Small family car??

[Busybee91]

Hi all, planning to try for a baby in March and looking at cars.
We don't have kids yet, just a dog. I think an SUV might be too big for me.
I need a new one regardless as mine is too small and older now anyway.
Are there any good hatchbacks with decent boot space?
I have been looking at Hyundai i20, Mazda2, Ford fiesta, vw polo. But I think they might be too small if we had a baby?
Advice please 🙏

Honda Civic has an enormous boot for a hatchback. We have a 2017 model.

I've had a lot of people comment on the boot space, actually 😁

Just make sure whatever you buy is a 5-door as no back doors are impossible/extremely difficult with car seats!

We have a Seat Ibiza, which we bought as it had a bigger boot than the Toyota Yaris and Kia Rio that we looked at. It’s very economical to run. Space is tight now we’re a family of four but it’s still perfectly doable.

We’re not in a position to upgrade yet but if we were, I’d look seriously at Skodas. We hired a Skoda hatchback in the summer but I can’t remember what type it was - it had a bigger boot than our own car though.

Skoda Fabia estate has a massive boot. I think they are no longer making them though, so you won’t be able to get one new. I have the hatchback which has a decent boot for a small car but it would be a bit small for carting baby gear.

Or you could look at the Skoda Scala which is a bit bigger than the Fabia.

Used to have a Golf and could fit travel cot and stroller in the boot of that, with room for other stuff.

We have a hyundai i20 and the boot is small! The i30 looks much better if you like the style of the car! We also have a mazda 3 and that has a good sized boot and much more space in the back than the i20 :)

Vw t cross. Once you've driven any car for a few weeks you get used to it.
I have a Tiguan never thought when I first started driving I'd be able to drive anything as big as that, but I love it and would never drive anything else now. X

I've got an old Toyota Yaris and absolutely love it. I had a large dog ('had' because he's just passed over the rainbow bridge) and a baby and assumed I'd have to change cars, but no, I still managed to fit everyone in. Dog in the boot, pram in the rear seat next to baby and partner at the front. Without the large dog you'll easily get a pram in the boot and then have plenty of space for everyone! I'd do a Yaris again in a newer model! 👌🏼

Golfs are great. We have an estate which has a huge boot. I would definitely check out the hatchback.

I would say Yaris too

I had a corsa when ds was a baby and had no issue getting prams that would fit into it. Only had to change bigger when he moved to wheelchairs as they wouldn’t fit as easily!

Honda jazz!

I have a Hyundai i10 and the boot is surprisingly large for the size of the car. Mechanically it runs like a dream and has never let me down.

I have Mercedes GLA which I fit 2 kids and a pram in with plenty of space and it’s actually quite a small car!

We went from a ford focus to an estate and I wasn't keen on driving anything big!

It's been great if you have a dog and a child you will need one. Unless the dog is tiny as pushchair and baby stuff fills the boot and it's not very fair to put the dog in a tiny boot. With estate cars you can buy dog guards with split the boot in half - one side for stuff and one for dog.
I wouldn't have dog and baby together in the back seats unless it's a tiny dog and you can it a cage to travel in.

We don't even have a dog but the estate has been a great buy and made life more simple!

We had a Honda civic when we had DS1, boot is massive, it’s a good car. Then we upgraded to a VW Tiguan which is a medium SUV, felt massive initially But you quickly get used to it. Good boot size, looks nice, and reliable. We have 2 children now 9 and almost 6, and about to have #3 plus have a sausage dog so needed something bigger as we have outgrown the Tiguan. We are getting a Volvo XC90 as need a decent 7 seater

Our buggy (Cosatto) fitted into the boot of our Suzuki Swift if you popped a wheel off. It will fit a couple of suitcases, or loads of shopping. Honestly the baby phase is pretty short anyway!

Thanks all

Think about legroom as well for rear facing car seats. If either of you is taller you might struggle to fit a rear facing car seat in a small hatchback.

I’ve got a new i20 and the boot isn’t small. Hyundais are lovely to drive.

Mini Clubman - I wish I'd had mine when I had a pram to get into a boot.

Polos are massive these days. Golfs are bigger and really good cars.

Check a few of the cars you like out on youtube for an idea of how practical they are - CarWow do videos and a lot of them have a 'practicality' bit where they fit car seats and see how big the boot is etc.

I had a previous model BMW 1 series (and loved it) which is Golf/Focus sized and looks plenty big from the outside, but I had to get rid of it as I couldn't fit rear facing seats in the back with the front seat at my settings. There's a newer version now that might be better. VW Golf and Audi A3 were both much more practical inside (although I ended up with an A4 estate! (which was great))