Another what car thread - cheap, big dog and growing family

[TeamBigfoot]

Hi all,

The time has come to buy a car which works for my family (currently I have a CLK270CDI). My budget is tight (£2.5k) and I would need the following:

- big enough boot for a big dog (bullmastiff)
- big enough for a 3yo who is hyper and potentially another baby
- as economical as possible
- comfortable seats as will be used for daily commute of 35 miles and regular 200 miles round trips to see family
- Cruise control for the trips mentioned above
- Reliable

I know I'm asking a lot and it would be nice to have an automatic gearbox (if at all possible). I've been looking at mk3 Ford galaxy's (current frontrunner but unsure of their reliability - especially powershift models). Within budget I can get lots of Citroen C4 Grand Picasso's (1.6 HDI), I think these look good but some horror stories on the reliability front online - especially with the EGS automatic models, what are the manual ones like?

All input valued

Edited by TeamBigfoot on Friday 28th February 14:23

[ZX10R NIN]

Shame the CLK270 has to go they're a great car for pretty much most things, but with your requirements.

Mondeo Titanium X haggling will get you close to your budget.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202...

Ghia

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202...

Laguna Dynamique S

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

Vauxhall Antara

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

Insignia

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202...

Seat Altea

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

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202...

[Roger Irrelevant]

I had an Accord Tourer which met all of your criteria handsomely except 1 - it wasn't that economical (probably low 30s mpg overall from the 2.0 auto petrol). I'd still have a look though, they are great value cars IMO.