Family car suggestions.

johnw100 · 11 May 2015 at 12:23

Hi All,

Really having problems trying to choose a car for me and my wife and 2 young kids to replace our 2008 honda jazz.
Want something smallish but a 5 door automatic hatchback for under £8500k and no older than a 2011/12.
I`ve sort of narrowed it down to either a

Nissan Note 1.6 ntec 2013 , like the spec and price. dislike image a little.
Mercedes A-Class 2011 , like the brand, concerned about maintenance costs, especially automatic issues.

Any other suggestions. Really want to avoid ford, vauxhall, anything french or italian ,had our fair share of those, and want something different.

Tried convincing the wife to a VW Golf, but she thinks theyre too expensive and bland for that money.

We wont be using it for commuting as we use the train, so its basically school runs and weekend trips. We`d like to travel around the country so want something thats comfortable, but will probably do less than 6k miles a year.

Struggling with this one. Any ideas?

Thanks

the_r_sole · 11 May 2015 at 13:55

so the golf is bland, what was the reaction to the note?!

johnw100 · 11 May 2015 at 14:34

Bland but half the price ;-)

paradigm · 11 May 2015 at 14:36

So opt for the Skoda/Seat equivalent.

All of the car, less of the cost

iaind · 11 May 2015 at 14:37

Yep you'd get a good Leon or Octavia for that money. Both are much more interesting than the Golf visually, both are miles cheaper

Armageus · 11 May 2015 at 14:39

Skoda Favia vRS?
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201504222820123
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201503041411617

Can't really say either of those are bland, VW reliability/quality with a different badge

A Honda Civic or BMW 1 Series, are just about in budget for that age but Auto civics seem rare, and 1 series would be a bottom of the barrel for that money.

Mazda 3, Kia Cee'D, Chevrolet Cruze, Hyundai i20 or ix20 - Any of these could be had a bit cheaper than budget, or a few years newer e.g. 2013/14 cars for around £8k

Terminal_Boy · 11 May 2015 at 14:50

If you like the Jazz, why not look at a used Civic?

rodenal · 11 May 2015 at 15:09

The 'i-shift' box in the civic is terrible (unless they updated it later and I've missed it), best avoided.

Why not another Jazz? The note/A class don't offer any real world space advantage over it.

As already mentioned both the Leon and particularly the Octavia give you golf underpinnings with different clothes on. The Octavia in particular sounds suitable if you're looking to travel up and down the country on occasion. The boot is massive for what is a relatively compact car

johnw100 · 11 May 2015 at 15:23

Thanks for the replies.

Civic I really like but I`m just not sure if its easy around the town for the wife. I`m thinking parking , and with kids,etc. If it was for me i`d have one.
Same goes for the Leon.

Another Jazz, could do. But i need a change of scenery the dash isnt the prettiest thing in the world. Even in the later models it hasnt changed much. Apart from that its been a good car.

Skoda, I actually like the look of the Skodas ., But its something about the brand/badge , even though its basically a cheap VW I just keep thinking of the old eastern block skodas. But if i forget my badge snobbery the Octava is bit too big but liking that Fabia for 8k. Will investigate.

Mazda 3 and Hyundai I30 were on the list. Although i30 was really up above £9.5k for an automatic in the latest shape. Always liked Mazdas.

Tinders · 11 May 2015 at 15:28

Doesnt seem much of a usable upgrade here, the Merc and note are fairly small still.

The Octavia seems a good shout, not as cheap as you think, but its a damn good car.

iaind · 11 May 2015 at 15:35

Don't know why people always say the octavia is a big car - it's the same platform as the golf. It's just got a slightly elongated boot

The fabia is a polo sized car

Armageus · 11 May 2015 at 15:42

iaind said:
Don't know why people always say the octavia is a big car - it's the same platform as the golf. It's just got a slightly elongated boot

It's 600-700mm longer than a Jazz (depending on year of Jazz and Octavia), yes not a big deal, but reading between the lines issue is probably the OP's wife and parking. Fabia is approx 100mm longer.

iaind said:
The fabia is a polo sized car

Which seems to be more in line with the requirements here.

Ref:
http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/reviews/facts-and-figures/honda/jazz/hatchback-2002/dimensions/
http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/reviews/facts-and-figures/honda/jazz/hatchback-2008/dimensions/
http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/reviews/facts-and-figures/skoda/fabia/hatchback-2007/dimensions/
http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/reviews/facts-and-figures/skoda/octavia/hatchback-2004/dimensions/

paradigm · 11 May 2015 at 15:44

iaind said:
Don't know why people always say the octavia is a big car - it's the same platform as the golf. It's just got a slightly elongated boot

The fabia is a polo sized car

Whilst the Golf and the Octavia are the same platform (MQB), the wheelbase of the octavia is longer than that of the Golf and Leon (admittedly not by much).

The Fabia is, indeed, a lot smaller than either.

johnw100 · 11 May 2015 at 17:16

Yeah octavia is big its
4650mm long
Leon is 4263mm
Jazz is 3900mm
Merc A class - 3880mm
Nissan Note - 4100mm

So rather have something around the 4m mark.

rodenal · 11 May 2015 at 18:10

You aren't going to get more versatility around that size if you move away from the Jazz or the note (I'm assuming the Leon is too long which will rule out every golf sized hatch

iaind · 11 May 2015 at 18:24

The golf, which the op himself wanted is 4277... Seems like a totally arbitrary factor to base your car purchasing decision on, unless you have a particularly short garage it needs to fit in.

I can't help but think 2 young kids and their associated parephenalia would actually need a decent amount of space, so the golf class of cars is probably the best things to look at.

The focus is probably one of the best cars in this size class and budget, but it seems arbitrary brand stipulations sit alongside arbitrary dimension specifications...

rodenal · 11 May 2015 at 19:07

But then you'd just buy an Octavia, which is the most space you'll get in the boot this side of a mondeo, stick some parking sensors on it for £30 and be done with it!

johnw100 · 11 May 2015 at 19:20

iaind said:
The golf, which the op himself wanted is 4277... Seems like a totally arbitrary factor to base your car purchasing decision on, unless you have a particularly short garage it needs to fit in.

I can't help but think 2 young kids and their associated parephenalia would actually need a decent amount of space, so the golf class of cars is probably the best things to look at.

The focus is probably one of the best cars in this size class and budget, but it seems arbitrary brand stipulations sit alongside arbitrary dimension specifications...

The car size on what my wife finds easiest to drive so thats why i`m having to stay on the small family hatchback size. A Skoda Octavia is a lot bigger at 4.7m to a Jazz at 3.9m, thats getting on for almost a metre longer. so i dismissed that. The golf is about 4.2m which i think is just within limits but it was dismissed by my wife.

johnw100 · 11 May 2015 at 19:22

btw, this is a good site for car dimensions if you ever like me, concerned about size ;-)

http://www.automobiledimension.com/

rodenal · 11 May 2015 at 19:26

johnw100 said:
The car size on what my wife finds easiest to drive so thats why i`m having to stay on the small family hatchback size. A Skoda Octavia is a lot bigger at 4.7m to a Jazz at 3.9m, thats getting on for almost a metre longer. so i dismissed that. The golf is about 4.2m which i think is just within limits but it was dismissed by my wife.

I know it's woman logic but why is she dismissing cars without even looking at/driving them? I find the octavia, much, much easier to park than my civic which will likely be about the same length as the golf, but with absolutely shocking rear visibility