Best family car (2 kids) with big boot?

mr_happy

What car do you think?

Guy:Incognito

Big boot you say..................

Absurdum

Stekelly wrote: »

Big boot you say..................

Superb suggestion

toe_knee

I agree a Superb. Great solid car and huge amount of space. Very good on the diesel as well

jayok

Honda CR-V diesel. Practical, economical and plenty of space.

BigDuffman

What ever you do please do NOT buy an urban tractor like a Discovery or Range Rover!!!!!

"I mean more room for the kids loike yaw?"

Does my nut.

Que Mr Maxwell http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-HLfuhmXoI

problemchimp

kia carens worth looking at. 7 year warranty. I have 131000 kms on mine in 3 years and not a bother. superb is also a great car. taxi drivers buy them so they can't be bad.

seamus

Scenic. Got one two weeks ago. No kids though, but it's roomy, but like driving a bus.

-Corkie-

A passat no questions dont mind these mpv and suv s they are only a waste of time

CJhaughey

What price range? New, Used?
You have plenty of options but you need to work out how much you want to spend.

jayok

malcox wrote: »

A passat no questions dont mind these mpv and suv s they are only a waste of time

In your opinion. Give the CR-V a look, it's more of an estate car than SUV.

-Corkie-

jayok wrote: »

In your opinion. Give the CR-V a look, it's more of an estate car than SUV.

Ya have to say crv is handsome looking to actually

biko

Volvo estates are safe & lots of space.
http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/volvo/v70-2007/
http://www.carsurvey.org/reviews/volvo/v70/

OldmanMondeo

I'm have a 2006 Ford Mondeo h/back. The stuff for hte kids fits in the boot grans, will get a weeks shopping and a buggy in the boot, the real test of a family car....

Lex Luthor

an estate of some sort would be best imo. Whats the budget?

unkel

You don't need an MPV / SUV for 2 kids. Jaysis I thought people were finally copping on after 10 years of this fad

Large(ish) saloon will be fine, hatchback will be more practical and estate will have even more space.

_Kaiser_

malcox wrote: »

A passat no questions dont mind these mpv and suv s they are only a waste of time

+1 My 06 Passat has a massive boot and plenty of space in the rear for 3 kids/adults.
Just don't get the underpowered 105 bhp 1.9 TDI - stretch to a 2.0 TDI with 140 bhp if you can.. better again if you get the DSG autobox

Guy:Incognito

unkel wrote: »

You don't need an MPV / SUV for 2 kids. Jaysis I thought people were finally copping on after 10 years of this fad

Large(ish) saloon will be fine, hatchback will be more practical and estate will have even more space.

If we're getting technical so he doesnt need anything more than something with 4 seats. Will this 5 seater fad never end? OP clear needs a Quattropporte.:)

We've had a Scenic I and now a Grand Scenic. We only have the one child. Spce is great snd geadroom is cavernoius. lndividual seats mean you can increase space on a whim.I dont get why MPV's are being singled out, at the end of the day they are very much just estates byt in a lot of cases more practival and child/family friendly with things like twin sunroofs, clever storage and the above mentioned indivdual seats.

Personally I'd buy a Range Rover to spite the attitude of people like Buigduffman.

Jaden

Stekelly wrote: »

If we're getting technical so he doesnt need anything more than something with 4 seats. Will this 5 seater fad never end? OP clear needs a Quattropporte.:)

Personally I'd buy a Range Rover to spite the attitude of people like Buigduffman.

Ah sure just buy a stretch hummer, and skip the small car Range Rover middle step.

Two kids, big boot? I was that soldier once (moved up to 4 kids and MPV land). There are a number of cars that will do you.

Skoda Octavia
Ford Mondeo
Mazda 6
Toyota Avensis

All have decent sized boots (Octavia is prolly bigger than the others). Get a Diesel if at all possible. A loaded boot plus two kids needs a little more welly, esp on the longer trips. Air Con would be handy too. It's going to get coated with yoghurt/wee/mashed cheerios/tears, so get it 2nd hand. 2003-2006 models of all the obove would be fine. With two kids, there is simply no requirement for a larger car. It will cruxify you on tax and running/upkeep, and unless the kids creche is on top of a mountain, 4WD is just plain silly.

My 0.02 Euros worth.

Guy:Incognito

Jaden wrote: »

With two kids, there is simply no requirement for a larger car..

Thats my point , there isnt a NEED, but theres the want sometimes. Theres no specific need for all the single people driving around alone in D segment cars but they want to so thats their choice. I had no real need to be driving a 2.5 auto petrol Safrane with all the trimmings, but I did.

Dades

Two kids you'd be mad not to get an estate.

Have a 06 Passat Estate which can swallow an entire Christmas tree with the boot shut! A really nice drive too. Just don't get a poverty spec one and check to see if the known steering column issue has been dealt with.

_Kaiser_

Dades wrote: »

and check to see if the known steering column issue has been dealt with.

er... what steering column issue? Something I should know?

Dades

Kaiser2000 wrote: »

er... what steering column issue? Something I should know?

Loads of post-2005 Passats had issues with the key-card style ignition. The lucky owners noticed while under warranty, while others had to pay big money to get the whole steering column replaced.

I bought a 2006 from a dealer and after a few weeks noticed the card was temperamental in starting the car - and got worse. Googled the issue and had a heart attack... My dealer brought the car to VW (where he got it) who did over 2.5K worth of work on it 'as a favour'. I was lucky as my warranty didn't cover electrical.

Still love the car, though.

EDIT: Old thread here.

PN14

An octavia won't see you wrong or if you can stretch to a superb all the better.

I was in your situation a few years back. Car salesmen couldn't understand why all I wanted to look at was the boot. The octavia swallows a three wheel buggy, stroller & weeks shopping easily with plenty of room for the rest of the baby bits. We've since added a third to the crew and the octavia still does the business.

1.4 petrol octavia a bit underpowered diesel better. If u want a bit of go look at the vrs diesel octavia they can shift and you still get all the space and reasonable running costs.

useless

unkel wrote: »

You don't need an MPV / SUV for 2 kids.

+1 on not needing a (5-seater) SUV, but what about when you want to carry the 2 kids + grandad/granny? I wouldn't fancy trying to squeeze in between two Group 1 child seats

Swingguru

Wife has a Nissan Quasquai. Excellent car. Drives like a car but with elevated position. Good boot. We take it up and down to holiday house in Donegal packed for us and the 2 kids. No space issues at all. 50mpg into the bargain!

annR

We're also looking for a new car (2 kids) and a decent boot. I'd like an estate or even big salon. Additional requirements are loads of leg room and loads of head room. At the moment we're very cramped in a Bora. Both my husband and I and our daughter are quite tall. I also need to sit upright well supported due to back injury and my head is nearly touching the roof in the Bora.

Any recommendations for something with lots of leg and head room, room in the back and large boot?

alias no.9

What age are the kids? Do you regularly need to bring buggies, travel cots, etc...? Are you likely to be having more kids within the timeframe you expect to keep the car for?

oxygenman

Drive a Toyota Avensis D4D...great car, plenty of power and most importantly of all...has 10 air bags!!

annR

alias no.9 wrote: »

What age are the kids? Do you regularly need to bring buggies, travel cots, etc...? Are you likely to be having more kids within the timeframe you expect to keep the car for?

Daughter is 2 and expecting new baby in January. Might well have another one. Yes we do need to regularly transport buggy, shopping etc. Also need to transport things like wetsuits at weekends.

peasant

annR wrote: »

Any recommendations for something with lots of leg and head room, room in the back and large boot?

Yes we do need to regularly transport buggy, shopping etc. Also need to transport things like wetsuits at weekends.

Berlingo, Kangoo, Doblo ...ugly and utilitarian, but most likely just what you're looking for

annR

My God they are ugly.

Max Power1

Cant reccomend the octavia enough.

Biggest boot in its class!

baddad

Avoid the Octavia. I've hearld of loads of problems with them. They are also very under powered, bland and boring to drive! The only thing they have is a big boot! Also in the Euro N-cap crash test they only get 4 stars and when you have a family I would go with a 5 star car. Passat, Mondeo or the avensis.

Max Power1

baddad wrote: »

Avoid the Octavia. I've hearld of loads of problems with them. They are also very under powered, bland and boring to drive! The only thing they have is a big boot! Also in the Euro N-cap crash test they only get 4 stars and when you have a family I would go with a 5 star car. Passat, Mondeo or the avensis.

There are very few problems with the Octavia.

Yes, the 1.4 is underpowered - I would reccomend that, if considering an Octavia, one should get one of the 1.9 TDI models. Bulletproof reliability (DMF excepted) and large boot space, along with lower prices than the similar VW badged car (bora) due to the many "badge snobs" prevalent still in Ireland

peasant

Legroom in the back isn't exactly the Octy's forte, is it?

Max Power1

peasant wrote: »

Legroom in the back isn't exactly the Octy's forte, is it?

No. Especially in the older models. However, as the OP said it was for two kids in the back, i didnt think it would be an issue!

(Also, you gotta make room for the massive boot somehow!)

alias no.9

annR wrote: »

Daughter is 2 and expecting new baby in January. Might well have another one. Yes we do need to regularly transport buggy, shopping etc. Also need to transport things like wetsuits at weekends.

We have a 4 month old and an almost 2 year old and bought a Grand Scenic soon after the 4 month old was born. We don't really need 7 seets but having the option of using them ocasionally is great, while the boot is huge with them down and there was really only €500 in the difference between 5 and 7 seat versions.
That said, we managed to fill the boot up to the load cover by the time travel cots and a double buggy are in along with all of the regular stuff on a few weekends away recently.
With the rear facing seat and forward facing seat installed, there is still room for my wife to sit in between for periods on long journeys which is a godsend in keeping them entertained.

tregan

we have a renault, thought i'd have to get a bigger car when i had number 3 but its got lots of space, i have three under 5 and fits two car seat plus booster for the five yo ... boot big also

chriscochrane

There are some useful family car reviews here

colm_mcm

oxygenman wrote: »

Drive a Toyota Avensis D4D...great car, plenty of power and most importantly of all...has 10 air bags!!

9 actually
Or 7 if you're talking about the current model

Foxhole Norman

New shape Superb. End of 08-onwards.

Dad has the Greenline 1.9TDi with 105 BHP, massive boot, cheap, and economical. Have driven it a few times and is a great car to drive. Very smooth

vectra

baddad wrote: »

Avoid the Octavia. I've hearld of loads of problems with them. They are also very under powered, bland and boring to drive! The only thing they have is a big boot! Also in the Euro N-cap crash test they only get 4 stars and when you have a family I would go with a 5 star car. Passat, Mondeo or the avensis.

Depends and how you are comparing them
Compare like for like and the octavia would fair well with any of those
I would put my one against any of them in its class