No idea what car to get!

[YenneferOfBattenberg]

My rickety old Skoda Fabia (estate) is due it's MOT soon. It was bought secondhand in a pinch and was not a particularly good buy, it has been reliable enough I guess but has lots of little niggles and has cost a lot at each MOT.
I am expecting it will fail again this time and it feels like I am reaching the point where it's not worth the money to keep it running.

Thing is I have no idea what to replace it with! Family of four (toddler and preschooler) and planning to get a largish dog in the next couple of years. Will be used to commute 30 minutes (on winding country roads) 3x a week. Then just general family trips, holidays, visiting family up to 1 hr away, school/nursery runs, etc. I'd like a decent sized boot. Not obsessed with having all the mod cons, but want something comfortable with everything present in working order.

I have only ever had relatively inexpensive secondhand cars previously (bulletproof ancient Peugeot, a couple of Audis (one great one terrible) and now the Skoda). Have always had diesel cars, but not tied to that particularly. I do like an engine with a bit of oomph though for overtaking etc.

I have access to around £24k that I could use to buy a car outright, but the thought of doing so brings me out in a cold sweat. I wouldn't be left with much money in savings.

I don't know whether to spend a bit more (10k ish) on a better/newer secondhand car.

Or investigate PCP/HP on a new car. I could probably afford a reasonable monthly payment of £200-300 I think.

Or is there another option to consider?

I do quite like the idea of an electric or hybrid, but definitely not if buying secondhand.

So basically interested in any views on what cars to look at, and the best way to purchase.

TIA

New cars depreciate by around 50% in 3 years. If you PCP you are still paying that 50% depreciation, but you are spreading it out. Buying a solid brand of car at 3 to 5 years old will save you a lot of money and it should still be reliable. Modern cars should last 15 to 20 years if you look after them. So yeah, 10k should buy you something that will last a while.

I bought my current main car at 3.5 years old, I've had it 5 years and expect to keep it for another 5 years.

Depends how often you want to change it in the future, but the following are some points worth considering...

1. Buying a car brand new is rarely a good idea because of depreciation.
2. Depreciation usually slows down a bit after about 3 years.
3. PCP should be avoided unless you really like paying interest. If you can’t afford to buy in cash then use HP or a bank loan, or lease the car.

If you don’t want to spend all your savings there are plenty of good cars you can buy for 10-15k. In your shoes I’d get a 3 or 4 year old BMW, Audi, or Lexus for about 12k and keep it for a good long time.

A Skoda Octavia estate will carry a family of 4 plus dog and luggage. They are reliable enough to be popular as taxis.

I would look at a Ford mondeo, they have a big boot, good safety rating and the engines are pretty good in them. I wouldn’t spend that much money on a car bit anything from 2010 onwards would be a good choice.