Going round in circles. Hit me with your best suggestions for tall driver and two ERF seats

[LookImAHooman]

As title - feel like I'm going mad and struggling to narrow an online shortlist effectively. Seats are the Axkid Minikid and MC 2WayPearl; not interested in forward facing and DH is tall and needs legroom up front. Car needs to hold everything for toddler and baby day-to-day but we're planning on a roofbox for holidays.

I'd like the budget to be £9k; DH is happy to go to £11-12k. We're now thinking an estate but if there's an SUV or crossover with the higher driving position, I'm even happier. No older than 2011/12 if poss, good economy, reliability a must, preferably parking sensors / Bluetooth / keyless / auto climate control / auto headlights. And the moon on a stick while we're at it.

We think the VW Passat estate should def be on the list; haven't looked at Ford estates for cabin space but the Mondeo estate seems to meet all other criteria on paper. Pref not a Skoda but won't rule them out.

Any suggestions?!

I can't help with seat specifics but I'm a tall(ish) driver - I'm 6'2. I've found that SUVs often have less room up front than large estates, unless you go for a really massive SUV like a Volvo XC90.

Passat estate is a good shout, I've had one in the past and got on well with it. The Mondeo is OK but for me the VW was a better car. The Skoda Superb is cavernous (even bigger than the Passat) so might be worth holding your nose for a look!

I loved our previous Audi A6 Avant; tons of room and all the kit but it was vair expensive. (It was a business lease car.)

Mazda 6 estate is huge and nice, as is the Volvo V70. Oddly, I find all BMWs a bit tight for space upfront, even the big ones.

On SUVs I found the Nissan X-Trail to be reasonably spacious. The Mazda CX5 is alright as well. My brother's Land Rover Freelander is surprisingly cramped and goes expensively wrong all the time.

(I drive an old Saab 9-5 estate at the moment and love it, but it was a £1,500 emergency second car and I do find I'm squirrelling away a chunk for potential maintenance. Even though nothing has gone wrong with it yet. )

Amazing; that's all massively helpful, thanks. Had a google and do like the look of the Mazda 6! Had a feeling we wouldn't be able to get an SUV as well as what we actually need. Never mind. We used to tow - fortunately not with a Freelander - so are very familiar with their rep Think the shortlist has come down to the Mazda 6, Superb, Passat and Mondeo - just need to see them properly now. I'd give my right arm for a nice Audi but the options just don't stack up on spec for the same price bracket (obviously!). One day...

You're welcome! Now comes the fun bit... test drives!

Why not a Skoda? We've got a Skoda Octavia estate and have a britax maxway which is massive and still loads of legroom. If you don't mind diesel you can easily get a used one for that price. Petrol is a bit harder, as we found and ended up.buying new. Huge boot and no need for roof box

We looked at the superb as it gets rave reviews but it was a bit too big for us and the Octavia fitted our needs perfectly.

Yes skodas are ace for reliability and space. Dont rule them out as they are often the car of choice for taxi drivers for good reason.
My Dh was a taxi driver and always had octavias or ford mondeos as so good.
We have an older mondeo (automatic ) at present and as well as big boot etc it has gone through its mot the last 2 yrs without even one advisary ! Rhink it was about 6000 so a massive bargain long term.