Large family car recommendations

[Welshbeef]

Shoxt3r said:

Are the shocks usually something that would wear on a 5-year old car? Also the mention of the undertray being insecure is a bit suspect, no?

One that’s done 111,000 miles yes very probably plus ball joints and drop links.


OP you really should buy an S Max.

[Starfighter]

journeymanpro said:

Preference. I prefer the 170cr in my Mk2 over the 150 in the mk3. Also no adblue issues to worry about on the Mk2.

No adblue in the 150 either but I believe the 190 has it. The extra 20 HHP would be useful once in a while.

I got my 66 plate SE technology with leather and sunroof For under £12k at 50k. It was my company lease from new but I only paid auction estimate.

[Welshbeef]

Op why no love of the MPV the SMax or equivalent?


Seems like loads of dollar willing to spend when you really don’t need to do so


Family wagons are never desirable (we have one we’ve looked at alll alternatives) it does the job it’s functional it’s a decent steer for what it is.

[spreadsheet monkey]

Welshbeef said:

Op why no love of the MPV the SMax or equivalent?

Read the OP's requirements again. He has one child - a 10 month old baby.

An S-Max (or any people carrier) is overkill, surely.

[Phunk]

A bit of a leftfield choice, but when we were looking for a new family-friendly car we wanted something that was indestructible by my wife who has 0 mechanical sympathy, costs naff all to run, petrol (as mostly short journeys), has loads of space in the rear and leather seats (to easily clean up).

So we went with a Toyota Prius, it has loads of space in the back and plenty of gadgets too. Can easily handle our 2 lads under 3 and despite the wife's best efforts hasn't put a foot wrong in 2 years of ownership.

Something like this: https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202...

[spreadsheet monkey]

Phunk said:

So we went with a Toyota Prius, it has loads of space in the back and plenty of gadgets too. Can easily handle our 2 lads under 3 and despite the wife's best efforts hasn't put a foot wrong in 2 years of ownership.

Something like this: https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202...

Good recommendation. Spacious and reliable, and thousands of Uber drivers can't be wrong. Just watch out for clocking.

[Shoxt3r]

Not keen on a Toyota Prius in all honesty having ridden in a few Ubers - the ones I've been in at least seemed a bit ...tinny.

Thoughts on a Volvo V60 or S60?

[Phunk]

Shoxt3r said:

Not keen on a Toyota Prius in all honesty having ridden in a few Ubers - the ones I've been in at least seemed a bit ...tinny.

Thoughts on a Volvo V60 or S60?

I’d just be aware of rear seat space in the Volvos, they’ve always seemed a bit tight and a pain for child seats

[RoverP6B]

For space, comfort and performance well within your budget, I strongly suggest a Mercedes W211 E500 estate. Your money might even get you an E55 AMG. Big lazy 5.5 litre V8s with loads of torque, good fuel economy, build quality had improved massively from the W210 too. Airmatic air suspension for waftability, and you can stick in a controller allowing you to vary the ride height, from near-4x4 ground clearance to dubber stance car laid out on the deck. Mechanically very strong too - the M113/M273 engine is a known quantity and tough as old boots. The 55AMG version makes well north of 600bhp in the McLaren SLR, and you can make that with the AMG barges too, just needs a pulley swap and tune. There's also a 91,000-mile W211 E63 AMG estate on PH classifieds right now for £13,800 - the 6.2 M156 is a bit down on torque compared to the 5.5 supercharged M113K, but it's one of the all-time great engines, a snorting, bellowing, rev-happy 500bhp beast. Check it's had the head bolts done - there were problems with these on early M156s.

I'm normally a BMW guy, but the E61 has a reputation for various niggles which make it hard to recommend over the older E39s, which are getting long in the tooth now, and can rust. Good examples are hard to come by now. Still, if you can find an E61 545i/550i, or maybe a 535d if V8 fuel bills scare you, it might be worth a punt. The F11 I won't recommend as it's cramped inside (and its boot is noticeably smaller than the E39's) despite being much bigger, and they're almost all 520ds - just don't go there, not unless you can find a really nice 535i as an absolute minimum. V8s are vanishingly rare, sadly. The boggo 4-pots have the worst ride quality of any car I've ever been in.

[Djtemeka]

Mazda 6. 2012 model. Huge boot and cheap. We have 2 little kids and have plenty space. The new model is a sedan rather than hatch back so small opening. The new model in estate form is hatch back though.

[anonymous-user]

Civic Tourer

They raced in BTCC so you can claim it has some racing pedigree

[ACCYSTAN]

Large family car would have to be a van based MPV

Had 3 Berlingo multispaces, never had a problem with any of them although only kept them 3 years from new.

Wish I had gone back to a new shape Berlingo instead of the estate I ended up with from Evans Halshaw although it was a fantastic deal , but an estate just isn’t as practical or as easy to live with as a van MPV.

[RoverP6B]

True, but do you really want to look like you've given up on life, or to live with a 0-60 time in something teen seconds? My slowest car takes about 9 seconds to get to 60 and it's barely adequate...

[ZX10R NIN]

If you're going for a petrol I still say the Mondeo ticks all the boxes:

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

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

The Insignia is great value for money

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

Infiniti Q50 Sport Tech (Adaptive Cruise 360 cameras lane assist) is the most loaded of the lot as well as the Mercedes drivetrain adds up to a great buy.

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

Mazda6 Sport Nav good cars & the newest of the picks but I'd still take the cars above over one.

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

S60 these are good cars but rear space is tight it's the same with the V60 so bring your child seat to check.

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

Leftfield

X1

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

[Welshbeef]

Thing is none of those are LARGE

You need MPV and that ticks all the family boxes

[anonymous-user]

Large is not descriptive enough though, so you can’t really say anyone’s suggestions are wrong. OP asked for things larger than a Focus. Everyone is giving options larger than a Focus. I can’t see how you can be so sure of your point when a large car can mean many things.

[Welshbeef]

mstrbkr said:

Large is not descriptive enough though, so you can’t really say anyone’s suggestions are wrong. OP asked for things larger than a Focus. Everyone is giving options larger than a Focus. I can’t see how you can be so sure of your point when a large car can mean many things.

I think possibly OPs Mrs might be wanting more kids in due course so thinking ahead properly & unless mr OP has the snip then anything can and frequently does happen.

[Fastlane]

I have a Vauxhall Zafira for sale - it is an excellent family wagon. £8250 one, 49k miles, full service history, sat nav, £30 tax great condition:

https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/10703774?cId=10509720&cId=10660383&cId=10503777&cId=10714612&cId=10714614&cId=10713735&cId=10618758&cId=10710849&cId=10707036&cId=10391141&cId=10703774&cId=10142583&cId=10366336&cId=10366466&cId=10605915&cId=10359209&cId=10699802&cId=10699861&cId=10285123&cId=10525847&cId=10697639&cId=10525091&cId=10693315

[PeteinSQ]

Shoxt3r said:

Is it worth getting a high mileage example?

Well I’m driving a 2014 Skoda superb with 241k miles on the clock. I think it might be on its last legs as the abs light came on recently. But to get to that mega mileage would suggest they’ve got it in them.

As a father of two kids who goes camping the Skoda superb really is good. Boot is huge and you can fit massive tent, chairs, awnings, cooler boxes etc etc in there.

Ours is the 1.6 litre green line and I do wish it had more power. It can make reasonable progress if you use the gears and is pretty good on motorways.

As a car to last you a fair few years I think you’d not be doing the wrong thing with one.

[journeymanpro]

PeteinSQ said:

Well I’m driving a 2014 Skoda superb with 241k miles on the clock. I think it might be on its last legs as the abs light came on recently. But to get to that mega mileage would suggest they’ve got it in them.

As a father of two kids who goes camping the Skoda superb really is good. Boot is huge and you can fit massive tent, chairs, awnings, cooler boxes etc etc in there.

Ours is the 1.6 litre green line and I do wish it had more power. It can make reasonable progress if you use the gears and is pretty good on motorways.

As a car to last you a fair few years I think you’d not be doing the wrong thing with one.

Last legs because of an abs sensor? There's a reason superbs a prevalent as taxi and private hire.