front seats, so you plenty of space options. Hidden compartments everywhere. Comfortable to sit in and drive. Absolutely brilliant car.

Swapped for the Mini when DH got an Evoque as he'd previously had the impractical car. It was an impulse thing, and I do still miss the Scenic, though the Mini is easier to park and cheaper to run.

The Evoque is nice enough as a family car. The boot is surprisingly small, but the back seats are spacious. It's very comfortable, and we like being up high.

Suzuki Vitara All Grip. Excellent value for money secondhand, lots of extras. Excellent reliability and visibility. Mine has a large sun roof which the kids love. I'm a short arse so I love that it's that bit higher up. Not massive so easy to park, good reversing camera, quiet and smooth gear both, keyless entry which I love when carrying stuff (which is always). Boot size is fine, it's not the biggest but we don't end up taking things out before we go on holiday because they don't fit. My kids are 8 and 10 now so I don't have all the baby gear. My 6'1" husband is quite comfortable in the car too.
Can be flipped into 4 wheel drive which is useful as I live in rural wet Wales and the rain drags debris and mud into the road and we sometime catch ice and snow when other parts of the country don't. When it was cold before Christmas the snow and ice stayed all around the kids school for a week and the roads weren't gritted and the car felt very secure.

Seat Leon FR. I love it

Range Rover Sport

Pros:
Good size high boot perfect for transporting collection of dogs
Not sluggish
Great on the motorway
Good in ice/snow/off road - perfect for rural living
Would tow well
I sometimes have to do around 400 miles in a day and it really feels as comfortable as possible

Cons:
Once the dogs are in boot there is no room for the children’s crap (but I guess that’s not the fault of the car)
If anything breaks then parts aren’t often cheap.

Mazda 3, comfy car with a reasonable boot. Plenty of grunt to get up hills and for safe overtaking.

Kia Sportage - had a 3 door Astra for the first 18m of DD life which wasn't ideal! Sportage is a fantastic car. Optional 4WD which has been a lifesaver in the really crazy cold weather we had a few weeks back. Drives well, reliable, 2.0 turbo so goes quickly enough when it needs to. Also cheap compared to other cars similar on the market, this has 80k miles and is a 64 plate and I got it for 7.5k where others were hugely out of budget or only in budget if they had 120k+ miles on the clock

We have the volvo XC40 it's a brilliant car. It's slightly more compact than the xc40 but still has plenty of room and boot space to pack up all the crap you need to take a family of 4 on a self catering holiday. It has loads of really good driving features like lane assist, speed limiter, and cruise control that i use a lot. It also has one of the best safety ratings. My only complaint with it is the sat nav isnt the best, it seems to tell you things later than the time needed to react so takes some getting used to a catches me out sometimes. My dad has the xc60 and that's a great car too. Generally you can't go wrong with a volvo imo.

Suzuki Swift hybrid. I've wanted one for years. She's my baby. It is a "family" car for us as we only have one kid and they're bigger than you think. We can easily fit a week's packing in the hatchback.

More compact than the xc60 that should be

A Honda Jazz. Economical, small enough to park in city, enough space to pack for holiday for 4 unless you're camping ( in which case we needed a roof box).
Only downside is you can't fit a bike rack to the back.

BMW 5series estate. Absolutely love it.

Mitsubishi Shogun- expensive to run but the practical beast we need it to be on the farm.

Tesla. Mumsnet hates an EV, but we LOVE it.

Tesla. It’s excellent. I was dubious at first about it but it’s definitely the best car we’ve ever had. We have the newer model so it’s the bigger version. Very spacious and I love all the techy stuff. Except the fart indicator.

I have corsa. Great for work, school runs and little journeys. Cheap to run. Husband has a hyundi tucson. Economical with lots of space

Seat Leon. Love it. I’ve had it 2.5 years now and normally by this time I’m looking to change, but with this I’m not.

Snap! We love it too. The pre heating of the cabin before you get in, and the “dog mode” AC when you have to pop for the loos on long journeys with small kids are invaluable.

An ancient honda jazz.

It was only supposed to be a temporary measure but I have had it for ages now because I actually really like it.

It is like a TARDIS, small on the outside but massive inside.

Big enough to seat four adults without feeling squashed, due to the high roof and low floor. You can get five in for a shorter journey.

The boot is huge, I can get an adult wheelchair in without removing the footplates or folding the handles down and still have room for shopping! The back seats fold down and give you a massive load space if you need to transport stuff.

It has a tiny turning circle, and good all round visibility so it is the easiest car to park that I have ever driven, it fits anywhere.

Reliable and nice to drive too. The only downside is that it has a bit of an OAP image.

Dacia sandero. A basic model, but it’s reasonably roomy and we even manage a dog cage in the boot with still enough space to get shopping in it etc. Sailed through all its MOT’s and the only thing I’ve needed to sort on it is tyres which were cheap enough too. Good on fuel as well. I will definitely consider another one when this one has died.

ltscoldonthesidelines · Today 08:48

Volvo V60, not huge but we seem to manage.

Same here. It's a smooth drive, plenty off boot space and you can genuinely get three adults on the back seat. And it's only £20 for tax.

Surely it's about your requirements OP?
Do you live rurally, town or city?
How many children will you need to cart around?
Dogs?
Do you cycle? Will you need a roof box?
Mileage?
Low on insurance/ tax?
Do you want a performance car? Or practical? Is reliability important?
Electric? (My only 2 gripes with our electric car is, it's an absolute bastard to drive in icy/ snowy conditions...and it's got quite a high boot, so poor old Ddog can no longer jump in and clear the 'lip'.)
Also think about good visibility some cars have awful blind spots due to crappy design. Cars are getting wider (and our roads aren't!) so if you have to drive rurally be aware you might spend more time going backwards than forwards! Best thing would be make a list of your requirements, then repost asking what would be recommended and test drive the top four or five on your list.

Porsche Maccan. It’s great, fast, reliable and you can fit everything in it. Though it does occasionally throw a massive sulk and refuse to let you in (I suspect it needs a new starter battery)