How much space do you really need in a first family car?

[CamillaLS]

My 2-seater sports car is currently at a garage with a potentially life-threatening diagnosis (i.e. might be a write-off). With a first baby due in the new year, I'd been planning to change the car in the next few months for something more suitable anyway. However I'm now being forced to consider it much sooner than anticipated! Help! How much space do you really need for 1 or 2 adults plus one baby? We also have a camper van that we can use for UK holidays & longer trips, and which husband uses to commute - so I guess it's just getting the baby around locally, using a car seat, fitting pushchair in and doing groceries. Would a VW Golf or Polo be big enough? Am I missing anything? This is probably going to be a fairly short-term solution to last for a year or two, and budget is probably up to about £6 - £6.5k. I also have a bad back so the driving position needs to be comfortable (as does lifting stuff in & out, I suppose). Oh - and I've also been driving said sports car for the past 8 years so I am prepared to be disappointed by the driving experience, whatever we end up with! Any advice much appreciated.

Get a hot hatch, then you don't have to be disappointed. Focus ST will be in that price bracket I think, or a Renaultsport Megane.

If you can stomach the running costs, get an Impreza STI or Evo, they're 4-door saloons - the very epitome of practicality. There are plenty of fast estates out there as well, Audi S/RS4 (or 6) Avant for example.

We have a VW Passat Saloon & even though it's massive on the inside, a hatchback would be so much better.
I'm 5'4 & can fit in the boot (I had a bet with Dh!), when we go away with DS (7 months) we can fit the buggy, travel coat & 2/3 medium sized bags in the boot & not much else.

My MIL has a VW Golf & it's got better headroom in the back than we've got. PIL is 6'4 & is comfortable sitting in the back. The boot isn't massive (we have a Maclaren XT buggy & it has to go in at an angle to fit, and then you can't fit more than 2/3 shopping bags in)...but the back seat is massive so you could put shopping there.

If it's short term (and deffo not twins) I think a Polo might just be big enough for your needs. Obviously VW's hold their value better than most other cars so your loss wouldn't be that bad at the end of a year or so.
If we had to choose another car we'd go for a VW Passat hatchback or an Audi A4.
RIP sports car!

It's just DH, myself and DD (4) and we find a supermini a perfect size for us living in the city. We have a Yaris (2012 model). It's roomy enough for 2 car seats (for DD's friends) and great leg room front and back for DH. The boot is small though.

Strictly speaking, you don't need much space with one baby. When my ds1 was born I was driving a fiat seciento and we managed to fit him and the pram in just fine for short trips. Dh had a Citroen saxo which was better for all of us. Within a year I had swapped my car for a Renault scenic which was so much better in terms of height and safety but was rather large even with the three of us. I liked it better for fitting shopping and buggies in and also was great if I needed to give any of my ante/ post natal group friends and their dc a lift too. I think you could be fine with a hatchback though. Most of our neighbours with new dc seem to have them (golfs seem most popular).

We have a Yaris and it fits 5 of us in (although dd1 is getting too big for the middle at 12), plus a pram in the boot. The back seats slide forward & back to change the size of the boot which is useful

Golf or a focus I'd say.

We have also got a Yaris and find it more than big enough for our family of 4. When they are little you can put things on the floor under their feet. When they're bigger they need less stuff. As Haitch says, you can move the boot forwards and backwards, creating more boot space / leg room as and when you need it. Very cheap to run too (something like 55mpg) and cheap road tax.

Y mines 8 years old and not had anything beyond tyres/bulbs/wipers wrong touch wood. It still gets 55mpg and is v easy to drive/park.

slightly in love with her car

Thanks for all the feedback - it's good to be reassured that I don't necessarily need an estate. It sounds like a VW Golf/Polo (or a Yaris) might be the thing for now. VWs appeal as they hold their value, as AWomanCalledHorse says, and perhaps a Golf could just about satisfy my sporty urge. Urrrrgh it's so hard planning for what I might need in a few months' time! I have no idea yet what kind of pram(s) we might end up with but I imagine we'll get an all-terrain one which takes up yet more space. Perhaps that can either stay at home or go in the camper van, and not to the shops! Thanks again everyone x

We've got a mountain buggy which I also love! Fold up small & is pretty tough off road but easy round shops!