Large family car, 10K budget.

[Pants]

We've got by with our current family car for 6 months since my daugter was born, but there's a trip to france looming I don't fancy it in a Renault Clio with 4 gears of the 2007 vintage. The auto box is awful and you have to take the wheels off the pram to get it in.

I'm test driving a Mondeo Titanium X 1.6 TDCi today. This one. Anyone got thoughts on either the engine or the car in general? The spec looks great but I was a bit unsure about the possibly tedious engine. It will be my wifes car not mine who has no interest in going fast, but on the occasions i'm driving it (i.e. to france) I don't want to be juggling gears on the motorway. Ford claim 65 mpg, and with a decent fuel tank the range must be epic. Running costs in general look small. Ford offered £2750 for the clio. So we're tempted.

Are there any competitors I should be looking at that have reasonable running costs and a decent spec list?

 

[Pants]

I guess this all depends on how bothered you are about badge, spec, age, performance.

Judging by the advert for the Mondeo, you're more interested in how old it is (and potentially it's mileage) than you are about what brand it is?

Anything to go on other than budget?

Not bothered about brand, but I've had good experiences with Ford and Skoda. The outgoing Clio has a randomly decent spec and has been amazingly reliable, so I guess i'm bothered about:

• Reliable (hence looking at lower age / mileage cars)
• Low running costs
• Maximum comfort and toys
• Adequate performance at motorway speed
• Big enough to fit our comedy big pram in the boot + extras

We're not averse to the idea of an estate, but a Mondeo sized saloon should do.

I have a Focus ST for the fun stuff, so performance doesn't matter. It will have our baby in 90% of the time too...

Spec we want:

• Parking sensors
• Climate Control
• Cruise Control
• Heated everything (inc front window if poss)
• Key-less entry and start would be a bonus
• Xenons
• Bluetooth music / phone

 

[Pants]

Well, thanks for the advice. I agree on the estate, I would have been patient and waited for one.

My Mrs is either more decisive or less patient than me... bought the Titanium X linked in OP for £10750 with £2750 for the Clio.

The 1.6 TDCi had a much flatter torque curve and a wider power-band than I expected, in that respect I was pleasantly surprised. It was no problem to drive around at the speed limit. It got up to 70 mph at an adequate pace in the context of carting family around. However the throttle response is still no match for a petrol, and even with diesels having improved I still notice the rough idle and miss the properly wide power-band of a petrol turbo. It predictably struggled accelerating in 6th but cruised fine. It looks like dropping down to 5th is needed for motorway overtakes, boo.

The car was as expected for me also owning a Focus ST 3. Seems pretty flat on corners with damping ever so slightly on the firm side. Seemed well put together, no rattles. More toys than my ST 3, with cooled seats as well as heated, and includes everything on the toy wish list apart from sat-nav which would have been nice. The half leather sports seats aren't as good as the Recaro's in the Focus, but I've probably been spoilt there.

Overall pretty nice toys wise, otherwise not exciting, with the engine being only marginally better than I thought. Perfect for my Mrs though, apparently.