Large family car under £12k

[Adam_rob_uk]

Hi All
Been looking for a bigger car to replace our 02 corolla as she is starting to rot around the windscreen, not bad for 150k miles and 18 years old!

So far we have looked at Hyundai Tucson (wife really liked this), nissan cx-5, Ford s-maxx..
I have been also looking at volvo xc60s, freelancer sd4, honda hr-v

Requirements are:
Around £12k
-Reliable! (I'm used to honda accord and Toyota reliability)
-Parking sensors + camera (wife has no spacial awareness)
-Family of 4, kids are growing up so a spare couple of seats may be handy
-Big boot (electric tailgate would be handy)
-A decent auto box would be nice but not essential
-cruise control
-30+mpg
-sensible ved


Dare I say, it doesn't need to be a rocket ship in terms of performance, however it would be nice not to have it struggle with a car fully loaded with a bike rack fitted when we go on holiday.

Other things to mention, my wife is short, 5ft4, I'm 6ft2 so she needs to be able to drive it comfortably too as it will also be used as a school run car whilst the kids are not old enough to get to school on their own.

Thanks in advance and am interested in what people's suggestions are.

[Jamescrs]

Skoda Superb is the obvious answer for me, all the space you will ever need generally very well specced decent build quality, you will have a choice of petrol or diesel.

[Jag_NE]

Incredible lurking.

[Adam_rob_uk]

Jag_NE said:

Incredible lurking.

It takes years of practice

[ChrisH72]

Jag_NE said:

Incredible lurking.

Hehe! Probably joined up to look for advice on the corolla?

These kind of cars are not my area really but I'd say you're wanting a large SUV which will certainly need a diesel engine so it might be worth thinking about how you'll use it and mileage etc.

My wife has a Hyundai which we use as the family hack, it's not the Tucson though. It was cheap and has been faultless for the last 4 years. She loves it and will probably keep it until it dies. They're fine. Not exciting to drive or look at but that doesn't matter to me as I have my own car for that. Tucson looks okay, probably get the range topper 2.0 diesel for that money? Or if you want bigger with 7 seat option there's the Santa Fe. Don't know what 12k will buy but these got better looking the newer they are.

[ChrisH72]

Just had a look on AT and I think the Tucson would be a 1.7 premium for that money.

But if you go a couple of years older you could get the Santa Fe 2.2 premium se auto with 7 seats on around 13 plate. Bigger, faster and more kit. But it'd depend if she's comfortable with the size and if she wants something newer. If she likes the Tucson you'll probably end up with that. Usually happens!

[Adam_rob_uk]

ChrisH72 said:

Hehe! Probably joined up to look for advice on the corolla?

These kind of cars are not my area really but I'd say you're wanting a large SUV which will certainly need a diesel engine so it might be worth thinking about how you'll use it and mileage etc.

My wife has a Hyundai which we use as the family hack, it's not the Tucson though. It was cheap and has been faultless for the last 4 years. She loves it and will probably keep it until it dies. They're fine. Not exciting to drive or look at but that doesn't matter to me as I have my own car for that. Tucson looks okay, probably get the range topper 2.0 diesel for that money? Or if you want bigger with 7 seat option there's the Santa Fe. Don't know what 12k will buy but these got better looking the newer they are.

That's correct actually. At the time, if I remember correctly it was between a corolla and a fabia! However a couple of threads on here swayed me to buy the corolla so ended up not posting.

I have done a lot of looking on here and the Q35 has even come up on a few threads, same with the xc60..

I have owned a 2.0 petrol accord for the past 11 years and whilst it's an amazing and incredibly reliable car, the boot space just isn't practical now the kids are older (9&7) and camping / traveling is becoming more tricky... Hence the need for a bigger / more practical boot.

[dunc69]

Another vote for the Superb. Great cars. Loads of space. Reliable.

[thewhangie]

Go and have a look at a nissan elgrande, I think it would tick alot of your boxes?

[TurnedEmo]

thewhangie said:

Go and have a look at a nissan elgrande, I think it would tick alot of your boxes?

Won’t see 30mpg from one. Even a diesel would be marginal but they should be avoided anyway.

BMW 520d estate or GT would work for those requirements.

[Driver101]

Infiniti have pulled out the UK, but I assume getting parts won't be an issue?

Often glancing on Autotrader I think their cars look good value for money. There's a 17 plate Q70 currently advertised at £13k. It looks like a lot of car for the money to me.

[ZX10R NIN]

I'd say the Infiniti EX is the pick they're loaded with kit & the fit & finish is almost Audi (a clear step above a Kuga/Hyundai etc) levels & due to a lack of badge recognition they're stupidly cheap all servicing can be carried out by any Nissan dealer or good Indy.

They're more expensive to run than a Tucson/Kuga but they're much nicer inside & the drivetrain is nicer (which is when you'll really notice the extra grunt & smoothness on a run) along with the lower purchase price they for me are a good pick.

3.0d EX GT Premium Adaptive Cruise lane assist 360 Cameras etc these are Ford Edge inn size.

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

GT

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

Or there's the bigger FX

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

The Kuga in Titanium X Sport is a better pick imo than the Tucson both are good but the Kuga has the better drivetrain.

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

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

Titanium X

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

Sportage in KX-3 trim, these are the same cars as the Tucson but you get the better 2.0d engine:

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

CX-5 Sport Nav

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

Now if you don't mind a nice C Segment + car then these would be the pick:

Q70 Sport

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

Premium

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

Q50 Sport Tech (Same spec as the first EX above)

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

DS5 Prestige

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

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

D4 S60 SE Nav

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

Mondeo Titanium X Pack 180/210 (some say the Superb/Octavia I've sold a fair few of both & they're nice but not as good as the Mondeo)

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

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

Now depending on how many miles you do a hybrid may be an option:

V60 Diesel Hybrid You'll have to haggle & stretch the budget but these are very good cars.

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

DS5 Diesel Hybrid a very capable car lovely inside too.

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

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

Vauxhall Ampera a very good hybrid

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

IS300h

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

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

Mondeo Titanium

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

Q70

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

[ALawson]

Dealer name selling the FX.

[PhilF329]

How about the VW Touareg - you could get a facelift 245 3.0 tdi for that money, which will do 30mpg if light with your right foot, bags of space and happy roughing it or turning up somewhere smart.

[Adam_rob_uk]

ZX10R NIN said:

I'd say the Infiniti EX is the pick they're loaded with kit & the fit & finish is almost Audi (a clear step above a Kuga/Hyundai etc) levels & due to a lack of badge recognition they're stupidly cheap all servicing can be carried out by any Nissan dealer or good Indy......

Wow, thank you for the comprehensive response!

It's interesting you have added in some cars that I would have never looked at in a million years I.E citroen, Ford and a few others.
I will have to do my research on their drive trains and reliability as I have never held these high for reliability, especially citroen.

[mindthegap]

You can get a Lexus Rx450h on a 2011 plate for £12k. Several with full Lexus service history and 90k -100k miles on autotrader.

I've got a 2013 model with 70k miles on and it is effortless to drive, comfortable and have an excellent reputation for reliability. Plenty of power, hybrid not diesel and will give you 30mpg upwards.

[ZX10R NIN]

Adam_rob_uk said:

Wow, thank you for the comprehensive response!

It's interesting you have added in some cars that I would have never looked at in a million years I.E citroen, Ford and a few others.
I will have to do my research on their drive trains and reliability as I have never held these high for reliability, especially citroen.

Drivetrain wise the Ford/Citroen & Peugeot all use the same 2.0d engine, the difference between the Ford & the other two is the Ford uses a DCT gearbox & the other two are conventional autos.

The drivetrains themselves have proved very reliable (I have a Mondeo Vignale 210) overall.

The Infiniti 2.2d is actually the same 2.1d that Mercedes (Nissan/Renault/Mercedes share a lot of drivetrains) use in their 200/220/250 models, Infiniti use the complete drivetrain & that unit has proved itself very reliable over many years.

The 3.0d is Nissans own & has proved itself reliable. The 3.5 Hybrid engines are Nissan's own & are in lots of cars outside of the UK again a pretty much bulletproof, I've supplied a number of these & have two family members running this drivetrain in the Q50 with no issues what so ever.



The Volvo units again are very good, now I'm sure you can find a horror story on all the above (that's the internet for you)