Getting a bigger car than a VW Golf

[FreeWee]

I love my Golf but my garage have advised me to sell it before it starts costing me money in repairs.

I can afford about £8k for a used car and am pregnant with baby number 2 so think I need to get a bigger car than a Golf so I can keep this one for ages. I want to have cruise control and air con and if it's a bigger car then parking sensors would be helpful. Other than that I have an open mind. It would be nice if it looked good and would prefer petrol to diesel as my commute is 8 miles a day. Husband wants me to get an estate because of trips away etc but I'm not 100% convinced as I wonder how practical that would be day to day given we'd only need the extra space once or twice a year. But then we would need that space at that time! I like the idea of a higher ride position from an MPV type car. I would prefer low tax and good economy and definitely needs to be manual. It was so easy getting the Golf as I just wanted a bigger car than my lovely Polo. But with so many to choose from I'm in such a quandry! Thank you for all your advice.

We have a Mondeo and a Kuga and find them both brilliant and practical. Both have parking sensors and cruise control. The boot of the Mondeo is huge. The downside being is that it makes for a very long car. Fuel economy on the Mondeo is excellent, but less so on the Kuga which is a 4WD (very necessary for winter as we live on a hill in a rural area).

We have both been driving Fords for years and have test driven other cars, but prefer Ford.

OP -I just came on to MN to basically ask EXACTLY the same question. Also need to upgrade from our golf as pregnant with no 2, have £8k to spend, DH wants an estate, I want an MPV type car! So am looking at responses with interest

We looked at a Nissan Qashqai +2 today which I really liked but we don't need 7 seats....it's just appealing to be able to put them down and have a massive boot...

I was driving behind a Qashqai+2 today and wondered about it Bobian

I don't think I'll be keeping the car long enough for 7 seats to be necessary as DD is only 2. I envisage that lifestyle choice when she's about 7ish.

I worry about a Mondeo type car being too long Bunbaker and a 4x4 being too thirsty. We live in a village but it's only 3 miles outside the nearest town so it's not hugely isolated, although there are hills at both ends of the village. A 4x4 would be handy but I'm worried about economy. I've got a 1.4 TSI which gets 40mpg for the overall journeys I do. I was wondering about the C-Max because it's more of a car than a MPV van type thing but DH thinks it's not big enough!

Most Kugas are 2WD. We specifically wanted a 4WD because of where we live.

Ix35

Golf estate - medium size car with big boot
I am getting mine on Tuesday morning
It is replacing a Fabia estate (a very tiny estate)

Golf estate makes sense but I just wonder if all that length of car is overkill for the rest of the year round?

I've looked into road tax for 4x4s and it's going to be prohibitive so thinking MPV or large/estates now. The CMax or Grand C Max are favourites from last night's Internet search.

I had a Honda CRV for a few years. Good sized, reliable car with plenty of boot space for prams, bikes, scooters, camping gear, you name it.

I imagine for £8k you'd get a decent 2nd hand one.

I like the look of the Honda CR-V but looking at its running costs (average 34.4mpg) I don't think I'll be able to afford it in the long run (and to get a version as new as my Golf would be £12k) Thanks for the suggestion though it is right up my street!

I get 36.1 mpg out of my Kuga. I test drove a CR-V, but found the gear change too notchy.

What's the boot like in the Kuga Bun? I'm wondering if SUV/4x4s aren't quite what I'm looking for as you get a bigger car and 4x4 (hopefully) but without the extra boot space I need. The Golf has really quite a big boot it would seem for a hatchback. I'm thinking I need a small MPV. Galaxy, Alhambra, Picasso I think are all a little bit too big. I need a good 5 seater really with big boot space. I might be OK with a 7 seater as we'd almost permanently have the 2 back seats down hence lots of boot space.

Not bad, not as big as in a Mondeo, but big enough for the three of us to go on a self catering holiday in the UK complete with cases and bags of food.

I have just come back from rescuing DD from school and discovered just how good it is in the snow (feeling thankful, and just a little bit smug).

Might take a look at it with the C-Max while I'm at the Ford garage thank you.