Recommend me (my daughter) a car with a big boot.

[the_priest]

I had a 1.8l petrol Mazda 5, not much of a drivers car but superbly flexible for children and their assorted junk.

I had one of those too. Drank more oil than petrol though... but it was very good in terms of sliding doors and space use. the children liked it, but I hated driving it.

[Numnut]

We have a 2010 Qashqai + 2. It's a 7 seater, but we just put the back 2 seats down and have got loads of room in the boot - we chose that because our civic didn't have enough room to fit a buggy and all the other stuff 2 children require in. We haven't managed to fill it up yet...

[Bigjawa]

how could anyone hate such a daftly named vehicle.

Because when the engine inevitably cooks itself it's a real bastard to get bits for and a bigger bastard to work on.

They're awkward to insure with some brokers because they're all grey imports.

Superb will be cheaper to run than a Mondeo, Mondeos haven't been great for a long time.

[Skub]

SIL has an Octavia,pretty big boot in those. A Vectra has a good size one too,but the Skoda will be a better car.

[weeksy]

Mondeos haven't been great for a long time.

Couldn't disagree more

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

She's just got a 2nd hand pram/push chair combination thing. £750. New they are over £2k Everything for twins is expensive and prams even more so. This is a women that didn't want kids, pregency was a suprise to us all and twins was a complete shock as no previous form on either side of the family.

We had one of those for our first child, turned out to be useless and heavy so we never used it, but 1 child is infinitely easier than having 2 the same age, I honestly don't know if we'd have coped with twins as we didn't have any family local to us that I'd trust to look after small children.

[wheelnut]

It’s been mentioned up there, but if they have no interest in cars then the qashqai is ideal. I wouldn’t spend 15k on one though. Spend 10k and tell her to blow the rest on drugs and toy boys.

[lostboy]

Always loved estate cars because of the need for space for boards/bikes/camping kit/family etc.

The best for load space is the Skoda Superb. The Passat that it's based on is, bizarrely, slightly smaller but is a great car. Both are ultra reliable, great to drive. The Superb will be cheaper, the Passat will have better residuals for when they want to trade it on.

Having done the SUV thing I wouldn't bother if you genuinely want load space. Estate cars are always the winner in that game.

Of course in true "recommend what you have" I'm going to say the Golf. But they really are going to need that extra space that the Passat/Superb offers.

[Kneerly Down]

Get any £7500 estate car from a major manufacturer.
If they don't like it, get a different £7500 estate car from a major manufacturer.

[gremlin]

It’s been mentioned up there, but if they have no interest in cars then the qashqai is ideal. I wouldn’t spend 15k on one though. Spend 10k and tell her to blow the rest on drugs and toy boys.

Gets a 'Don't Buy' in the Which magazine I was reading yesterday, due to poor reliability. As did the Dacia Duster, despite the price.

Jap models always come out tops for reliability. Depends whether you put that at the top of your list of wants though.

[ZRX61]

'64 Galaxie, '69 Monterey, '72 Lincoln.

[slowsider]

'64 Galaxie, '69 Monterey, '72 Lincoln.

He said boot, not trunk

[gremlin]

'64 Galaxie, '69 Monterey, '72 Lincoln.

He said boot, not a small county

FTFY

[gremlin]

Go back 16+ years years I had this dilemma and, being a gullible, new, proud dad went and bought a 5 series touring to take the big pram and overly-complicated buggy thing and all the paraphernalia that you think you need when you have a new sprog. Fucking horrible thing to drive and it quickly got the boot (pun intended) for a nicer hatchback car as I suddenly realised that those prams and buggies were an utter ballache and the simple fold up Maclarens were the way to go, along with dumping all the crap that 'Fretful Mother Monthly' told us we absolutely must have for even the shortest of journey.

[Supermofo]

My brother has an Octavia and the boot is massive. Cracking family car.

Leftfield but when on holiday with 2 kids in a double (side by side) buggy I could get the whole thing, without folding it up, in the boot of a Fiat Doblo. Bloody ugly and being a cheap hire car I think it was a 1 litre and woefully underpowered but supremely practical. Sliding doors so no worries about matey next door parking to close and not being able to get the kids in and literally just open the rear door and throw the buggy in whole with no trapped fingers

[Supermofo]

Go back 16+ years years I had this dilemma and, being a gullible, new, proud dad went and bought a 5 series touring to take the big pram and overly-complicated buggy thing and all the paraphernalia that you think you need when you have a new sprog. Fucking horrible thing to drive and it quickly got the boot (pun intended) for a nicer hatchback car as I suddenly realised that those prams and buggies were an utter ballache and the simple fold up Maclarens were the way to go, along with dumping all the crap that 'Fretful Mother Monthly' told us we absolutely must have for even the shortest of journey.

Must admit we had 2 kids 18 months apart and managed fine with a 2 door Citroen C4 Coupe. Everyone said it was far to small but never really had an issue with all the crap 2 little uns need. I think you'd struggle getting away for a 2 week holiday in it, but 99% of the time it was fine.

My mate managed with a Fiesta. Perceived wisdom is that a 7 seat german behemoth is a minimum

[Yorick]

It’s been mentioned up there, but if they have no interest in cars then the qashqai is ideal. I wouldn’t spend 15k on one though. Spend 10k and tell her to blow the rest on drugs and toy boys.

Gets a 'Don't Buy' in the Which magazine I was reading yesterday, due to poor reliability. As did the Dacia Duster, despite the price.

I'm surprised by that. We take ours proper off road at least once a month. Over lava and into volcanoes. Gives the car a massive pounding.

Never a problem.

[Bigjawa]

Mondeos haven't been great for a long time.

Couldn't disagree more

Enjoy it while you can, Ford is dropping it after this year, in 1997 they sold 118000 Mondeos, last year they sold 2400. I imagine if you head down to your local dealer, they'd do you a cracking deal to get rid of their stock.

It’s been mentioned up there, but if they have no interest in cars then the qashqai is ideal. I wouldn’t spend 15k on one though. Spend 10k and tell her to blow the rest on drugs and toy boys.

Gets a 'Don't Buy' in the Which magazine I was reading yesterday, due to poor reliability. As did the Dacia Duster, despite the price.

I'm surprised by that. We take ours proper off road at least once a month. Over lava and into volcanoes. Gives the car a massive pounding.

Never a problem.

When I last worked in the trade, they were known as "Cash Cows" because od the amount of work they needed to keep running. Possibly yours might not be a Sunderland built car.

Place I work for now bought a shitload of 4wd Dusters as inspector cars/general workhorses and they have been bulletproof. They do get over maintained though.

[Yorick]

Mondeos haven't been great for a long time.

Couldn't disagree more

Enjoy it while you can, Ford is dropping it after this year, in 1997 they sold 118000 Mondeos, last year they sold 2400. I imagine if you head down to your local dealer, they'd do you a cracking deal to get rid of their stock.

Gets a 'Don't Buy' in the Which magazine I was reading yesterday, due to poor reliability. As did the Dacia Duster, despite the price.

I'm surprised by that. We take ours proper off road at least once a month. Over lava and into volcanoes. Gives the car a massive pounding.

Never a problem.

When I last worked in the trade, they were known as "Cash Cows" because od the amount of work they needed to keep running. Possibly yours might not be a Sunderland built car.

Place I work for now bought a shitload of 4wd Dusters as inspector cars/general workhorses and they have been bulletproof. They do get over maintained though.

Ours is the Duster

[lostboy]

Mondeos haven't been great for a long time.

Couldn't disagree more

Enjoy it while you can, Ford is dropping it after this year, in 1997 they sold 118000 Mondeos, last year they sold 2400. I imagine if you head down to your local dealer, they'd do you a cracking deal to get rid of their stock.

And the sales history can be traced pretty much exactly against the demise of the company car. Very few people want to buy a Ford badge when they can put a BMW/Audi/Merc on their drive with the perception that they feel they'll get as a result.