Which family car should we buy?

[ButterflyOfFreedom]

Originally posted in Chat before realising there was a Cars section! (Sorry)

So...

2 adults, 2 school age children.
No dogs / bikes / prams etc. We're not campers and/or don't have excessive sports equipment etc (!!!) - the most we'd have in the boot is our weekly shop or a few suitcases when going away!

We never buy new - usually one about 3 years old and usually (though I imagine this may increase!?!) spend about £10k.

Short list so far is:
VW Golf
Seat Leon
Vauxhall Astra
Renault Megane
Peugeot 308

So, which would you recommend out of those? Or any others we haven't thought of?

Thank you!

The Kia Sportage is a fantastic car in every way

@Treacletoots Nooooo! Do NOT get a Jeep Renegade!!!! I have one. Absolute pile of %$€#!!! Terrible cars plagued with faults

@FancyThatFenceEdge WRONG!!! Nissan Juke is built in the UK up near Northumberland by Nissan themselves

Ooh, I love our Mazda 3! Sooooooo reliable. It's a 2006 model we bought for 3k in 2014 and despite my bashing the hill out of the hell of it, it's never needed any work done to it, sails through its MOTs and has never broken down. It's roomy enough inside for the 4 of us to be comfortable but not so big it's hard to park. Good size boot too.

Sounds like Ford Focus would be best for you @ButterflyOfFreedom. I had a Fiesta with an Ecoboost engine and it was out of this world! Spacious, comfortable and fabulous to drive with great features and in-car tech

@SickofThomasTheTank

I know when and where the shit Juke is built. The Renault remark was more aligned at the Renault-Nissan partnership and the influence of cheap shit French elements in that trashy car (and other shit Nissans too).

Jeez....

Thanks for starting this thread butterfly, I'm in exactly the same boat! Hoping to take DH car shopping next week. Time to trade in my beloved convertible for a family car ffs

Thanks for the replies!

Ford Focus hadn't been on our radar but will take a look.

I do like the look of the Quashquai but not sure we really want / need anything that big. Same applies for Kia Sportage / any othet SUV / crossover. Not keen on the shape of the Juke.

Might look at the Mazda 3 too...

tobee I think we just understand how crap VAG cars are. The build quality and reliability are shit. You only have to look on here to see how non car people get sucked in by a nice bit of soft touch plastic. All marketing over substance and it works.

So reddington , fancythatfenceedge, and toobee, what would you recommend?
Know the Citroën has been mentioned already... Though what else if not a Seat / VW/ Audi / Skodas??

reddington. I have run VAG for years. Never had any unusual problems.

I wasn't 'sucked' in by anything. I did my own research before choosing a car each and every time. I do tend to sway towards VAG now because generally I know what I am getting, and have a great relationship with the dealer which has been built up over years of using them for both sales and service.

Since the first Skoda I bought in 2001 our other cars have been Vauxhall, Peugeot, Renault and Nissan. So I'm not just blindly posting in favour of the VAG, but i absolutely recommend people buying a car to consider them, and that's years of experience, not because they have a 'bit of plastic'

I love my Mazda 3. I'm on my second and my sister is on her fourth. They've been extremely reliable. More so than other cars I've driven. Cost me no more than regular services/tyres/etc. A comfortable car with enough space in the back.

Ford Focus. On my third, this one is an estate and I love it. Haven’t had a moments trouble with any of them and we run them ragged.

Another vote for qashqai here. Easily the best car I've ever had, I love it. I have had (admittedly older) French cars in the past, and will never, ever have another one again!!

Definitely worth having a test drive in a mazda 3. You get a lot for your money in a mazda

Is it just me, or do others also find that the perpetual scatalogical adjectives of reddington and Fancythat are becoming rather tedious? Please could they try to use a bit more variety in describing their negative assessments of non far eastern vehicles?

Since the first Skoda I bought in 2001 our other cars have been Vauxhall, Peugeot, Renault and Nissan.

None of those are exactly renowned for their quality though. Nissan used to make great cars but their more recent offerings have become patchy. The reliability figures/scores are readily available and VAG products are not considered to be particularly reliable, way above JLR dross but nowhere near the likes of Honda/Toyota/Lexus. I do like some of the German stuff, M cars and AMG in particular but you don’t buy one expecting reliability, you know you’re going to get butt fucked.

Vauxhall corsa we have just got one on finance! It's a 1.3 tdi and very nippy and great on diesel 50 quid fills the tank and gets you 600 miles, had a 67 plate qashqai before that (petrol) was comfy but crap on fuel and hated hills!

OP - why havent you considered:

Kia Ceed / Optima / Sportage

Hyundai i30 / i40 /Tuscon

Honda HR-V / CR-V / Civic

Toyota RAV4 / C-HR / Auris / Avensis

Lexus IS / GS

Mitsubishi Outlander (but a totally fucking cheap shit interior)

Subaru Forester (totally fucking hideous exterior)

Suzuki Vitara

So many out there to choose from.....

Thanks fancythatfenceedge - though are a lot of these bigger than your standard family hatchback? Ie. SUVs / crossovers?
We're wanting something similar in size to a VW Golf say.... just maybe with a bigger boot....

Honda Civic is on our short list though along with Seat Leon & Hyundai i30.

A Lexus sounds good but not sure our budget will stretch to one???!
(We're looking at something no older than 3 years old for no more than £10k)...

golf 100%
got rid of mine for a bmw x1 and got bored after 5 months so have vw again - a jetta this time and I love it. 2 adults 1 four year old and a nearly 2 year old x

Even if you buy a 5-6 year old Lexus, it will still cost next to nothing to run as it will be faultless. Leon's are shit. Golfs in cheap drag. Avoid-avoid-avoid.

Civic has a bigger boot than a dogshit Golf, so that'll be practical for you in future.

For you budget or a litte over, I've go for the Kia Optima. Bigger than the cars youve listed, not an SUV, still benefits from the 7 year warranty. Plenty of 15-platers on Autotrader for just over £10k, with less than 50k miles. And they are infinitely more reliable, cheaper to run, more exclusive and rare than any shit churned out by VW or its proxies.

Consider it.

None of those are exactly renowned for their quality though.

My point was I never had any problems with the VAG cars. And always had a different make as second car. You may think none of them are renowned for quality, but in my, and many others experience, they are decent enough cars that have given us trouble free (with the exception of the regular wear and tear) motoring.

Also I have never been 'butt fucked' by any of my cars.

Even if you buy a 5-6 year old Lexus, it will still cost next to nothing to run as it will be faultless.

It doesn't take a mechanic to know that this can't be true!! Wear and tear is wear and tear. Age and mileage cause certain things to wear, the Lexus isn't exempt from that

Not to mention the massive recall