What car have you got and why? Did you research safety etc?

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Sorry, this isn't very interesting! We need to change our car/s and have no idea what we want or need. Anyone have any ideas? The priorities are:

1. Safety
2. Space - although it doesn't need to be massive we don't want a small car anymore - 4 of us and all our stuff in a Peugeot 106 going on holiday wasn't funny and will be less amusing still in years to come
3. Reliability - I'm fed up of my car sounding like it's not going to start, though it usually does
4. Air con (not essential but highly desirable)
5. Ideally petrol not diesel and 5 doors, not 3

Haven't thought about budget yet but we have a car to trade in. I've been to theaa.com and which and they seem to be suggesting a Honda Civic, a Toyota Corolla or a Ford Focus. Any views? TIA to anyone who knows anything or can just tell me they love their car or not!

Honest John's Octavia review

He likes it!

Have to agree with oldie and kanga, the Volvo V70 would seem to fit your requirements; one of safest cars on the road, loads of space, very reliable etc. They are good for 200k miles, can pick up a 5 y old one with around 70K miles on for around £5K. Ours is the 20 valve jobby with 170 bhp, sounds OK but this is a very heavy car.
Have always thought that people carriers are unsafe, too many seats, not enough metal.

dp would love an XC90, test drove one at the weekend, managed to nearly knock herself out when opening the door, which hopefully means we keep the V70, and can afford to eat!

hi i got a ford focus

dont enjoy driving that much due to the poot standard on driving on the road

i drive because i ahve to public transport is not very good

had a accident some years ago someone pulled ou and wrote my car off i was devasted plus the baby was in the back at the time really knocked my confidence in driving and others ability

sorry about the mis spellings typing to fast lol

The new Toyota Versus or is it Versis looks good, more reliable than a french car

WE've gor a Volvo V70 and love it. We got the family pack and winter pack added. The family pack gives you integral booster seats so no faffing around with car seats anymore, plus the 2 rear facing seats in the boot, useful when you want to cart extra children around.

Lots of cupholders, storage boxes etc.

Plenty of boot space.

But if you are short in height do not buy it, my friend has just bought one and can't see past the headrest when reversing. So do check before you buy!

Not had time to read the whole thread but I've got a Honda Civic Type S and love it. It's really roomy and lovely to drive. Dh wanted the R Type but there was no way on earth I was having a 3 door with 2 kids. So we got the S Type. You don't see many on the road either so we've found they hold their value really well. I was a little worried initially as the gear stick isn't in the normal position but I got used to it instantly and now find it sooooooo comfortable to drive. Go and book yourself a test drive!!!

Red cars, no, more likely to be involved in accidents. I think its because it harder to see the brake lights (or is it because boy racers like that colour). I drive a green Saab and I like the fact that it is built like a tank.

I was saying to DH that I don't understand why other car manufactures don't put in Integrated seats in their cars like VOLVO it just seems so much common sense.

We were following a car the other day with a woman holding on to a toddler and a child kneeling looking out the back window. It wasn't even an old car so did have all seat belts.

We were rear ended by a mondeo several months ago it was written off and recovery man told us he doesn't have to transport many VOLVOs after accidents as they are so well built and safe.

Woodtops, test drove a Civic R type last year to claim a promotional bottle openner, sales chapee left the garage with me and ds at about 300 miles mph, after some hi speed cornering colour had started to drain from ds, I mentioned this to Fangio sitting next to me, but obviously he was having far to much fun in the 2 day old demo, anyway, 2 corners later and the rear interior changed to a familiar sick colour!! He repeated the spray job in the front, while sitting on my lap for the return journey. Got the bottle openner tho!

Yamamoto - love it, serves the salesman right, I thought a demo was about YOU driving the car and not them

Your poor old ds though.

Re. reliability I can vote for Hondas there - I have had 2 Honda Accords and they were certainly reliable, never broke down. My dh used to really like Peugeots and we had a 106 then a 306 then a 106 GTI and they drove nicely but he got really fed up with their unreliability. They always seemed to have something fairly major wrong after the warranty ran out. We've therefore now got a Golf GTI, thinking Golfs are more reliable. We do both love driving it and I think it's been fairly reliable but dh is not convinced and currently thinking of changing it. 3/4 plugs have gone and each time the car can't be driven (3 separate occasions - told there was a dodgy batch but each time would only replace faulty one as under warranty). Now that it's out of it's 3 year warranty this year the engine management warning light has come on a few times and we've had to have somthing replaced to stop this - fairly small part, but still cost £150 and dh convinced now that it's going to keep breaking down. Boot is small too on Golf.

Our other car is my company car and it's lovely lovely, but don't think it's what you're looking for - an Audi A6 Estate. Certainly has bags of room and it's lovely to drive. It's a turbo diesel so really good fuel economy and it's actually really surprisingly nippy - certainly sold me on diesels, think they must have come on a lot since the last time I drove one. So wouldn't write off diesels.

Got a Shogun!! well its certainly safe no-one dares mess with me on the road and I always get let out of busy junctions....lol!!! although it costs £70 to fill up and its a 2.8!!! 7 seats though so cant argue with that kids can sit where they like ...Great!!!!

unicorn, no, we haven't decided yet. But this is SUCH a useful thread! Thanks so much everyone. I think I need to drive a few don't I?

Cannot rave enough about the Subaru Forester. Little bit higher than the average car but not as bulky as a 4x4. Loads of room in the back and in the boot. Reliable, handled brilliantly. Had to sell it in Aus when we moved back to Europe. Am now driving a Merc E class which dh chose because he is a snob about cars and I would swap it for my Forester ANY DAY!!!!

unicorn, we've got an octavia. The other cars we were looking at were the "small car" range, the octavia is in the next category up. I was really snobby about it but dp booked the test drive. It was love at first sight. In fact we bought the one we test drove just because we were so in love with it!

Louee - you have given many of the reasons why why those of us who don't drive SUV's think they should be taxed off the road.

we've just bought a skoda octavia estate. they get the best reviews in terms of reliability and are really economical because people seem to be snobby about the name (for some unknown reason - whats a name got to do with it) so essentially you end up with a passat but much much cheaper.

Another vote for a volvo estate, old one. When we moved to Australia we ummed and ahhed about what to get and realised we loved the volve we had in London so much, and we knew it and it was the right size for us that we got another one. Comfy, reliable, big and SAFE. I love it.
DH has vintage volvo Amazon the same age as him (37) which is coming over on the ship, he loves it so much.

so www.. have you decided on one yet?
I'm still baffled and bamboozled!

well, we have the new astra. it looks pretty funky (dh loves the chrome trims on it) drives ok as far as dh says anyway (i dont drive atm), boot space isa tad small, but it did fit a huge suitcase for 4, buggy, blankets, toys etc for our holiday. think it is ok on safety, dh looked it all up and as its his car i didnt have much choice.

its petrol, 5 door and reliable as far as i am aware, its not even 6months old yet so i'll let u know when we tradee it in in 2.5yrs time.

One of our 2 cars is the old type volvo and we've had lots of offers to sell but cant part with it. It feels like you are driving a tank and we've had a couple of cars reverse into us and marks on ours but on theirs. It has always started even in snow and freezing temps.
We will one day up grade but to a fully charged volvo with air con etc as it really does feel very safe.

Also very handing for moving furniture.

We have a Saab 9-3 and love it. Safe. Reliable. Lots of space- cavernous boot. Air con. Ours is diesel (can't beat 650 miles to the tank!) but the petrol is the norm.

We've got a Renault Scenic and I absolutely love it. Really easy to drive, high viewpoint (tho did feel like I was driving bus when first got in it!!), lots of space. Dead easy to get children and old people in and out of . Haven't the foggiest about all those technical details though !

With 4 children to consider we have a very sensible car - chrysler grand voyager - which I said I'd never go for . It was like giving in to the fact you're a real family type! Must admit I love it - it's supremely comfortable and roomy, though not cheap to drive. My other car is a Mazda MX5 - anniversary present from dh. I love it but unfortunately rarely get the chance to use it though we always use it for evenings out together. Also have an ancient golf for local runs and dh's airport runs.

Citroen C8 which we are very happy with.

It's very spacious, and the space behind the back seats is fairly usuable. There's a big gap between the two third row seats, so my boys can come in through the back door, instead of climbing over unfolding (because of car seats) middle row seats.

It's very easy to park.

Electric sliding doors are fab. We have to park on the street, so I can leave the doors open while I unload without blocking the pavement.

It was fairly cheap for such a high spec. car - cheaper than the MPV we bought 7 and 4 years previously.

It looks quite good as well.