Car advice - family of 5

I admit I have never driven one but for me that could mean a good 2nd hand buy (lots of them means buyers market).
now seems to be a great time to buy 2nd hand EVs actually. mine was 2.5 years old and literally half price. I could possibly have done better than that with haggling too

as for not considering electric. for most people I think IF you can charge on your driveway most people won't want to go back after owning on so long as they get the right one for their usage.

i drove 200 miles in mine to my parents at the weekend and got there with 25% on the battery. charged from home on EV tarrif it is under a £5 of electricity

if you CANT charge from home then to be fair I would stick with petrol for now

the beauty of proper dedicated EV platforms (so not the E Niro out of those I named) is you get more space inside than an equivalent petrol or diesel
 
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sx_turbo said:
All the cars your looking at are too small, albeit they are bigger than the car being replaced there not hugely bigger than the Suzuki ( if not the same size)

Boot space is tiny on the Tiguan and the other vag equivalents

Someone mentioned the superb, this is a good choice especially in estate guise it's bigger than the models you mentioned.

Alternatively look at the Kia Sorrento / Hyundai equivalent

Having a 1 year old likely your dragging a buggy round which takes up a fair amount of room

Best thing to do is go and look at as many as possible ideally go to a car supermarket like big car world or equivalent that usually have all of these types of cars in stock, take the family and try them all out then go from there.

In the range of cars your going to be looking at, one with bite likely isn't going to be an option, though there is some exceptions pending budget etc, I know you said £500 p/m but this day in age I'm unsure what this nets you.

A Volvo v90 t8 might be a good option pending finance deals etc.
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Appreciate the insight. I defo want to avoid falling into the trap of getting a car that seems bigger, but is essentially the same interior space. I know a lot of SUVs can be deceptive on that front.

Our 1 year old is now in a pram as opposed to a bulkier buggy, which folds down impressively small (one of the backpack ones). Good idea on a car supermarket, will see what's near me.

If I have to let go of the idea of getting something that's not sluggish in return for more comfort, I'll have to do that.
 
Ewaf said:
Doesn't have to be new no, but wanting to get something on PCP if possible.

Hadn't really considered electric, never owned one!
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May not suit but you can currently get a new Model 3 with 0% PCP (<£300/m) as they will be releasing the face lift model early next year. You do have to choose from the pre-configured inventory but there's not that much to option anyway :)

Model Y would be better for space but that 0% PCP is a great offer in the current climate.
 
bimbleuk said:
May not suit but you can currently get a new Model 3 with 0% PCP (<£300/m) as they will be releasing the face lift model early next year. You do have to choose from the pre-configured inventory but there's not that much to option anyway :)

Model Y would be better for space but that 0% PCP is a great offer in the current climate.
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Where's that, on their site? New and used? had a look and see lots of white ones, and it defaults for a down payment of £10k.

@Diddums how many kids can fit in a roof box?


What about a discovery sport? They are surprisingly within budget potentially, with 7 seat options too. You seem to get a lot for your money but maybe there's something I'm missing, perhaps expensive to maintain and service?
 
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Ewaf said:
Where's that, on their site? New and used? had a look and see lots of white ones, and it defaults for a down payment of £10k.
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You probably found it but go to the site. Select Model 3 then order now. The 0% banner appears top right but yes very limited selection now as they had a big offer last month on ordering but now down to the last cars coming through or not collected, most likely.
 
Ewaf said:
Where's that, on their site? New and used? had a look and see lots of white ones, and it defaults for a down payment of £10k.

@Diddums how many kids can fit in a roof box?


What about a discovery sport? They are surprisingly within budget potentially, with 7 seat options too. You seem to get a lot for your money but maybe there's something I'm missing, perhaps expensive to maintain and service?
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We looked at these and somehow ended up with a full size Discovery (which I absolutely love). The Discovery Sport is surprisingly spacious inside, and one of the few cars I tried where I could fit a rear-facing baby seat in behind me as the driver.

Superb Estate is better still though, and if you get the 280 version it’s brisk. It’s not exciting though. But then neither is the Discovery unless you count taking it off road.
 
Ewaf said:
Appreciate the insight. I defo want to avoid falling into the trap of getting a car that seems bigger, but is essentially the same interior space. I know a lot of SUVs can be deceptive on that front.

Our 1 year old is now in a pram as opposed to a bulkier buggy, which folds down impressively small (one of the backpack ones). Good idea on a car supermarket, will see what's near me.

If I have to let go of the idea of getting something that's not sluggish in return for more comfort, I'll have to do that.
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Like the sound of backpack buggy, is this a new thing? Not seen it before though it's been a couple of years since we needed one.

When we were looking at new cars we did find that SUV's are very deceptive with space, mostly in the boot department, but we've also found with child seat and booster seat being the size they are, getting 3 across the back his tight.

I'm same as you i need a bit of pep in my cars, I've owned sluggish cars and they're hard work to drive especially when fully laden, so now any vehicle i own at least needs a turbocharger be it petrol or diesel so i don't have to wrong the neck out of it to get it moving at a reasonable pace.
 
sx_turbo said:
Like the sound of backpack buggy, is this a new thing? Not seen it before though it's been a couple of years since we needed one.

When we were looking at new cars we did find that SUV's are very deceptive with space, mostly in the boot department, but we've also found with child seat and booster seat being the size they are, getting 3 across the back his tight.

I'm same as you i need a bit of pep in my cars, I've owned sluggish cars and they're hard work to drive especially when fully laden, so now any vehicle i own at least needs a turbocharger be it petrol or diesel so i don't have to wrong the neck out of it to get it moving at a reasonable pace.
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The compact folding buggies aren't cheap, but they are handy. They can fit on a plane as hand luggage which is why we picked one up, there's a good second hand market too. Ones like the silvercross jet stroller and bugaboo butterfly are decent.

As mentioned we don't have 3 isofix bases or anything, which would make things very tricky indeed. Just one isofix plate, and then a normal half booster seat, and then the 11 year old tends to sit in the middle.

Hoping to see some of the discussed models this week to whittle the list down.
 
I've been keeping my eye out for a while for something interesting that will fit a rear facing seat and two boosters but not having much luck. I've a preference for BMWs but they're all pretty much shocking for width as they're designed for 2 adults in the back with very narrow middle seats. VAG cars seem much better, My wife has a kodiaq which just about works with 3 in a row and the older kids can buckle themselves up as the seat belt buckles are on stalks(which they can't do in my F11 at moment)
 
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ZeeWrath said:
I've been keeping my eye out for a while for something interesting that will fit a rear facing seat and two boosters but not having much luck. I've a preference for BMWs but they're all pretty much shocking for width as they're designed for 2 adults in the back with very narrow middle seats. VAG cars seem much better, My wife has a kodiaq which just about works with 3 in a row and the older kids can buckle themselves up as the seat belt buckles are on stalks(which they can't do in my F11 at moment)
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Tricky isn't it. You think that when they're out of boosters it will be a better situation, until you realise they'll soon be rapidly growing teenagers
 
The missus poked her head around a friends Discovery Sport and ultimately she has fallen in love with it (probably watched too much TOWIE).

It looks like it's workable budget wise, and you do seem to get a lot for your money, especially with the 7 seater variant. There's a boat loads of diesels, less petrols but the petrols seem to be cheaper? My main concern is around reliability and on going costs, I've heard some horror stories on the reliability front.
 
Ewaf said:
The missus poked her head around a friends Discovery Sport and ultimately she has fallen in love with it (probably watched too much TOWIE).

It looks like it's workable budget wise, and you do seem to get a lot for your money, especially with the 7 seater variant. There's a boat loads of diesels, less petrols but the petrols seem to be cheaper? My main concern is around reliability and on going costs, I've heard some horror stories on the reliability front.
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i dont think JLR cars are that badly made..... but its just when they go wrong they are pretty poor supporting you and parts are expensive. That said, i will be getting an extended warranty on mine, whether it is with JLR or RAC i am not so sure, but if you are worried about maintanence costs it could be worth considering.
 
bigmike20vt said:
i dont think JLR cars are that badly made..... but its just when they go wrong they are pretty poor supporting you and parts are expensive. That said, i will be getting an extended warranty on mine, whether it is with JLR or RAC i am not so sure, but if you are worried about maintanence costs it could be worth considering.
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Good to know, yes I think the only way I'd pull the trigger on one is through JLR themselves as I think you get a 12 month warranty. Ones on autotrader are generally cheaper, but don't seem to offer warranties.
 
Ewaf said:
Good to know, yes I think the only way I'd pull the trigger on one is through JLR themselves as I think you get a 12 month warranty. Ones on autotrader are generally cheaper, but don't seem to offer warranties.
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I wouldn’t buy one unless it was used approved, and then when extending the warranty it’ll be the official one. That’s what we’re doing with our Disco 5.

In fairness, all of the quibbles I’ve had with the car since buying (interior rattles and knocking noises) they’ve sorted without question.
 
goldy6660 said:
XC90s are about the most solid cars you can get though
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Aren't the new ones with the hybrid engines really unreliable though?

Also the Volvo V90 exists which is just the same but not on stilts and also several thousand cheaper spec for spec.

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adam cool dude said:
Aren't the new ones with the hybrid engines really unreliable though?

Also the Volvo V90 exists which is just the same but not on stilts and also several thousand cheaper spec for spec.

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Earlier T8 models have a tendency for the electric motor to fail - I believe the revised T8 motor is meant to fix it.

V90 cross country would have been my choice had mrs spleen been happy with an estate.
 
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