Cheap, economical second hand cars

[BinarySolo]

DH and I are thinking of replacing our current car with 2 cars. We currently have a Citroen xsara Picasso diesel which is a bit tired with dodgy electrics.

Ideally we'd like something similar to the current car that we can use as a family (2 adults, 2 year old Ds and another due in September and 2 dogs) and a small car for dh to commute 40 miles a day to work in.

Our current car is 2002 reg so there won't be mug value in it and money is tight. We'd like both cars to be fairly cheap to buy, tax, insure and maintain. I have a feeling that the current car will be very costly to get through its next mot.

Any suggestions appreciated. I realise that I'm sort of looking for the holy grail of cars!

Hi BinarySolo. Could you give us an idea of what kind of budget you'll have for both cars (or even just one of them), and what jobs each cars needs to be able to do? For instance, with only two children and two dogs, you could theoretically manage with any number of small hatchbacks - but perhaps the dogs are quite big, or you'll need to fit in a double buggy, or you want space for holiday luggage as well as the dogs? Some extra info might help get the ball rolling.

We'll be trying to part ex the current car and then we'll have about a £1500 budget on top for both cars. Pretty meagre I know!

The dogs are springers so not huge but we like camping and visit relatives a fair bit so need a boot big enough for the hounds and all the paraphernalia that camping, dogs and 2 small boys require!

The small car just needs to be as economical as possible really. As long as it can cope with motorway journeys it's fine.

We live in rural Yorkshire so if both or either can handle snowy hills for winter then so much the better!

For the smaller car, but still roomy enough to be ueable, how about a Honda Jazz? Bit of a blur rinse special, but there's plenty of early examples going for peanuts

For the bigger car, but still budget minded...Mitsubishi Pajero? Bit big and hulking, but massive space for allsorts and can go almost anywhere.

Thanks for the suggestions. I shall look into both.