I need a car big enough for at least 1 adult and 3 kids, and with a decent sized boot, oh and all for £1000 HELP

[NervousNutty]

Ok so my dad knows alot about cars, and so nearly a year ago when I started my driving lessons, I gave him £1000 to keep for me and asked him to find me a car.

Roll on to now and I am putting in for my driving test, my dad still has my money and I still have no car.

He wants a bargain, too good to miss car to come and bite him on the bum, and whilst I do agree, I also don't see whay we can't actually go and look at some.

So, budget = £1000 (could possibly squeeze out another £200 if i really had too). Has to be 5 door and have a good sized boot. There will always normally be at least me and 3 children in it, and alot of the time my mum too. Oh and posibly a dog eventually lol.

Just to give you an idea, I have already ruled out a Fiesta and similar sized cars ie Polo, Golf, Matiz.

So, if you were me, what would you be looking for ??

Brazenhussy, I hope you see this message I would happily give you a decent donation for your Galaxy and am about 17 miles from you.
I can't seem to CAT you but my email is [email protected]

Kathy - I will email you this afternoon when I finish work. x

We have a Nissan Tino, and its a fab car sizewize (although still full of stuff and we currently only have 1DC) and its reliable, but it only does about 32 miles to the gallon, which I am aware is a bit sh*t, frankly.

oh right, thanks

we've got a peugeot 306 at the mo and it is ultra reliable

I only need to fit 2 boosters in the back as Dd1 doesn't need a seat anymore.

Thanks for the offer brazenhussy, but it is a bit too big for me as a first car

I agree about the Escort, although it is ideal size, I really wanted newer than that.

a focus is a good car, an astra might be cheaper to insure though

have you tried doing a few insurance quotes online?
there can be SO much price difference in different makes/models
we done a qoute on a 1.0l fiesta and it was £200 dearer than a 1.2 corsa!

Why does your dad hate the Focus? It's a fab car, I had mine for 8 years and cried my eyes out when my dad arranged to have it replaced. Never had a problem with it. I still sob when I see one the same colour.

A toyota corolla maybe ? I sold my S reg one with 80k on the clock to a friend recently for £500, so well in your budget.

Totally bullet proof, topped the reliability table I think, though not an exciting car. In the 6 years we had it other than routine maintenance at services, I spent £44 on a new battery and £90 on a leaky wheel cylinder and it always always started.

What about posting on Honest John's forum, they were very helpful when I was looking to change cars recently.

We have a Fiat Stilo, 3 kids and still lots of room boot wise. They are bigger than they look. Kind of like a tardis. (Does that make my DH Dr Who?) One can dream