Spec me a Family Car

Vita

Vita

Vita

Soldato
Joined
26 Mar 2006
Posts
11,648
Location
United Kingdom
Having bought the Lexus CT200H around 6 months ago for PH purposes, sadly it hasn't worked in my favour due to the covid-19 epidemic, and with another new addition to our family on the way I will need a bigger car. The boot is far to small for our purposes and whilst I have tried to bare with it, it isn't working.

It's a great car for urban driving, but being between the south and north, motorway driving whilst at cruising wasn't so bad, any overtaking would have had to be planned much ahead, and to be honest, whilst I like the car for what it is, it just isn't viable for our needs anymore.

So I've been searching for a replacement, sadly a diesel as that's what seems to be most common. 15-20k is my projected annual mileage for the foreseeable future.

£15k is the budget, looking at examples upto 8 years old. Not concerned about mileage but reliability needs to be the priority as well as decent mpg 45+.

I have narrowed it down to the following 3 cars.

Skoda Octavia VRS TDI Estate

BMW F31 320d xdrive (ed? Msport)

Mercedes C220d (CDI?) Estate

*wildcard* Ford Focus ST TDCI Estate

I have read up on all 3, and the auto seems the best bet as it'll spend most of it's time on the motorway.

The BMW seems to be the best place to be inside, but I'm not sure just how reliable these 320d's are as they age. Seems a 2014/2015 falls under budget. Can warrantys be extended past 60k miles + 3 years?

The VRS seems the best bang for the buck, but a part of me can't get past the fact that it's a "skoda". However, both the hatch and estate offer brilliant boot space which is necessary for us as a growing family.

The Mercedes I like the look of, but have no experience with the newer models.

I did consider a hybrid again, such as the Toyota Auris Estate, but I simply cannot get past the interior forn the reliability and cheap running costs they offer. Call me sad, but I'll be spending time inside the car it has to be a nice enough place to be.

I have looked at approved used/private/trade so have a rough idea of prices but I'm in a little doubt to if diesel is worth spending the money on with the government take on things.

Sorry for the long read, thanks.
 
I had a A4 Avant whilst i had 2 kids 15 months apart. There were times where it felt small in terms of the boot, we seem to carry so much crap around with kids. Merc of the same vintage felt smaller and back seat was crap for 2 seats and a person. I never tried the F30, the Octavia is well liked, but its the next class down, and i couldnt bring myself to look at the brand whilst the Germans were an option.

I replaced the Avant with a Volvo XC60, and its simply been the best car ive owned, its ticked all the boxes, practical, looks good, premium feel, comfy enough for long journey and being the R design, its not a total bus to drive. Thankfully ive seen sense, and will be going for a new 3 series, as whilst ive got 3 nippers now, the older 2 are 6 and 8 dont need prams and mahoosive child seats.

How about a Volvo V60 D4 R design?
 
Lexus SUV? they are pretty much bulletproof in terms of reliability. the guy across the road from me has a 2007 LEXUS RX 400H it's only done 85K miles but it's never failed an mot. they will also come fully loaded with toys. £15K will get you a quite modern one with decent mpg. they also tend to have 3.5 litre engines so plenty of power.

I've never had issues overtaking in the CT200H but I do keep it in sport mode.
 
I didn’t consider the Volvo but they look to be decent so will read up more on them.

I don’t really want a SUV. So the Lexus RX range is out of the question.

I have tried sports mode/normal/eco and tbh, sports seems better when the throttle is slightly pressed rather than fully. Guess I’m just used to masses of torque when I drove diesels.
 
Superb or Octavia. Or a Golf/Leon if you can live with the smaller rear legroom (impossible for a front passenger if you've got a rear-facing child seat).
If you're happy with a Skoda then just get the best one for your budget. The bigger the boot the better when it comes to kids IME. C-Class & 3-Series boots are tiny, quite frankly.
 
No SUV is going to do 45mpg.

I'd go for the 320d out of that list, however I found my B8 A4 Avant was more comfortable and a nicer place than the F3x BMWs I've experienced.

In fact, that and the S4 I had before it remain my favourite long distance cruisers.
 
Tinders said:
My XC60 D4 does close to 50mpg. But its only the FWD version.
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Wow, happy to eat my words if that's true.

Is a FWD SUV really an SUV, though? :D

The best I've ever seen was low 40s out of my X3 20d, but that involved driving super economical and cruising at 70 on the motorway. Driven normally, it's long term average was 37.
 
From your shortlist, surely has to be the Octavia based on the comments around boot space? The only bad thing you've found to say about it is the badge, which I understand because growing up in the 80s everyone used to tar them with the same brush as Lada, but things have moved on now. Octavia / Superb are widely recognised as viable options for family estates, and a mk3 Octavia will fit in your budget.
 
Got to be an estate for me in this situation, if your not interested in a SUV. I had a 320i touring when we had our daughter, the boot always felt to small. I always wished I had gone for something bigger. I personal would possible go for a E-class estate or 5 Series or Volvo V70 or evening the newer V90 if you can get one in your budget (they a great car, we have a couple as pool cars).
 
Hi thank you for all the replies.

I have narrowed it down to the Golf GTD estate/ Octavia VRS estate. I’m going to view both this coming week. Looking at DSG models but would a manual be better? Do these still suffer with mechatronic failures? Anything else to look out for?
 
Mk5 Mondeo, mine is turning out to be a cracking car, zero issue, cheap to run getting 55+mpg average, 70mpg on a long run, 230bhp, huge boot especially with the seats down. Looks smart, nice interior.
 
Dr House said:
530d. I just sold a clean 2015 with 70k miles for £12.5k.
Best bang for buck in that price range
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A friend bought a f11 touring not long a go and I’ll admit I was rather impressed by it. He paid around £7k, bodywork is a little bit shoddy but mechanically it is sound. 2011 with around 140k on clock and decent spec.

I’ll keep it in the back of my mind, I would like to see the VAG offering though. A lot of people have the Golf GTD’s in our parts so they must be half decent.
 
Dr House said:
That’s the thing. A nice golf GTD is the same price as a 530d of the same age.
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Crazy, isn't it? It's weirdly how I ended up in a 6 series! Wanted a 3. Could get a better specced 5 for the same price. Could get an even better specced 6 for only a little bit more. Went for the 6.
 
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