.

I'd probably be looking at a civic or a focus. If you've got around just fine with your micra then you're right in saying you don't need a 4x4.
 
With kids coming with ridiculous amounts of cheap, you ideally want a hatchback. At the very least a focus size car. My choice would be a Skoda Octavia.
 
People on here seem to struggle with large suvs and 2 kids so I can't see how you could survive with anything smaller than an x5 or q7.
 
I use a 2 door Micra K11 with my littlun so it is possible. But it's getting awkward now she's nearly 4 lol
 
You can manage with 2 kids in just about anything, however having been down the road with 2 babies in tow for a few years, we found the usual MPV's spot on..

I would probably look at the smax which has a lot of nice kit, slightly larger, but looks OK and the 1.6 ecoboost is adequate, the cmax is a little too small, I'd rather have a Zafira tourer.

Suvs are OK, my cx5 was more than adequate for 2 kids, it's just that mpvs normally have more storage and better thought out for baby duty imo.

I wanted to get an estate but they don't have the same ease of ingress/egress or loading as the mpv/suv
 
iamdjdz;30495163 said:
Nissan Qashqai?
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That was my first thought. I think your wife would manage fine with the size personally, but I guess you can easily go to a dealer to test drive one.

Fits the bill in every way that I can see and I would agree with your in-laws in respect of 4x4 being a good idea, given your location and the potential for serious amounts of snow to fall. If nothing else it'll give you extra peace of mind going up a mountain to go skiing with your kids etc.

Dis86;30495440 said:
People on here seem to struggle with large suvs and 2 kids so I can't see how you could survive with anything smaller than an x5 or q7.
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:D
 
You could also look at something like a A4 avant Quattro or 3 series x drive estate.
 
Noooo not a gashqai!! :mad: :p

Would a small estate be okay for your wife? Or is that too big still?

Having driven in that part of the world extensively (well the French Alps) you don't need 4x4 as long as you have winter tyres, but in your case I would say a good idea.

How about a Skoda Yeti 4x4 - lots of space - can easily fit a pram + other bits in the boot, and 4x4 just in case.
 
Your requirements are pretty similar to ours, just with fewer miles and budget, more towbars and snow.

Essentially the way I have searched for a car small enough for my wife to be comfortable but big enough to lug 'kid stuff' around in is to look at the boot space to length equation, which compact estates tend to excel in. This lead me to 308SW, Octavia Estate, Civic Tourer, Leon ST which all have boots around the ~600L mark but top out at around ~4.7m in length. Obviously with your budget you may be looking at earlier Marks so not all suitable. And of course not all boots are as practical as their size might imply, you also have to look at rear legroom etc (one annoying thing in our current car is that as my son is growing, I've had to move the front passenger seat forward a bit).

Regarding the 4x4 aspect one thing to bear in mind is that some cars have reduced boot capacity to accommodate it, so keep an eye on that if you choose to go down that route.
 
B7 Audi A4 Avant Quattro? either the 3.0 TDI or 2.0 Petrol?

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201610138741393?price-to=10000&fuel-type=Diesel&sort=price-asc&postcode=pe217qe&advertising-location=at_cars&drivetrain=Four%20Wheel%20Drive&model=A4%20AVANT&price-from=6000&radius=1500&make=AUDI&onesearchad=Used&onesearchad=Nearly%20New&onesearchad=New&body-type=Estate&page=1

The thread is pretty pointless though as the UK market is a unique one and not comparable to mainland Europe. My trusty old Saab is a couple of grand over here whilst it is over double that on the continent.
 
Freefaller;30495587 said:
Noooo not a gashqai!! :mad: :p

Would a small estate be okay for your wife? Or is that too big still?

Having driven in that part of the world extensively (well the French Alps) you don't need 4x4 as long as you have winter tyres, but in your case I would say a good idea.

How about a Skoda Yeti 4x4 - lots of space - can easily fit a pram + other bits in the boot, and 4x4 just in case.
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I was scrolling waiting on someone mentioning a Yeti :cool: We have one. 2 kids, sometimes 3 as the wife looks after her nephew twice a week. Loads of room inside. I love the high roof. Boot can fit double pram with ease and shopping. Rear seats can move back an forth if more boot space is needed. Kids love it and feel safe.
 
That's going to be our next car once the volvo has become too much hassle to maintain (at the moment it has been a dream).

Almost bought the 1.8TSI with full leather, heated seats and sat nav etc... But the volvo was cheap as chips and in perfect condition so man maths was pummelled to death after that.
 
The yeti is an excellent suggestion, and if you get the 4x4 version (quite a few are available) then it really is a no brainer, lol at the Quashqi the most awful car I've ever been in, Father in Law had one for a couple of years and it's totally uncomfortable and the ones with 4 wheel drive are rare.
 
joeyjojo;30498021 said:
OP wants a small, big, city & 4x4 car. :p Good luck!
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Ahem, the wife wants that :p

The replies have been very useful. We are going to test drive two hatchbacks and two MPVs/small SUVs this week to see what we think.

I have the feeling we will get a hatchback and make do with limited room though as the size is a really big issue for my wife. As long as we can get those stupidly big baby prams in the boot and fit a roof box I think we will be fine.

She likes the look of the ford focus and the Qashqai so far.
 
Try and veer her away from the QQ - it's awful, and you probably will have more boot space in the c-max too. Also, you can get smaller prams rather than the big lumbering ones.

We took 2 kids in our volvo and fit 2 prams with ease in the boot.
 
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