Car recommendations £20,000 budget

[thenightfeed]

Hi all!
Any second hand car recommendations for around £20,000? Little bit of leeway with budget.
Small- medium SUV or estate. Needs to fit 2 car seats in and a double buggy in the boot but not be massive. 5 seats enough. Petrol or hybrid. Would prioritise newer car/ lower mileage over more premium make.
I know nothing about cars and am having to choose quite quickly after my car has been written off!
Any advice appreciated, thanks!

A four year old Volvco XC40 petrol-hybrid will do the trick.
We have one, they resell for about that with lowish mileage.

Toyota CH-R, Toyota Yaris Cross, Toyota RAV4. Lexus NX. Honda CR-V, Honda HR-V. Hyundai Tuscon. Kia Sportage.

Dont buy any Euro crap cars - unreliable tat and pricey to repair. Buy Japanese or Korean.

Seat Ateca 👍🏼

@thenightfeed this would be my long list to go investigate in showrooms.

Skoda Karoq or skoda octavia in saloon or estate form. Seat Ateca, Cupra Formentor. Honda HRV, CRV, Mazda CX5, Toyota Rav4 or corolla estate, volvo xc40 or v60 estate.

I considered a Toyota CHR or mazda cx30 but longevity wise with 2 kids and a double buggy I think you may find them a touch too small/not as practical to live with for several years.

On a personal note the octavia estate is a Tardis that will do anything you ask of it and is not much bigger than a golf so a doddle to park. Volvo has an excellent safety reputation with your precious cargo on board and the most comfortable seats and interior of any car I've driven.

Look for low to average miles, one previous owner and a complete service history.

If you buy a 3-4 year old car and plan to keep for 4-6 years consider the VAG makes. if you plan to keep the car until it dies go Japanese and you'll still be driving it in 15 years

Hyundai Tucson fits the bill here.

Skoda Octavia VRs has been, for a decade the best pound for pound car on the market. If you’re not sold on an SUV, there’s simply nothing better for a family car, which also happens to be fun to drive. It’s a complete tardis. You’ll pick up a 3-4 year old one for £20k. If your mileage is going to be high, stick with the non VRs but tbh I did 10k a year for 6 years in mine and didn’t find the fuel economy an issue.
I can’t comment on SUVs as I don’t like the lack of connection with the road. Went to test drive the Karoq when it was new and walked away with the Octavia 😁.
BTW, in case you can’t tell, I still really miss that car, despite currently driving a BMW, which I also love, but the Skoda just had an easiness and brilliance. Fucking legend of a car.

Watching with interest.. considering a Octavia - what is VR and VAG please?

Scoda Kodiaq hybrid, and like above, loved driving an Octavia
Toyota RAV hybrid or Carolla wagon hybrid
Nissan Xtrail e-power hybrid
Peugeot 508 hybrid
Hyundai Tucson hybrid or Santa Fe hybrid
Kia Sorento hybrid
Suzuki Swace hybrid

The self charging hybrids can be advantageous.

Xc40

We have a Skoda superb and it suits its name. Despite not being a luxury car, it feels luxurious inside. It’s basically an Audi A7 with a less desirable badge. Cheap to run, cheap to insure and very little has gone wrong with it. It’s 7 years old with 85k miles on the clock. It has a massive boot and comfortably takes a towbar with 4 bikes on the back.

We got it at a year old for £15.5k and 15k miles on the clock. Absolute deal. That was in 2019 and obviously prices have gone up a lot since then.

I appreciate this doesn’t fit your brief of small to medium but I’ve never had any problems driving or parking it and means we can take all the kids’ stuff wherever we go!

This is all very helpful, thank you! Will do some reading up and then explore what’s available locally today

VRs is the sporty version
VAG is VW Audi Group - so the Octavia VRs is basically a Golf GTI with a big boot, but generally also with more kit.

@spartanrunnergirl VRS are the sportier fast versions of skoda models (although there's a sleeper version of the superb that isn't VRS badged). Skoda octavia petrol vrs has the same engine as a golf gti but isn't as tuned and is lower horsepower but provides a pleasing balance of driver fun and skoda practicality.

VAG stands for volkswagen automotive group that owns Audi, porsche, lambo, Bentley, skoda, VW, Seat, and Cupra. There are common engines and tech throughout the brands but market positioning and USP are obviously different.

The only reason I don't still have skoda is I like all wheel drive traction an acceleration/ horsepower a notch above what they offer. Found that in cupra instead for steal versus the equivalent vw or audi.

Skoda kamiq. Love mine. Small SUV so loads of room but doesn't feel big

That budget would just about get you into a brand new Dacia Jogger, although you'd have to go used if you wanted the hybrid version. It's a 7 seater but you can take the rear-most two chairs out until you might need them.

We find ours absolutely ideal.

VAG is Volkswagen AG and generally best avoided. Toyota, Lexus and Honda are your best bets for reliability and long service.