Suggestions - fun, 4 seats and child friendly!

[renrut]

Time for another 'what car' thread as there doesn't seem to be one yet today! Forgive the preamble but it has purpose.

I've changed job (still in 6 month probation tho), now with a lovely 4 mile commute down country lanes and any business use will be a hire car (company policy) so I don't need a frugal diesel and thinking of changing once I'm out of the probation period early next year.

I currently have a Honda CRV 2.2 derv in old 4wd format, not the rubbish new thing. I also have an MG Midget that is about to return to the road with a 1.4 kseries and 5 speed box. A nice PH mix of frugality, practicality and fun. But if I'm honest won't get much chance to use the Midget as I'll either be:
A) collecting child and friends from nursery/school as part of the commute;
B) driving to see family (rather nicely all the other side of the pennines) with OH and young lad.
In both cases I'll need 3 seats.

SWMBO has deemed that the Midget is a 1970s deathtrap and if I'm honest I agree, and given the general standard of driving I'd like something a little more visible to the C4 Picasso / Mitsi Warrior / White Van driver playing on their phone.

So I'm considering selling both cars and getting something fun for the times I can enjoy it with a vague air of practicality and as a minimum 4 seats that you can put a child seat in 2 of if necessary.

To give an idea of the kind of thing current ones I'm considering are:
GT86,
Civic Type R,
Mustang, (RS before anyone suggests does absolutely nothing for me as its too bland looking)
TVR Cerbera (are child seats available?)


Budget is around 10K-30K depending on how much I want it and loads of other factors. It doesn't have to be new but I don't want something that will easily throw a £10k bill at me (Maserati 3200 GT I'm looking at you) or is unsafe for little ones if a eastern european lorry punts the car into a field. The primary reason for changing the car is more fun than a diesel suv so something numb and silly fast is pointless as I rarely get above 60mph. Suggestions please!

[renrut]

Good suggestion. I had dismissed french cars out of hand but they're as interesting as anything else on my list! I need to wrangle a drive in one to see if I would get on with it.

[renrut]

sawman said:

not sure I would want to run a cerbera for a 4 mile commute - unless you go the long way every day. also i am not sure you would get 2 car seats in.

Any particular reason why not use one for a 4 mile commute? It's down 30/40/50/60 mph country lanes, I'd only be sitting in town traffic at 1 junction.

I've never been taken by the 928 looks, the 924/944 would seem a bit of a missed opportunity for something more interesting.

A flavour of 911 would be nice but the prices are getting silly now and they're as equally challenged in the back if not more than a GT86. The GT86 I'd agree is too small in the back, the main reason it wasn't a dead certainty as it ticks all other boxes.

An RX8 would be nice but do they still have the stop/start issues with overfuelling? A friend had one years ago and I remember it clearly being unable to start after he moved it from the road to his driveway or vice versa.

I 'test drove' a CTR at the weekend, although the Honda dealer was a pathetically dis-organised mess and would only let me have a 5 minute drive up a 40mph dual carriageway despite me organising it with them a week in advance. Definitely not enough to get good feel for it. Nothing wrong with the car at all, I quite liked it what I saw but the whole experience really put me off buying a Honda as they're the nearest dealer by quite some margin and I'd hate to be having to put up with that kind of hassle every time it needed a service, or god forbid a warranty issue.