Reliable cars for a family with 2 young children

[Laur89]

Hey, we are soon to have DC2 and need to upgrade to a bigger car! Has anyone got any recommendations for a reliable and spacious car to fit luggage and buggies in etc? Thanks! :)

Depends what your budget is?

Around the 5/6k mark :)

A Skoda Octavia has a massive boot, plenty of room in the back (to accommodate car seats) and is reliable.

We just got a c4 citroen picasso, boot huge, trays in back for kids. Lots of space for car seats

We have a Nissan qashqai if that's how u spell it and I can't fault it xx

I recently bought a Kia Sportage and I love it. Loads of boot space, so easy to get the baby seat in as it's high. And it has so many extras rammed into it for the price.

@Ginandtonic31 what's it like with mileage as I've been looking at the Kia shortage when I need to swap our Nissan

I miss my Ford Kuga so much (hence my name ). Very good, sturdy car with loads of space for two children in the back etc. Only got rid of it because it ended up being too big when I no longer had to deal with buggies etc. in the boot anymore. I dream about getting the smaller Ford Ecosport next.

Ford Focus every time! Reliable, plenty of room, easy to get fixed, good value and fun to drive. Got rid of one, tried every sort of car there is to replace it, ended up with another Focus. There’s a reason they’re so popular.

I had a Ford Focus automatic when we only had 2 dc (need three car seats now so drive an smax). Mine was automatic and so easy to drive. It was about 6-10 years old when I had it and I never had any problems with it. I expect you’d get some change from your budget.

I have a Honda Civic as I didn't want a 'large car', meaning a SUV or estate (or anything that looks like a Ford Mondeo).

If I could marry the boot of it I would. It is amazingly spacious.

@starfish18 as in mpg? I think it averages around 42ish.

@starfish18 but that's a diesel

@Ginandtonic31 sorry yes ment mpg...thank u

We have a Ford Focus which is good and can easily fit everything in.

I also had a Kia Sportage which was great, I absolutely loved it, but it recently died 😭 I’ve now got a Skoda Fabia which is teeny tiny in comparison but I can still squeeze in everything I need.... but we only have 1 in a buggy now.

Great thanks everyone will have a look into those suggested! Does anyone know if a Ford Focus is cheap to run?

Volvo V60. Masses of room in the back, huge boot for toddler tantrums and nappy changes on days out.

Make sure whatever you get will fit car seats in. I think the qashqui is well known for being a reverse tardis and if either of you are tall you might not have space for car seats and legroom. Skoda octavia and superb (huge) are good. We have an smax which is great for space as we have to fit 3 car seats in but haven't found it hugely reliable (used to Toyota reliability but couldn't fit 3 seats in back of any of them).

We found the qashqai small.

We ended up with a Zafira. I hate the look of the thing but it is reasonably priced, the boot is HUGE and has a flat lip thing which means nappy changing, wellies on and off etc is really easy. We drive to france a lot and have a dog so we need a ton of space.

Skoda superb estate.