Qashqai, civic or astra?

[duende]

I've finally finished paying finance on my citroen c4 which means i can finally get something else...
I'm hoping to get about 2k for it as p/exchange so will have about 9k to spend in total. I have now arrived at a shortlist of 3 - as in the subject line.
I think for this money i could get a 3 year old qashqai, a civic of similar age or a 1-2 year old astra.
I like the look and size of the qashqai, the reliability and the spec of the civic. Astra is the most boring of the 3 and they are everywhere, but we should get something still under warranty.

The car needs to be petrol as i do lots of short trips in traffic.
Ay scuggestions, advice, etc?

I've got a qashqai +2 which is the 7 sestet version so probably a bit bigger than you want, but it drives really well, is easy to drive and you get much more as standard on the Nissan than on other models - ours is the n-tec so not the basic but has reverse parking cameras / sat nav / climate control etc.

I say go for the qashqai but I know nothing about the others

Qashqai and Civic likely to be more reliable than the Astra. I've only driven diesel versions of the Qashqai and Civic and not driven the Astra at all. Qashqai has quite bouncy suspension and slightly vague handling; Civic is stiffer and more responsive, but you may find it less comfortable (it's fine for me on long journeys, 3-4 hours).

A new Civic has come out recently, so that may have caused secondhand prices to drop a bit.

Drive each and see which you like best.

Thanks! Yes, i need to start thinking about arranging some test drives. I seem to be spending nearly as much time on the autotrader app as on mumsnet...

I have the civic and love it. It's a 2008. Boot is huge. It's really comfy and dead nippy.

Can't fit three car seats along the back though so I'm looking to change now

An update- i went to test drive a qashqai today and i bought it! I'm picking it up on Wednesday. I loved how it drove, the space inside and how comfortable it was. The boot is much bigger than our citroen's. It's the most basic spec, but i can have the parking sensors fitted, and it is 2010 reg so i think i did quite well for the money i could/ wanted to spend.

Thanks for your input :)

Enjoy :o

Enjoy yr Qashai, we got one about a month ago and its superb!!