good car for a baby

[bx14]

We're expecting our first kid, i think (hope!) i can keep the mx5 for the commute and general blatting about but i'll need something a little more practical. I have precisely zero experience of babies and, having just had a scan through the mothercare website, am now convinced i'll need at least a lwb sprinter to cart all of these essentials about everywhere! I mean, seriously, have you seen the size of some of these buggies and carry systems?!
Anyhoo, looking for options. Needs to be something that has a big opening at the boot with a low lip so if my wife is using it she can hoik stuff in and out without struggling. Ideally a flat boot floor as a makeshift changing station i guess. Equally a good sized entrance to the rear for manouvering junior in/out and securing it properly.
Beyond that, no idea. Mrs bx has a ford bmax which largely fills the brief but it's a bit small for the three of us + 2 small dogs.
Budget; not huge but not unreasonable. i guess up to about £7k cash for used or a cheap lease (sub £250pm)
Manual or auto, not really fussed. I'd anticipate approx 7000 miles per year.

have so far considered the following;
used Skoda yeti
used 3 series touring
some sort of lease SUV thing

Thoughts appreciated as I'm sure there are plenty of folk on here who have recent experience of the same

[MECHENG84]

Firstly Big congrats, there's going to be hard times ahead but the good times outweigh them. My Little one is 2-1/2 now and when in your position about 3 years ago I bought a zafira tourer, same budget as yours, thank god I did. Your trail of thought is correct, I've found as mine's got older I could probably downsize now but for the first 2 years space is a must. We regularly did weekends away staying at friends or family, even staying for 1 night the car was loaded with the following:

Pram
Travel Cot
High Chair
Large bag with child's clothes, toys, nappies etc.etc.
little box with bottles and steriliser for bottles
Overnight bag for me and the missus
change bag

Even a weekly shop + pram will easily fill an estate/mpv boot.

I'd say you definitely want either an Estate or MPV

[bx14]

Thank you!
I'd not even considered/really heard of the zafira touring. They look good value at that price point, i'll add it to the list.

[strath44]

One thing we find a pain (have a baby and a nearly 4 year old) is getting them in and out of cars with a cut rear roof line - something with good rear access helps a lot.
As always I sing the praise of our Passat for space or our A6. Similarly a big Skoda estate won't go wrong nor will the Yeti.
Fords Kugas always seem good value for money but the boot is pretty small.
I had a Bmw 318 and loved it, great handling car but it was very small IMO.
I also don't mind the Zafira, I'm not a big fan of Vauxhalls but I'd rather have one over the Ford offerings, I'm not even sure not sure why!

Edited by strath44 on Wednesday 3rd July 13:14

[Liamjrhodes]

We have a 2 year old now and started with a 3 door 1 series BMW, the boot was big enough for what we needed but it was a pain getting the baby seat in and out so we sold it and bought a 5 door Astra which was much easier. we very rarely felt like we needed a bigger car, it took the 3 of us and suitcases to the airport a couple of times no problem. We now have a 3 series BMW saloon which is even better with more leg and boot room.

As you already have an MX5 i assume you already travel quite light so adjusting to having a baby shouldn't be too difficult.

I think it all depends on how much stuff you feel is necessary.

I would keep the B-max and see how you get on with that, its a reasonably sized small family car. if you get a few months in and are constantly struggling buy something bigger. But i would imagine you rarely feel the need for anything bigger

[flatso]

Mazda 5...trumps all because of the sliding doors (you will love them).

[SWoll]

Because someone had to.

[MECHENG84]

flatso said:

Mazda 5...trumps all because of the sliding doors (you will love them).

I do like the idea of having sliding doors, a luxury the Zafira doesn't have and the Mazda 5 is comparable on price. My Dad had one of the transporters with the 3 seats in the back and it was easy to use when the car seat was in that with the sliding doors. I just had to settle and bought a set of door edge protectors so I can swing my doors into whatever takes my fancy these days .

[Bumblebee7]

SWoll said:

Because someone had to.

was going to say something similar- very irresponsible getting a car for a baby- they won't be able to reach the pedals, let alone see over the steering wheel!

On a serious note congrats on the baby, nothing constructive to add on the car front that hasn't already been mentioned

[KomodoWagon]

Two thoughts, both from relatives/friends of mine (I don't have kids myself)

1. SIL has a Skoda Octavia estate, she has two kids under three. Hers is very old and cost under a grand but you can find according to budget, or lease one. Capacious would be the word. She's considered bumping up to a Superb but really finds the Octavia roomy enough.

2. Friends had their first not long ago and leased a Kia Sportage. It fits a (collapsed) travel system in lengthways which is apparently a big deal. I don't know exactly what they're paying for it but I know it's less than £200 a month.

[loskie]

Bumblebee7 said:

SWoll said:

Because someone had to.

was going to say something similar- very irresponsible getting a car for a baby- they won't be able to reach the pedals, let alone see over the steering wheel!

On a serious note congrats on the baby, nothing constructive to add on the car front that hasn't already been mentioned

Unless it was the conception stage he was asking about!

[loskie]

not for a family car but for work last year I bought an 07, 1 owner, 74000m Honda CRV diesel cdti (no dpf), £4400 one year and 20000m on its been bloomin good, seems like it will have a good bit of life left.

I would have thought this would be ideal for your needs.
Robust interior, spacious, decent boot, comfy

Oh yes and a huge congrats to you both.

[bx14]

Thanks all! Lots to think about in the coming couple of months

[ZX10R NIN]

I'd say the Mazda5 in Sport trim pretty much fits your brief:

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

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

Or if you want an Estate then the Mondeo:

1.6T Titanium X

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

2.0T Titanium

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

Or the Mazda6 which is based on the newer generation Mondeo but unlike the Mondeo these are very close to your budget:

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

[s3 akr]

We had a Mk4 Golf V5 and a gen 1 Leon PD150 FR - both plenty big enough for the amount of crap you have to carry when he/she arrives! Some of the stuff you only cart around for a short period and its surprising how much you quickly realise that you just don't need to take with you (and we travel a lot to see family 200+ miles away). Get good at packaging the boot and you can get a load of stuff in. When sprog 2 came along 4 years later in 2007 we did go for an Octavia VRS Mk2 hatch in place of the Golf, and as soon as we no longer needed so much stuff, we went back to the Leon and sold the VRS for a R53 Mini Cooper S which we only recently moved on as kids eventually grow legs - who knew ??.

My advice is to avoid 3 doors initially (with the baby seats its a faff) and to avoid 4x4 cars where a FWD version exists as the rear diff will rob you of boot depth - check out a current Golf R vs a GTi and you'll see how much difference it makes ( or Octavia / Leon / A3 - good leases on all)

Above all - don't panic yourself into an SUV/MPV type thing ......... A baby is not the end of having a decent steer!!

[cerb4.5lee]

SWoll said:

Because someone had to.

My three year old loves hers...I didn't enjoy putting it together though and I'm about as good at building these as I am at doing anything diy on my real cars!