Up to £9,000 for used car to fit 3 child seats

[Poppins2016]

Help, please!

We need to replace our old car ASAP as it requires more repairs than we're prepared to shell out for.

We need to be able to fit 3 child seats in, preferably 3 across (although we do quite like the idea of 7 seats as an option, for flexibility/boot space).

Reliability and reputation is important... we've just been stung after owning a used car for just under 2 years that was supposed to last us for much longer (we were sold a total dud). We can't afford to lose any more money on cars!

Tempted by the likes of Volvo, BMW, Audi. Test drove an Audi Q7 today and really liked it (very smooth drive), but nervous about taking the plunge as it's going to wipe out the emergency "car has died etc. fund" and will take a while to build back up again... but we do need a decent car that will last us, so I'm happy to spend money now to hopefully end up with a car that will last us a good few years.

I'd love some recommendations for suitable cars that are known to be reliable as they age.

Thanks!

Depends on your car seats but we can get 3 across (just) the back of our Audi A6 estate. We've got a 2010 model and a 2007 model, they're fab cars, seem to be very well made. We paid £7.5k for our 2010 model in 2021 (think was about £90k miles on clock) and £5k for our 2007 model earlier this year (36k miles, import, it's immaculate!) Friend got a 2013 Volvo XC90 for I think £8k ish.

Q7s are great for 3 across from 2017 onwards as they've got 3 individual seats but before that I think it can be a squeeze / car seat Tetris.

Ford S Max

Second the S Max, I had one when I had 3 aged 5 and under and it was brilliant - absolute workhorse, gave me no trouble, massive boot so loads of space, boot seats folded up to turn it into a 7 seater for when we had friends etc with us which was super useful, ran forever despite me living very rurally and giving it an absolute pounding on a pretty much daily basis! Bloody loved it. Only tiny quibble was once the 2 boot seats were up there wasn’t much boot space but it was never a massive issue. Definitely recommend!

Citroen C4 Grand Picasso.

Vauxhall Combo Life, Citroën Berlingo (2018-onwards), Peugeot Rifter. The rear bench has mountings to fit three Isofix seats across and the sliding rear doors make it easy to get kids in and out in tight parking spaces. Fairly high driving position too.

£9k would get you a 2019 model with average miles, possibly a 7 seater (XL version) whereas for a Q7 you'd be looking at high milers well over ten years old.

Because they are based on vans which sold in huge numbers there is good fleet despatch reliability data on them, and they are easily and cheaply repairable. They are so reliable the van version is rebadged and sold as the Toyota Proace and although the passenger version can also be had as a Toyota, that's a fairly recent product and they will be out of your budget.

There is a wide choice of engines and transmissions; the automatic gearbox is made by Aisin, which is a subsidiary of Toyota.

All of this. A joy to drive. We “upgraded” and miss the Blingo badly.

Thanks everyone, this is really helpful and has given us food for thought. Looks as though there are some common themes.

Please keep the recommendations coming!