Will the Toyota Yaris be too small?

[sanserif]

I've never owned a car or even really driven one. Got my driver's license years ago and haven't driven since but want to get a cheap, secondhand one now since with the kids I feel like it would sometimes make life easier and increase the amount of stuff we could do. We've got a 1y.o and 3.5y.o. Live in central London so wouldn't be using this daily, it's more of a weekend trips/errands type car though it might also be nice to use for longer trips.

What I'm wondering is: am I going to regret getting a Yaris instead of say, a Corolla, and always be wishing I had more space or will I be happy to have a small, maneuverable car, especially given my lack of driving experience?

I have a Yaris - I love it, but it certainly isn't roomy.

Pros - it is hugely maneuverable and easy to park which is a huge blessing in the city. It's pretty fuel efficient but not so lightweight you feel vulnerable.

Although it is short, it is quite tall for a car of its category so you can fit in quite a bit if you don't mind piling stuff up and not being able to see out of the rear window and have a packing strategy such that your piles won't collapse on top of the DC. There's also quite a bit of space in the footwells under the DCs feet which will take 3 or 4 airport-carry-on type bags.

We can quite comfortably fit 2 adults, 2 kids in car seats and enough stuff for us to be away for a holiday, including a travel cot. Having a smallish car does encourage us to be strict with ourselves about how much junk to take of course. However, when we went camping and needed there to be room for a tent and various additional items of out-door equipment, my DH caught the train so we could fill up the passenger seat volume with stuff. We debated whether we ought to be getting a "family" car at that point, and concluded that it wasn't worth paying for the additional petrol to power an extra half-ton of additional metal during the 99% of the time when we don't need the extra space, just so as to avoid this kind of inconvenience 1% of the time.

So I guess the question will be how often will you go camping?

Are you sure it's not worth joining a car club instead? Friend of mine fits a lot in a Yaris. Is it worth considering a tow bar and small trailer, or roof box, for the odd camping trip?

We have fitted 2adults (up to 6'2") and 2 children into a Citroen C3. Only just considering something larger (they are 3 and 5) but only because car ageing too.