What car for camping trips

[Lcats]

I am looking to buy a car that will be used for a short commute once/twice a week AND (more importantly) camping trips about once every two/three months – so should be big enough to carry a family of 4 and some gear (we don't take so much stuff though).

Budget is under 3000K. Should be cheap to insure.

We will use roof box too.

What would be the best car to buy for the purpose?

So far I though about estates like Skoda Octavia, Ford Mondeo, maybe Vauxhall Astra (but it has a smaller boot).

Or MPV's like Berlingo or Roomster - actually why not? (I don't care about how fast it goes or how it looks - just practicality and safety).

Should I add something else to this list?

I must say that we have been renting cars for going camping/holidays for the last few years and it was always MPV's like Zafira or Smax - because that was what they had in stock, and because my partner likes going slightly overboard with available space.

[soad]

What about a van?

[Dan_The_Man]

Subaru Forester, big boot and 4x4 so you can get out of the mud afterwards

[Zetec-S]

S-Max, looks this one even comes with a set of roof bars:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

(and for a 12 y/old car it has a pretty good mot history, just get them to fix the anti-roll bar issue flagged on the last test )

[GreatGranny]

This would be my choice

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Rock solid reliability.

Decent running costs and enough power when fully loaded.

Well equipped with full leather, climate, cruise etc...

Aged well IMO.

Plenty of space. We used to get a weekends camping gear for 5 of us in ours (just) with no roofbox.

[ZX10R NIN]

My three picks are these:

Mazda5 Sport

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Mondeo 2.5T Titanium X

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

S Max

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...