Family Car Choice

Cionn

I would like a little advice from the well informed people here if possible.
I am buying a family car for about 10k - 11k and I want something that is preferably 01 or newer. I also don't want to get anything bigger than a 1.6 engine. Due to the fact that my other half will be ferrying around my daughter in this car I am going to buy from a dealer as I want to get a warranty with anything that I buy.
After all that my question is which one of the following cars are the best option.
Renault Laguna 2 Sport '01 I reckon I can get this for 11k nice looking and a current model (for now) and very safe, reliability is a question though.

Ford Focus 1.6 5 door prefered, I can get a choice of these for €11k with 30k - 40k on the clock. One problem is I would have to fit a CD player.

Toyota Avensis would have to go for a 2000 version as they are very expensive and its hard to find one with low milage(sub 50k).

Volvo S40 again hard to find, expensive but safe.

Any advice on whether these are good options would be appreciated I am trying to stay away from Citeron and Peugeot (personal reasons). Primera is a possibility too only seats not too confortable and turning circle brutal.
If anyone knows dealers that have suitable cars like these in stock I would appreciate the information. We need to buy soon as we have already sold our old car and we're thinking there'll be good discounts on cash buyers before Christmas.

Cheers
C

Renegade_Archer

Bigger engine than you wanted, but Ive found the 1.9TDI Seat Toledo to be a decent family car - the MKIII('01 onwards AFAIK) is a bit sleeker looking then the MKII, but at one expense - theve removed the cavernous MKII Hatch boot and replaced it with a saloon boot. Boot is still big, just harder to get stuff into it than the MKII. Mechanically you shouldnt have any major probs, weve owned an mk1, mk2, and an mk3(my Da likes Toledos :P) and been very happy with them - VW based mechanicals. The MK I and MKII we had were a 1.9D, whilst the MKIII was a 1.9TDI - MKIII definately faster, without any noticeable drop in fuel economy. We generally see between 50mpg or so out of the MKIII, 0-60 in around 11 seconds, and plenty of power in the mid range for over taking.




Regards


Ewan

skibum

We got a 00 renault scenic about 8 months ago, and so far (touch wood) we are very happy with it. We have two children 7 and 2 1/2, and the scenic is perfect for the job. Its got a huge boot, 3 seperate rear seats that fold down, removable etc, the middle seat can fold into a table, good for seperating waring factions! The driving position is nice and high and very comfortable. We have hired senics on holidays in france, and they were very confortable on long journeys, and was one of the main reason's we bought one.

They have a very good safety record, which was a major consideration for us. ( I was in a relatively low speed crash that destroyed two cars, which kind of woke me up to how important car safety is)

Ours has twin glass sunroof and air conditioning, CD player, more cubby holes for storage than you can shake a stick at. The only thing that I don't like is it is a 1.4, it's a bit gutless but you get used to it. We paid about 11,750 and it has 46,000 on the clock, with full service history and 1 year warranty.

rander00

Hey Cionn,

My uncle is selling his Toyota Avensis. Its a 1.6 petrol, year `00. This car is absolutely mint. Its metallic navy and has standard toyota cd player and foglights. And electric sunroof. Electric windows too, in the front. No alloys though. Thats hardly a factor??.

And only 33000miles on it. He uses it for work, which is a 10min spin from his house. Genuine milage. Also, he hasnt a family, and the back of the car has hardly being used. I cant stress how MINT this car is. Hes one of them car freaks that if you as much as put a fingerprint on the window, hes whinging.
There is not a single mark on this car!!

It also has a full toyota service history.

There is still a smell of "new" from it. Lol. seriously.

If your interested, let me know.

(I forgot to mention, its a very handy car on petrol).

impr0v

The Laguna came something like 4th from bottom in last years Top Gear owner satisfaction survey, and I think I recall seeing a similar result in some other survey recently. Personally I'd avoid them.

Cionn

Thanks for the feedback guys I am going to test drive the car tonight and see how we get on with it. The Scenic sounds like a good option I will take a look at them this morning they look to have a great driving position. Rander00 I will be buying from a garage only I'm afraid I need the peace of mind of a warranty. impr0v that statistic is a bit scary I will have to do a google on that.

Any more suggestions greatly appreciated.

unkel

Cionn wrote:

Rander00 I will be buying from a garage only I'm afraid I need the peace of mind of a warranty

With the Toyota you don't really need the warranty. If the car you are looking for for the missus needs to be safe and utterly reliable and how nice it looks / drives is less important, you can't go wrong with the Avensis, especially if you can pick one up for a reasonable price. I'd reconsider and go and look at Rander00's uncle's car. Nothing to loose

Cionn

Point taken Unkel I have PM'd Rander00. Avensis is a pretty bullet proof car looking at buy and sell its only a matter of time before i see one for sale with "only 500k" on the clock. The Avensis is a pretty decent option if not the est option. Although I dream of a granny wanting to sell her Avensis on with only 10k on the clock to a decent home for a good price.

knifey_spoonie

From what i have heard the luguna is hard on petrol go for the gud auld toyota

Nuttzz

If the laguna 2 is a diesel or the 1.8 petrol I would say hop on it for 11k, avoid the 1.6 version the power isnt great. Saw an 01 S40 in the Koping Volvo garage for 15k last week so that might be out of your bracket a bit

ubu

i had the misfortune to drive a laguna 1.6 last month for a few days and i have to say it was really terrible, it was so gutless, no go in the car at all, seats were too soft, handling was similar to the seats, overall not a nice car to drive.

Skoda Octavia?

jm2k

Cionn wrote:

.... Due to the fact that my other half will be ferrying around my daughter in this car I am going to buy from a dealer as I want to get a warranty with anything that I buy...

Watch out, some unscupulous dealers only give a parts warranty, i.e. labour not included.

They'll charge you a higher labour rate to recoup the price of the parts and very often make a profit from your misfortune.

Cionn

Skoda Octavia is something that I haden't considered until I got a lift in one at the weekend it seemed very solid and well built. Anybody know when they got their act together and are they really solid and reliable ??
I was in a Laguna last night and I was not impressed with it at all very plastic dash seats very soft and the card key is a pain its a good bit bigger than a credit card and would be a pain to carry around.
I also looked at Focus saloons last night I was very impressed with the drive very confortable and a great driving position the garage was asking 10950 for a '01 LX with less than 40k on the clock and 1k more for the Ghia X with similar milage. Anybody know if thats a good deal ??

Interceptor

Octavia or Toledo would be my recommendation - Skoda sorted their stuff out ages ago and if you look at how many are being used as taxis you realise they have to be good. The Avensis, though perceived as reliable is a bag of poo in my opinion.

This is a discussion that takes place here every so often and I try to throw something unusual into the mix, the cars listed here are the 'mid-size saloon' segment, with the exception of the Scenic - there are zillions of small/mid size MPV's which are more suited to carrying families and I would even point you toward a Golf estate or if you want an absolute bargain for your money go and drive a Fiat Marea Weekend - these can be had three years old for the price of a Happy Meal and they are actually very good, will fit everything and will last a few years until you have so many kids you need a mini-bus.

'c

Cionn

Thanks for the advice all it is looking like we will be getting a '01 Focus Saloon a very middle aged car but having looked in the mirror this morning the image seems to suit.
All the Focus from 01 or earlier have no cd players in the I couldn't believe that so it will be a case of buying one from the UK on ebay next.
Deal should be done by the weekend.

Cheers again.