First Car with Family in Mind

EGuitarStar

EGuitarStar

EGuitarStar

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My partner is expecting our first child in late April and I just managed to pass my driving test on the second attempt, last Friday.

We are now looking at a used car as we'll need one for shopping, trips to doctors/hospital and for going places with the child.

I will be able to drive manual or automatic but my partner is wanting to learn to drive but has stated that they'll learn to drive in an automatic as they'll find manual too difficult. She has then said we should purchase an automatic so that she can drive the car when she passes.

Used car prices are extortionate at the moment from what I can see, I recall assisting my siblings in the past (10-20 years) and there was so much choice and options. We do not want more than one car.

I've got a list of cars that I am considering:

1. Ford Focus.

2. VW Golf.

3. Nissan Qashqai.

Leaning towards the Qashqai at the moment as these appear spacious inside and seem to have a boot that will easily fit a buggy.

Any advice on any of these cars or any other makes/models we should be considering?

Budget for a car is 4-5K, I would love to spend far less if possible, has to be petrol and automatic. Ideally no older than 10 years but could stretch to 15 if we'll end up with something reliable.

I checked insurance on a Ford focus for me and fully comprehensive was just over £1.2K for the first year, I am 40 and this is probably why. I am looking to also do the pass plus certification as I want to be a safe driver considering I won't have much experience and will be driving my family around.

I am not too fussed about fast it'll to 0 - 60, just want a car that will provide a comfortable and safe drive from A to B whilst being reliable. If all these variables are possible in a single car.
 
Focus/Golf Estates have bigger boots than Qashqai.

Maybe worth challenging this idea of learning to drive an auto, having a manual license is better even if you end up with an auto car because then she can also drive manuals if needed, e.g. suppose your car is in the garage and they only have manual courtesy cars available.
I completely understand the thought process that having to change gears manually just adds more complexity (it does) but the fact is millions of people, even complete idiots have successfully managed to learn how to drive a manual.

It also opens up the options for what car you can buy a lot more, petrol automatics are relatively uncommon for some models of used car. For example, doing a quick national scan on Autotrader:

Petrol Qashaqi under £5k = 209, only 16 are autos
Petrol Golf under £5k = 382, only 52 are autos
Petrol Focus under £5k = 968, only 148 are autos

So basically from your shortlist there is very limited stock, if you relaxed the criteria to include manual gearbox you'd be talking a universe of about 1500 cars instead of 200. And bear in mind that 200 is literally just every single one under £5k, that will include base trim levels, insurance write-offs, complete sheds, moon miles, cars not based on the mainland etc. I accept there will be more cars for sale not on autotrader, but the ratio is likely to be similar, i.e. probably 85% of the cars are going to be manual not auto.

Autos are more expensive anyway but this will be compounded by the fact petrol autos are fairly uncommon for this type of cars, so they pay even more of a premium because they are rare.
 
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Filtering to petrol autos under £5k on autotrader and excluding write offs, nationally, there are 7 estates, 2 SUVs and 12 MPVs. Limiting to 100k miles, there are 3 estates and 10 MPVs.

Just to reduce this even further, of these, most of the MPVs are Japanese imports actually manufactured in the early 2000s (Toyota Noah, Toyota Alphard, Honda Elysium, Nissan Elgrand etc) but imported in the last few years.

I think with your criteria it's not so much about what you like the look of, more what's available.

The best bet looks the be a 94k mile 2015 Vauxhall Astra 1.6 Estate in silver with no pictures.

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I'd agree with Hangtime - limiting to autos is the issue here.

Unless you are willing to consider a repaired write off, you're going to struggle.
 
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I think you must have some additional filters set, according to you there are no petrol auto SUVs with under 100k miles for under £5k that aren't written off, but I'm seeing nearly 100 e.g: https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202302094113999
[Note: I'm not suggesting a Porsche with 8 previous owners and 2 months left on the MOT is a good buy for a couple just passing their driving tests, this is just an example]
 
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8th or 9th gen Honda Civic. The boot is massive on them. There's space under the boot and space under the rear seats too. The car isn't massive either.

New & Used Cars for Sale - Autotrader UK

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iuqTgXTl.jpg

^^ we got all that, both kids, me and my wife into it for a few days away
 
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GeX said:
8th or 9th gen Honda Civic. The boot is massive on them. There's space under the boot and space under the rear seats too. The car isn't massive either.

New & Used Cars for Sale - Autotrader UK

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iuqTgXTl.jpg

^^ we got all that, both kids, me and my wife into it for a few days away
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This (owned & abused one for 7 years). The petrol models (1.8 the better choice) are pretty bulletproof. Only unknown for me is the automatic side of things. Generally we assume older higher mile automatics are going to break in some way and they're never cheap to fix, so do your research there. If you want Bluetooth phone and audio you may need a 3rd party solution. The biggest fault they have is usually the aircon which could be a simple relay or some shims on the compressor clutch, but could also need a new compressor.
 
HangTime said:
I think you must have some additional filters set, according to you there are no petrol auto SUVs with under 100k miles for under £5k that aren't written off, but I'm seeing nearly 100 e.g: https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202302094113999
[Note: I'm not suggesting a Porsche with 8 previous owners and 2 months left on the MOT is a good buy for a couple just passing their driving tests, this is just an example]
Click to expand...
Yeah, I had the under 10y criteria as per the OP. There are any number of old Volvos etc if you remove the age filter. I thought i'd put this in my post, but reading it back, it seems not!
 
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Thanks so far for the responses. It seems like buying a car is a mine field.

I really don't want to buy a car and then have to fork out hundreds more, with a child it'll be impossible and my partner will be on maternity.
 
Have you considered Leasing? You could get a brand new car for a bit more admittedly but little to nothing to worry about regarding things going wrong or repairs. Only issue is you’ll have nothing to show for it after two/three/four years.

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EGuitarStar said:
Thanks so far for the responses. It seems like buying a car is a mine field.

I really don't want to buy a car and then have to fork out hundreds more, with a child it'll be impossible and my partner will be on maternity.
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I'm not really sure what you're expecting, with a budget of up to £5k - just get a ~£4k Civic and leave some money aside for if it needs any work.
Had our Civic 4 years and it's been very reliable, mainly wear and tear items. The only thing I'd say that wasn't was the AC condensor needed replacing. Kids are now 4 and 1, the Civic is still plenty big enough for our needs. Sister in law bought a Vauxhall Mokka 'SUV' and despite being bigger and heavier.. it's small inside. What a silly car.
 
I think the criteria for having a kid friendly car in order of priority is:

1: Rear doors. i.e. 4/5 door car whichever you want to refer to them as.
2: A boot large enough for a buggy to live in a lot of the time

Safety of said vehicle is a nice to have, but this will mostly come with buying as new as you can. Ideally not something with a tiny rear crumple zone, as modern as possible for airbag and impact protection, but then, this is not really a reason specific to kids being in the car, you want it for anyone really.

That's pretty much it. You don't need a massive SUV for kids. I just want to emphasize how people seem to go a bit OTT with the size thing. A medium sized family hatchback will be fine. OP has listed Focus, Golf and Qashqai. Of them, I agree, you are going to limit yourself with wanting automatics. Totally doable, just will narrow down the selection available by about 90% on some of those models. If you go for more expensive/luxury cars you will then start to find more auto options. Also SUV style will tend to have more auto than small to medium sized hatchbacks.
 
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teenwolf said:
4k for an 09 plate civic is just madness.
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I don't disagree, looking at car as close to mine as possible - they're selling for ~£500 or more than I paid 4 years ago. It does, however, have more boot / interior space than any other of the cars listed in this thread, is less than 15 years old and under £5k - so ticks all the boxes that OP has laid out
 
I wouldn't touch the older Qashqai's. It's only the latest model that's brought them up to spec with others in the class, with more modern tech/features and increased space.
 
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EGuitarStar said:
my partner is wanting to learn to drive but has stated that they'll learn to drive in an automatic as they'll find manual too difficult.
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Based on that, and your other criteria, I was going to go in a different direction and suggesting a Citroen Cactus.

Big bouncy bumpers. :p

However, as many have also stated. As soon as you filter for autos there are zero results in your budget.

Civic does seem pretty decent. Perhaps an alternative might be a Gen 2 Insight, which are all CVT autos.
 
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