Advice on new hatchback to suit growing family

dr_dre

Hello,

I'm looking to buy a new hatchback which will hopefully be my first family car (it's just me and the hubby at the moment but hoping to add a little one or two in the coming years without having to change car!).

I mostly have short commute (city driving) and go away for a couple of weekends each month (3-4 hour drives each way). I want these weekend drives to be as comfortable as possible so I would like some creature comforts, e.g. cruise control.

My budget is roughly 15-20k after trading in my little banger (its 10 years old so been quoted anything between 2k and 4k depending on dealer offers!) So realistically 17-24k?

After browsing car review websites over the last few weeks I'm more confused than ever. Throwing the whole petrol/diesel into the mix is making it doubly confusing!

My thoughts at the moment are the new 1.0l ecoboosts:
161 Ford Fiesta
161 Kia Ceed
161 Opel Astra

Or maybe a diesel:
141-152 Ford Focus
141-152 VW Golf

Any help would be so appreciated as I really don't know enough to get the best expertise from the sales people (after all they just want to sell me their car!

Thanks in advance!!

colm_mcm

I'd look at a Prius or a current model Auris hybrid . It would be really well suited to your driving IMO and will be easily able to come with any potential extra family members

bazz26

Can the hybrid Prius and Auris still carry a buggy and other baby baggage in the boot since it's a bit smaller due to the location of the batteries?

colm_mcm

Yeah, it's smaller than a regular auris boot, but still big enough.

GG66

While you will get better mileage from diesel than petrol you really need to be doing a LOT of miles (think sales rep) to make up the difference in purchase price (Diesel is a lot more expensive).

1.0 ltr is fine around town, not very enjoyable on a long journey of 3-4 hours twice a month. Maybe a bigger engine to make those longer journeys more comfortable? and I'd go for a focus or a golf over the others you mention. A fiesta is going to be too small with kids.

What's more important to you? Space, economy, looks, fun, performance.

TBH, you'll have plenty of time to drive economical hatchbacks when you have kids. If it was me I'd get something fun and enjoyable for you both until then.

Good luck

kirving

Go with a Focus size car (C-segment). A far nicer place to be than than a Fiesta for those reasonably often long journies.

jules86

I have an 11 Focus, and expecting my first child, I've just discovered that isofix doesn't come as standard with Ford although 141+may be different.
Re petrol or diesel, if your spending €50+ per week at the moment on petrol go diesel

colm_mcm

Re isofix you can retrofit it to most cars for under €100. The mounting tokes are already there, you just need brackets.
AFAIK it was a free option when ordering the car new.

dr_dre

Thanks for all your advice!

If I were to go with a bigger car (C-segment as you say Kevin) would you have any recommendations on which one to go for? The new Kia Ceed, Astra, Hyundai i30 all look good or would Focus or Golf top the list?

TBH I don't really care about the look of the car. All I really want is easy, comfortable driving in a solid, reliable car!

deco72

What about something like a Skoda Octavia. Very reliable car, spacious and hatchback. I have had a VW Golf and found the boot to be quite full when you start adding baby stuff for weekends away from home with the like of buggy, travel cot and a mountain of clothes to bring along with your own stuff. Its doable for sure but I find the Skoda Octavia which I am driving now to be much more spacious given that it is that bit bigger that the cars mentioned in your post.

seamus

You've listed a couple of 1 litres there. It probably doesn't need to be said, but just in case - do not, under any circumstances, buy a 3-door. Words cannot convey the pain you will experience trying to load kids in and out of a 3-door.

I would also question the logic of going with a new or nearly new car. Children will wreck your car, inside and out. A 15-20k budget will go way further on a 12 or 13 car than something newer.

vectra

Octavia petrol
Cant go wrong
Loads of room for buggies etc.
Or smaller would be skoda Rapid. Though I would think the octavia would be a better option.

Marty McFly

If you're planning for a growing family a hatchback is not the way to go at all.

A large saloon or estate is the way to go otherwise you will be looking to change car in a few years time when space becomes an issue.

deco72

Marty McFly wrote: »

If you're planning for a growing family a hatchback is not the way to go at all.

A large saloon or estate is the way to go otherwise you will be looking to change car in a few years time when space becomes an issue.

Why would the OP need a large saloon or estate? An Octavia is a large hatchback and would be a lot easier than a saloon when packing kids stuff into the car. They could easily fit a family with 2 kids into something like this. A large hatchback is a much better option than a saloon.

colm_mcm

Marty McFly wrote: »

If you're planning for a growing family a hatchback is not the way to go at all.

A large saloon or estate is the way to go otherwise you will be looking to change car in a few years time when space becomes an issue.

Why would you get a saloon over a hatchback?

bazz26

Saloons have deeper boots but the saloon boot access is narrower making them less practical than hatchbacks. Some saloons still don't have split folding rear seats which makes them even less practical.

vectra

Marty McFly wrote: »

If you're planning for a growing family a hatchback is not the way to go at all.

A large saloon or estate is the way to go otherwise you will be looking to change car in a few years time when space becomes an issue.

I think you may have drank out of the wrong cup while posting this.
Saloon??
No matter how big the boot it they are useless for buggies etc.

Hatch or an estate.
But in my experience an Octavia Hatch ticks all the boxes OP needs.

Redgirl82

It does depend on when you are having kids and how long you expect to keep car

If you have family/friends currently with kids have a look at there car and ask advice, I ignored advice from people and now regret it. Also if you have idea of what type of car seat you would like just think of the size of it. We always wanted the Axiss for the kids. That is the one that spins. It is great for getting kids in and out but it is huge...takes up a lot of room

SUV/Crossover are good for getting kids in & out as you are not constantly bending but the boots are small on most. I got Qashqai and was told to buy Qashqai+2 and always wished I had. Good space inside but the boot on all of them is tiny. I tested the ix35/Tiguan/Qashqai etc and all the same. The Tiguan for one was tiny. But the huge plus is the height....really I couldnt live without it, replacing the Qashqai with X-Trail 7 seater to get big boot

We had Hatchback, boot was good, nice & big. Issue is space inside. Once kid was over 1 and in forward facing seat her legs started to get pushed up against the back of seat, then person in passengers seat was squashed against glove box. Also with boot you might as well throw away the boot cover as you won't use it. I think it is called cover

We got A6, great space inside with loads of leg room for kids and front passenger. Boot is huge so even with double buggy you still have decent bit of space left for other items. It is awkward to get the buggy in and out and you will find yourself at times wishing you had a larger opening to try and push it in....

My friend just bought Pirus+, the 7 seater. She just uses as 5 seater and got the bigger Prius because of the boot space and the ability to be able to just fire in the buggy and not have to mess around trying to fit it in

ixus

You'll get a low mileage Kia Sportage 141or similar for about 20k around now.

The SUV's might seem a little big to you but go to a dealer and try one out. Better for the long journeys too.

Marty McFly

Well in my own experience I found hatchbacks to be more problematic than saloons.

I've two kids under two and can fit a double buggy and the weekly shop in the e60 no problem. I also look at interior space hatchbacks tend to be tight.

An estate would be better imo but they tend to be dearer so depends on what you want from your budget.

vectra

Skoda superb with the dual boot door would give more room that any of those cars mentioned above.