Best new family car for £20k or less?
Discussion
I am considering taking the plunge in the next few months on a new family car, as our current fleet doesn't really meet our changing requirements. Hers is too small (Fiat 500) ans she doesn't like driving my Impreza Wagon, which is probably too expensive to run for me to continue commuting in when a cheap hot hatch would do the same job and be just as much fun.
We will probably buy new as new car finance is cheap, we will keep it a long time (at least 3 years as my wife doesn't like change) and having some choice on spec/colour and the novelty value of owning a car from new will mitigate against perhaps driving something a bit less interesting. Twenty years ago, the choice was simple. You bought an estate (my dad always had estates) or an MPV if you needed more seats than a normal car. I guess large SUVs were fairly popular as well but perhaps not primarily intended for this purpose and they're all well north of £30k.
So what would offer decent value and a decent level of equipment, reasonable perfromance, an enjoyable drive (although ride comfort would take priority over ultimate thrills), reasonable running costs (40+mpg) and enough passenger and boot space for a family of four and their parapgernalia for a week away and a dash of style? I imagine that most options would be diesel-powered and running costs are really important before anyone recommends anything crazy like a used RS4 or M5. No 7-seaters please!
My "shortlist" is quite long at the moment and consists of several types of vehicle, so what offers the best solution?
A normal family hatch e.g. Golf, Focus, which are a lot more spacious than they used to be (a Fabia vRS may also be spacious enough as an estate).
A small, stylish estate such as a Focus or Hyundai i40.
A crossover/small-SUV such as a Nissan Juke/Quashquai, Mitsubishi ASX, MINI Countryman, Skoda Yeti, Kia Sportage etc.
I appreciate that there are many more options than this but many other options start just below £20k but a good engine/spec costs significntly more. I don't really want to break that £20k barrier for a functional family car as costs tend to snowball after that point. For instance, a Golf GTI would be excellent but at £25k+ would be far too expensive. Any thoughts/experiences of the cars that I have mentioned above or nay other suggestions would be welcome.
We will probably buy new as new car finance is cheap, we will keep it a long time (at least 3 years as my wife doesn't like change) and having some choice on spec/colour and the novelty value of owning a car from new will mitigate against perhaps driving something a bit less interesting. Twenty years ago, the choice was simple. You bought an estate (my dad always had estates) or an MPV if you needed more seats than a normal car. I guess large SUVs were fairly popular as well but perhaps not primarily intended for this purpose and they're all well north of £30k.
So what would offer decent value and a decent level of equipment, reasonable perfromance, an enjoyable drive (although ride comfort would take priority over ultimate thrills), reasonable running costs (40+mpg) and enough passenger and boot space for a family of four and their parapgernalia for a week away and a dash of style? I imagine that most options would be diesel-powered and running costs are really important before anyone recommends anything crazy like a used RS4 or M5. No 7-seaters please!
My "shortlist" is quite long at the moment and consists of several types of vehicle, so what offers the best solution?
A normal family hatch e.g. Golf, Focus, which are a lot more spacious than they used to be (a Fabia vRS may also be spacious enough as an estate).
A small, stylish estate such as a Focus or Hyundai i40.
A crossover/small-SUV such as a Nissan Juke/Quashquai, Mitsubishi ASX, MINI Countryman, Skoda Yeti, Kia Sportage etc.
I appreciate that there are many more options than this but many other options start just below £20k but a good engine/spec costs significntly more. I don't really want to break that £20k barrier for a functional family car as costs tend to snowball after that point. For instance, a Golf GTI would be excellent but at £25k+ would be far too expensive. Any thoughts/experiences of the cars that I have mentioned above or nay other suggestions would be welcome.
£20k buys a well-specced Octavia vRS. The hatch has a big boot, estate even more so (and looks better, to my eyes). Skodas tend to have better ride quality than their sporty VAG equivalents too.
Well specced as standard (inc dual-zone climate, cruise, etc) but you can tick a load of options and still be within budget. I think the 0% VAT offer is back on, via drivethedeal you can have a 2.0 TFSI hatch with metallic paint, parking sensors, MDI, and heated leather seats for £17688. Add about £1000 for DSG, £800 for estate, and £600 for a 170bhp diesel instead of 200bhp petrol.
Well specced as standard (inc dual-zone climate, cruise, etc) but you can tick a load of options and still be within budget. I think the 0% VAT offer is back on, via drivethedeal you can have a 2.0 TFSI hatch with metallic paint, parking sensors, MDI, and heated leather seats for £17688. Add about £1000 for DSG, £800 for estate, and £600 for a 170bhp diesel instead of 200bhp petrol.
Edited by sjg on Tuesday 14th February 12:12
Octavia fills pretty much everything you want. I spent £18k with just about every option ticked except satnav. 2yrs, no vat. There was also a 0% deal if you could put 50% down. I can get 35-40mpg on average from the petrol, depends on you driving style though.
We also have a focus, it's too small for moving the whole family for a week. But my kids are still in nappies so older might be easier.
We also have a focus, it's too small for moving the whole family for a week. But my kids are still in nappies so older might be easier.
Honestly if you spend £20k now in three yours you will be looking at £8k ish.
Buy a three year old car with 40k miles lots of options for £10k - I can tell you losing £333 PCM of taxed income OR £167pcm makes it a hard choice.
The £10k car will be £5k in three years but keep it five years can only see it being as low as three at the worst so £8k in 5 years that's a good deal
Buy a three year old car with 40k miles lots of options for £10k - I can tell you losing £333 PCM of taxed income OR £167pcm makes it a hard choice.
The £10k car will be £5k in three years but keep it five years can only see it being as low as three at the worst so £8k in 5 years that's a good deal
Welshbeef said:
Honestly if you spend £20k now in three yours you will be looking at £8k ish.
Buy a three year old car with 40k miles lots of options for £10k - I can tell you losing £333 PCM of taxed income OR £167pcm makes it a hard choice.
The £10k car will be £5k in three years but keep it five years can only see it being as low as three at the worst so £8k in 5 years that's a good deal
What you say makes sense but what would you buy for £10k that fulfils the criteria? My wife loves her Fiat 500 (which we owned from new) and is reluctant to get rid and it would have to be something pretty special to appease her if we're looking at something 3 years old. Her 500 is a 59-plater.Buy a three year old car with 40k miles lots of options for £10k - I can tell you losing £333 PCM of taxed income OR £167pcm makes it a hard choice.
The £10k car will be £5k in three years but keep it five years can only see it being as low as three at the worst so £8k in 5 years that's a good deal
Why not keep the 500 and get another more suitable family car, your only going to end up loosing a fotune on the 500 if you sell it.
Plenty of cars for sale £5-10K that would suit. just have a look on auto trader,
put in the criteria, less that 3 years old upto 10k, upto 20k miles, etc... what ever you are prepared to live with and see what comes up.
Plenty of cars for sale £5-10K that would suit. just have a look on auto trader,
put in the criteria, less that 3 years old upto 10k, upto 20k miles, etc... what ever you are prepared to live with and see what comes up.
djt100 said:
Why not keep the 500 and get another more suitable family car, your only going to end up loosing a fotune on the 500 if you sell it.
Plenty of cars for sale £5-10K that would suit. just have a look on auto trader,
put in the criteria, less that 3 years old upto 10k, upto 20k miles, etc... what ever you are prepared to live with and see what comes up.
e Plenty of cars for sale £5-10K that would suit. just have a look on auto trader,
put in the criteria, less that 3 years old upto 10k, upto 20k miles, etc... what ever you are prepared to live with and see what comes up.
We bought the 500 on a PCP where we have to pay off the balloon shortly. Although we both like the car and the balloon payment is only about £4000, it doesn't really make sense to shell out that much on something that doesn't really suit our circumstances any more.
Check out the Kia range... They've come on a long way in the past year or two and they're looking pretty good at the moment. Cheap finance and I think they pay your deposit on some models. Residuals and 'trade in' value is fairly low, but you lose money on ALL cars (some more than others but I didn't see 'low depreciation' at the top of your requirement list)
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