New family cars (i.e big boots)?

At The Gates

At The Gates

At The Gates

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Joined
18 Oct 2002
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1,417
Hi guys

Anyone bought a new family sized car recently? Need to get rid of our 10 year old Focus hatchback as it's falling apart and not really big enough now the kids are older and have bikes etc. We've started looking at everything really, any ideas other than what i've shortlisted? So far we've test driven the A6 Avant (nice, big car for the boot space though, expensive when you add extras, only diesel engines) and the BMW 3 GT (i really liked this, roomy inside, but boot size isn't great and expensive to lease).

Plan is to lease a new car, don't plan on keeping it at the end of the lease. Do any of this manufacturers do better lease deals than others?

Honda Civic Tourer - 624 litres
VW Golf Estate - 605 litres
Seat Leon ST - 587 litres
Audi A6 Avant - 565 litre boot
Fiat Tipo Station Wagon - 550 litres
Vauxhall Astra Sports Tourer - 540 litres
BMW 3 Series GT (bigger boot than 3 series Touring) - 520 litre boot
Ford Focus Estate - 476 litres

Thanks!
 
It's a good job you don't plan on keeping the car because that isn't what a lease is about - you can't keep it.

Are you sure you mean you want to lease? It's typically the most expensive way to have a car (Bargain deals excepted, but your specific criteria might make a bargain lease a difficult thing to find).
 
You'll need to look at them all really as it tends to be the shape of the boot rather than the specific capacity that will make the car suitable for you or otherwise.

My Octavia hatch has a bigger boot (according to your stats at least) than the focus estate, but I know from experience the Focus is fine for me as I can get what I need in length wise, whereas a civic hatch with similar overall capacity as the Ford doesn't really suit due to it being more width than length

...if that makes sense

Another thing to consider is whether you can get a boot divider should you want to keep things fully separated in the back(I.e dog/stuff but could as easily be bike/other stuff) almost all estates will have them available but not sure about the likes of the GT
 
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Could be worth looking at PCP on a nearly new car so that someone else gets to take the initial depreciation hit and you get a car with plenty of warranty left.

As an example, I bought my 5GT at 11 months old for £33k which is £12k less than the realistic new price (list of £58k but I'd be amazed if much more than £45k was paid for it new) and the same level of depreciation in 11 months as I will see over a 3 year/45k miles PCP.
 
Just so you know, there is no definitive way manufacturers measure boots space believe it or not so looking at litreage can be misleading.

V70 but it's old now, is the new one out actually?
Merc E Class is huge too. And Mondeo.

Crossovers and like have taller boots which means they're big but not so when you consider floor space which is more useful imo so prefer estates.

E.g looking at your list there is no way a golfs boot is bigger than an A6!
 
The new Mondeo has a big 550 litre boot so don't know why you have the Focus estate shortlisted over that?
 
Yeah, with leasing i meant we were currently looking at personal leasing rather than PCP with an option to buy at the end. Although i guess i'm open to getting something a year or so old if it's a good deal, but it would have to be a on a marque with decent depreciation i guess.

Re the Golf Hatch and A6 Avant, yeah right now all i can go on is specs until we get a chance to see them all.

The Mondeo i'm open to but ruled it out because the other half hates them. I used to drive my dad's V6 years ago so quite liked them :)

Mainly looking for something that isn't a complete chore to drive and has good boot space (so hatchback style). Cost wise anything on that list is doable.
 
Look at the shape and measurements of the boot in all areas, Typically you'll find that it may be big on litres but fall down in places where you need to fit in something particular.

An S-MAX can be had for 17-20k at the moment and they have decent sized boot's with the car in 5-seater configuration. The Sharan and Galaxy are also good, assuming your open to an MPV ?
 
Skoda Superb estate. The boot is 660 litres, it has enough passenger space to swing a cat (while you're lying down), and you can have the 280ps 4x4 or 220ps 2.0 TSIs for around Mondeo money and still get decent economy. I get 38mpg pootling around in ours and 43-45mpg on the motorway. Great family cars, but do go for the 280 4x4 if you can.

As someone else said, with a growing family why look at the compact segment (Civic, Leon, Focus etc)? You need Superbs, Mondeos, and cars of that ilk. The Superb has a similar wheelbase to the LWB 7 series BMW and more room than a S Class Merc. Forget little cars imho. We're five up in the Superb and have loads of room.
 
The Superb is the clear winner here, kit levels and space are fantastic, it would be interesting to see how the boot/stowage length would compare with the bigger MPV's!
 
No personal experience as yet but Octavia Estate and 308 SW are on my shortlist of 'cars with big boots (>600L) but not massively long'
 
Joe T said:
I'm amazed an A6 Avant has a boot only 25 litres bigger than an Astra Sports Tourer!
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Not according to the Astra's brochure? 500l with the rear seats up. That's a 65l difference.

The likely reason for the difference in capacity between the smaller estates and the A6 Avant is that the avants rear slopes quite heavily, meaning that with say the VDA standard test (that not every manufacturer uses), there might be a lot of left over space in the A6, but little left over in the Golf (Golf's load space is far more "cube" shaped, and the VDA test uses cubes to test load space).
 
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As a family man myself have a few thoughts on this myself.

Not sure if boot space or passenger space is the most important.

My current car is a Skoda Superb Estate, load space is fantastic as is the rear leg room...what I do find lacking is the width of the car. 2 car seats in the back and you would struggle to fit anyone in.

I am always looking around for cars and find myself looking more and more at MPV i.e. S-MAX so you have 3 full width seats.

The problems usually arise when you go for them day trips or family holiday trips and Nana & Grandad tag along, or Auntie and Cousin (with the car seat) come out with us the rear space soon starts feeling as small as the wifes Qashqai.

Again this is completely my opinion but my next purchase will be swayed on the full width rear seats as the types of car you usually find will have decent boot space for the pushchair, shopping etc.
 
GinG said:
As a family man myself have a few thoughts on this myself.

Not sure if boot space or passenger space is the most important.

My current car is a Skoda Superb Estate, load space is fantastic as is the rear leg room...what I do find lacking is the width of the car. 2 car seats in the back and you would struggle to fit anyone in.

I am always looking around for cars and find myself looking more and more at MPV i.e. S-MAX so you have 3 full width seats.

The problems usually arise when you go for them day trips or family holiday trips and Nana & Grandad tag along, or Auntie and Cousin (with the car seat) come out with us the rear space soon starts feeling as small as the wifes Qashqai.

Again this is completely my opinion but my next purchase will be swayed on the full width rear seats as the types of car you usually find will have decent boot space for the pushchair, shopping etc.
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Yep, agree completely. This is the reason my old SEAT Alhambra has taken over the daily family duties from the F11 530d, thus meaning the 530d was no longer needed.

Despite being a large car, once there are 2 kids seats in the back, there is only room left for a very small person in the 5 series, and most other actual "cars". The Alhambra, on the other hand, has a full size middle seat. Sure, the tops of the kids seats do encroach on this middle seats space somewhat, but not enough to make it uncomfortable for an average sized adult to use the seat. And of course, being that the Alhambra is an actual 7 seater (rather than the 5+2 of the likes of an S-Max or similar), it has plenty of boot space should you only be using 5 seats.

The S-Max and other 5+2's also have a reasonable boot too, but I figured if I was going to get a MPV at all, I might as well get the bigger one, as it is getting bought with space being the priority. To be fair, the wife is lucky I didn't come home with a VW Transporter, or Caravelle.

Also, when I bought the Alhambra, I was actually looking mainly at Mondeos and the like as a vehicle mainly for putting bigger miles on, comfortably. The Alhambra popped up at a reasonable looking price, fairly locally, so thought I'd go for a look. Upon seeing it, it was clear the benefits I'd get from a vehicle of this nature, so decided to go this route instead. And do not regret it for a second.
 
GinG said:
As a family man myself have a few thoughts on this myself.

Not sure if boot space or passenger space is the most important.

My current car is a Skoda Superb Estate, load space is fantastic as is the rear leg room...what I do find lacking is the width of the car. 2 car seats in the back and you would struggle to fit anyone in.

I am always looking around for cars and find myself looking more and more at MPV i.e. S-MAX so you have 3 full width seats.

The problems usually arise when you go for them day trips or family holiday trips and Nana & Grandad tag along, or Auntie and Cousin (with the car seat) come out with us the rear space soon starts feeling as small as the wifes Qashqai.

Again this is completely my opinion but my next purchase will be swayed on the full width rear seats as the types of car you usually find will have decent boot space for the pushchair, shopping etc.
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Not a bad shout, we have a baby and a four year old and it does mean a little reconfiguration if we want to take a fifth person, normally moving a car seat into the front.

I'm buying a group 2-3 car seat at the moment and finding myself measuring the widths to compare to try and squeeze a little more room in the back.

That being said we manage fine and the larger pram/buggy for the little one won't be used as much as it was with our first. I'm stubbornly resisting ever going down the route of an S-Max although the 2.0 Ecoboost does look tempting. :p
 
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