One for the wife?

[Fruitcake]

Hi,
We're thinking its about time we invested in a decent car for the wife rather than buying cheap runarounds which I end up having to spend my weekends sorting out.
So far I think we've narrowed it down to a few, but the budget can stretch to around £10k if the perfect car was found. But ideally we'd rather not go that high.
In the past she's been very nervous driving in the snow so 4x4 would be a bonus. Due to family being dotted around the country we quite regularly travel relatively long distance, and with 3 kids a 7 seater would make life a little easier.
I'd like it to be relatively simple to work on or for servicing to be straight forward, and of course have as high MPG as possible so not looking to go too far over a 2.0, most likely diesel.
I'm leaning towards the 307SW Diesel (although not 4wd), she loves the Ford Kuga (4wd versions). Other options seem to be the Kia Sedona, Hyundai Santa Fe.

Any input, or preferably some horror stories would be appreciated.
Thanks

[Fruitcake]

Thanks for the replies. I have gone away and am still researching for the best option. Of course I would have expected to pay a lot less for the 307 but the reliability issues have put a stop to that idea.
To explain a little more regarding the 4x4 thing, she's not the most confident driver in snow and we live at the top of a hill in a close which means we have to go down a hill to come back up another. Quite often I've left her the Impreza and driven to work if the weather isn't too great. Also on a couple of occasions my Son's school has closed on a moments notice at the first sign of snow and I've had to come out of work to go get him.
I know it doesn't snow often in the UK, but when it does it causes so much grief.
I like the idea of the Forester, as I've spent the best part of a year working on a Subaru and know how easy they are to work on in comparison to a bloody Renault lol. The search continues...

Edited by Fruitcake on Friday 5th September 18:37

[Fruitcake]

schmalex said:

We sold our 2006 v6 Altitude spec Touareg last December for £10k.

They are cracking cars.

Hmmm, Manuals seem to be pretty rare. They look nice inside and tick a fair few boxes.

[Fruitcake]

longblackcoat said:

Winter tyres plus whatever you like. Seriously.

Noted. The £10k budget would be a finance thing, so Im even considering £500 Petrol Zafira's. Not easy when you have a budget with that gap with a lot of boxes to tick. If it lasts a year I could be onto a winner.

[Fruitcake]

Willy Nilly said:

4x4's tend to be bigger and heavier, in snow and ice this is bad, you want small and light. You might have another set of driven wheels (on low profile tyres that are less than useless in the snow), but you have more weight to stop and a higher center of gravity to contend with when it starts sliding about. I drive a tractor with weighs about 7500kg, it's 4wd, has massive wheels and it's crap in snow. My mountain bike on the other hand is great.

My dad had a herd of cows so live in the country, they've never had a 4x4. Mum is in her late 60's and drives a newish Fabia with stupid low profile tyres that I warned them about. She's a nurse and ALWAYS gets to work no matter how bad the weather. If the snow drifted to the top of the hedges, she'd just drive the Skoda over the top of it. She has a worry to start with, then has a word with her self and gets on with it.

Could the same be said when that snow turns to ice?