suggest a small family car

Remind Me Tomorrow

Looking to buy brand new. Depends on what they offer trade in for current car but budget is in region of high 20's.

2 car seats going in the back. Must be safe, have good boot space for usual family stuff, a pram, small bike and or suit cases etc

Estates are out of the equation because they wont fit in the driveway, so were left with something tall; an mpv or a crossover.

Seven seaters are probably overkill but if price is right I suppose I could just not use the back row.

Currently have Ford C-Max and Nissan Qashqai in mind.

Daddy would like something nice to drive if that's possible in this category. Notchy gear boxes are also a pet hate.

Initial impressions of Qashqai is its something ill regret buying, as in its boring and I got that notchy feel from the gears. Boot is not great either but might be enough.

Big fan of the ford focus and cmax is a ford focus with more space, but come on there's got to be something better out there than these two.

Any advice appreciated!

Matthewjohn

Golf or Skoda Yeti?

colm_mcm

There's a tall vw golf called the SV out now. Saw one yesterday. Looks dull but should be relatively pleasant. You could probably spec it up with some goodies with your budget.

flazio

Kia have a new Caerns coming out or a Kia Soul? If looking at SUVs perhaps look at the Mazda Cx-5. Beautiful looking machine IMO.

bazz26

Seat Ibiza ST or Leon ST are probably worth looking at. They are not much longer than the standard hatchback versions but have a lot more practical boot space.

munchkin_utd

BMWs active touring jobbie 2 series yokie (not to be confused with proper 2 series which is a 1 series coupe) is exactly targeted at what you want.
Boring in terms of ticking all the practical boxes, is called an MPV despite ONLY having 2 usable seats in the back, but designed to be a bit of fun too.

NOW, i am not a fan of the yoke, and its only just out so no second hand availibility and your budget may still be a shade low, but BMW being a crazy bunch who dabble as much in finance and leasing and whatnot over actual engineering you might get a deal of some sort that is attractive.

18MonthsaSlave

Peugeot 308.
Legroom limited in the back but you don't need that.
Boot is massive at 470 litres which is almost 100litres more than most competitors.
1.2 litre engine is fast enough and cheap to tax/run.

You need to be able to live with the small steering wheel but based on your stated requirements it is the car which suits your small driveway best.
It isn't even an MPV which means it will drive better out of town.

cruizer101

Just re estates being too long some of them aren't really much longer than the other cars suggested. Qasqhi 4315mm Qasqhi+2 4535mm CMax 4371mm then two typical smaller estates Ceed SW 4505mm Honda Civic Estate 4535mm Ford Focus Estate 4536

So very little difference in size really, 160 between CMax and Focus Estate, thats about a hand length, now if you have other reasons not to want an estate fair enough but if length is the only concern I wouldn't worry about it to much.

Remind Me Tomorrow

Thanks guys. Don't know about estates not being much longer. Crossovers in the estate fit in the driveway, couple of estates and the bonnets stick out onto the footpath.

I'm not going to be one of the first to buy a FWD BMW. I'll leave that for people with more money than sense!

Yeti gets great reviews and tops satisfaction surveys, but I don't know why I just don't like the look of it.

Anybody have any thoughts on Kia Sportage compared to a qashqai?

3008 and VW sv might be worth a look. Cautious about VAG reliability and servicing costs though. Used to own an A3, worst car ever. Sure, nice to drive but chronic incurable problems and dealerships are a complete racket.

Tabnabs

Mazda 3; bullet proof reliability and plenty of room inside. The new model is very smart looking too.