To ask for a suitable car for 2 kids?

[JollyBlue]

DP is about to begin driving lessons and we are looking for recs for a cheap-ish but reliable daily driver. I don’t drive so I have no clue about the things you’d typically look for in a car, insurance, whether to buy outright or finance etc so anything helps. We are 23, not married yet so expecting expensive insurance. 2 kids (5 and 4 months) so needs to be able to fit 2 car seats and a decent sized boot for pram and shopping. Also don’t know if this is asking for too much but ideally I would love a car which is higher suspension as putting carseats in and out of low cars is a pisstake, and both of our backs are not where they should be for our age to be honest.

I don’t know where to start so feel free to give any advice, thanks!

By the time your dp has learnt to drive and passed test could be another six to twelve months so five year old would be in high back booster and the baby would be in a seat which stays put. Plus the pram/buggy could be smaller so you have a wider choice.

Zafira. Ugly but it has been a great workhorse for me with twins (large pram!) and two dogs. It’s not an SUV but higher up than eg my mums golf and when the kids were small one of the best things was its a flat loop into the boot so could easily sit kids there to change wellies / shoes add extra clothes etc.

You haven't said what your budget is? I would heavily advise you not to get into debt for a car and to buy what you can afford outright.

we have a Mazda 3 with a 6yo and 1yo plenty of boot space for our giant pram - although moving to my push chair soonish. And it fits our extended rear facing car seat nicely which thr big one was in until she was 5.

You really need to check out the cost of insurance for new drivers for any car you are thinking about. PP has linked to a useful site to help with that.

So I would narrow down based on that and then go and look at a few once you are ready to make a decision. Financing depends on mostly personal preferences, we use PCP now so can regularly upgrade to a new car, others much prefer to buy outright. If I was buying outright I would look at something 2 or 3 years old if affordable.

I also look at the safety ratings on NCAP site
https://www.euroncap.com/home/

I'd have a look at Séat Leons, they're just a slightly cheaper VW Golf but just as good. We've got the estate version and it's really spacious. We've had ours for 7 years now and it's been supremely reliable, the only repairs it's needed in that time have been a coil spring (less than £100) and an oil pressure sensor. Ours is 10 years old now and just about to hit 100k miles, and it's a 2.0 diesel.

Avoid Qashqais at all costs, they truly are utter dog shit.

VAG cars are mediocre at best.

Japanese cars are where it’s at for reliability, with the exception of Nissan.