Bigger car but not suv

[billandtedsexcellentadventure]

I’ve got a fiesta. Lovely but I want a newer slightly bigger car. I don’t want anything huge like a sportave but cannot think of what sort to get. It’s mainly to cart my kids around and get to and from work. Any suggestions.

@OhDear111 my mokka was amazing for years, and then it just wasn’t. Cost us £££££ and constant engine light on and getting fixed. So part ex’d it for our Suzuki which is amazing.

@Noshowlomo It’s a don’t buy on What Car for a reason. Just so many better cars available.

@OhDear111 good job I didn’t recommend it then. I recommend the Suzuki s cross

Kia optima. They arent in production anymore. Exaxtly like a skoda octavia but tend to have more toys included . Mine is a 17 plate never had a problem with it had it from 2 years old. Oh the boot is massive . We camp and easily fit all the junk in there.

Golf
Golf Estate
Octavia

3 stars from What Car for the Suzuki. Again, much better cars available. It’s really easy to check the best cars for your £. Plenty of 5 or 4 star ones are worth having. Only issue with magazine reviews is that they don’t look at depreciation and they should. Then you know what is worth having after a big slice of depreciation.

i Like golfs but they’re quite pricey

Golfs have traditionally held their money well though. I actually preferred a Mini Countryman. A decent spec one.

Saw someone mention a Dacia Jogger and I’m intrigued by it. I’ll only ever buy estates but looking at estates with more ground clearance and this has caught my eye.

As for a bigger car we have a Focus estate (second hand) and it’s absolutely fantastic, no issues whatsoever. Bought to be a work horse and surpassed expectations, definitely done more off roading than the average SUV.

We have had two Skoda Octavias and they have been brilliant. Our last one has a tiny 1.0 engine, but it is quick enough and we get 50 to 50 mpg. Huge boot too.

Don’t get a 1.0L Ecoboost engine if you buy a Ford. They have what’s called a wet belt and when it needs changing it will cost around £2000 because the engine will need to be dismantled.

Octavia’s are a good size. Well they look it.

I love estates, it’s surprising how much bigger a focus estate is compared to a normal focus for example.

For your budget you could get a five year old, low mileage Ford Focus. Or a four year old Dacia as previous posters have suggested.

If you’re buying a car that’s built to last for a long time, I’d get a Honda Civic or a Mazda 323/626. They are generally a little older / higher mileage for your budget.

@SumUp Most of those are not bigger cars though. The Mazdas definitely are not great build quality from what I’ve seen. Dacias are very hit and miss too. I’d just shortlist from 5 star cars/estates and look at build quality above all else if several years old. Ride quality and cheap interiors don’t improve with age.

It was me who mentioned the Dacia Jogger upthread. We've got relatives who live 500m up an unsurfaced track and the Jogger is ideal. Ground clearance is 20cm which is more than many crossover SUVs and although it is only 2WD the Extreme spec versions have a feature called Extended Grip for better loose surface traction. With the third row of seats folded and tumbled forward, or removed altogether, the boot is huge (about the size of the mk1 Berlingo) and you can picnic under the huge tailgate in the pissing rain. We absolutely love ours and would suggest to anyone in the market for an estate to at least go to a Renault/Dacia showroom and poke around in one before they dismiss it.

Look at the Octavia. Based on the Golf, but more space, more practical and less expensive