Family Vehicle?

[Paul_B]

What's your priorities for a family vehicle?

We're looking at replacing a SEAT Altea xl and can't decide between many equally suitable options. I thought seeing what others hold as priority requirements might give me some more definite ideas of our needs.

I'll start with my personal priorities (please assume reliability, etc as a given, I'm talking about requirements as in ability to take certain loads inside, on or beyond).

Size - torn between medium sized car that can tow a trailer / caravan that's more economical for most of our use and a bigger vehicle to take three bikes plus family and camping / leisure kit. Say a Skoda yeti, doblo type car / can up to a l1h1 transit type van in crew can format.

Use - suitable for everyday commuting and shopping use, but able to take full car camping kit, bikes (3 including one a recumbent) and three people. This means under 2m tall and a manageable size. Bikes can be inside, on a towbar carrier or on a trailer just not on a roof or disassembled to fit inside

Easy to drive every day of needed.


Basically for our needs we're still not sure if it needs to tow a caravan, be modded into a campervan / day van or just a replacement for the MPV.

Seeing what you guys prioritise for family cars would hopefully clarify my ideas. So any views would be much appreciated.

 

[Billy-o]

Soo, Soo, Subaru!

Got a couple of kids and an outdoorsy habit. I'd love a big 4wd like a Forerunner or a Land Cruiser, even a Blazer or similar, but they really are great lumps for the city. Subarus are just great for urban and outdoors. RAVs are to pokey, I found, and a spell with a CRV was OK, but they haven't the soul of a Scoobie. Get one with a 2.5L engine

The Forester is the one we like, and we are just about to buy another ... having rented and test driven just about everything in the class (as well as the ones in the next pay check level up - Volvos, Porsches, BMWs) ... the visibility is amazing, never really seen anything like it. But I do have a sneaking desire to own an Outback ... apparently really very good in the snow and mud. Lower to the ground though.

 

[Janne]

Us having only one child, it was easy.
4 doors. Enough space in rear seat area to comfortably put child inside without breaking our backs.

When son was little and needed a pram, the requirement was for it to be a station wagon.

Then the same requirements as with all cars we have bought.
Powerful engine, comfortable to do long trips in. High safety ratings.

 

[santaman2000]

I'm going to take the discussion a little further (only because I remember you asking similar questions before) I really think given what you've posted here and in the past that you'd be happier with two vehicles. One medium or smaller one for everyday use and a second larger one for camping use. I'll leave the recommendation of individual vehicles to members who are actually in the UK and have better knowledge of what's currently available.

In any case let us know what you decide.

 

[mousey]

We have a VW Sharan, the same as a ford galaxy. Small enough to be a 'car' and get round the tight streets up here, yet with all the seats out it turns into a van.
We also have a small two door peugeot. - bought as a second / emergency car.

Previously we've had a small skoda, a golf, a Zafira and a ford galaxy. For the family best is the sharan / galaxy [although having to remove the seats completely can be a pain] with the zafira coming second.
The sharan has a tow bar and is beefy enough to tow - not that I do.

[I have a wife and three kids]

 

[Buckshot]

I have an Subaru Outback
Love it
Not convinced it's any lower than the Forester but as it's 2 foot longer it looks like it is.
Mine has 17 inch wheels whereas the equivalent age Forester has 15s

 

[Janne]

I frankly speaking do not understand why anybody would really need a 4 wheel drive, apart from the coolness factor.
My parents family, parents, me and sister have toured all of European countries excluding the Soviet Union/Russia, using cars from a Trabant to a MB 230E. 20 years of travelling , a couple of months each year.
Canvas tent, cotton and canvas underlays, sleeping bags, Al plates, Primus. Collapsible table and 4 chairsthose transported in a plywood box on roof of car dad cobbled together himself.
Everybody in Europe did the same in those days.
Want home comforts? Stay at home.
4x4 ? A more complex vehicle mechanically. More likely to break down.
You do not need that.
Nor do you ever need to drive off road ( illegal in all countries I know of in Europe) and any car is perfectly fine of unmade, potholed roads. Or Tarmacadamed potholed roads.

Be sensible. Save your money and buy a nice sportscar for yourself when the last kid flies the nest, , or a Defender......

Family vehicle = anything within your budget that your family fits in.

 

[Billy-o]

I have an Subaru Outback
Love it
Not convinced it's any lower than the Forester but as it's 2 foot longer it looks like it is.
Mine has 17 inch wheels whereas the equivalent age Forester has 15s

See ...

4wd is useful for mud and even slippery grass on a slight incline in a campsite, where it is easy to get stuck, Janne. For ice, snow and slush it is straightforwardly simpler and safer to drive. Lost control a few times on 2wds nipping up the local ski hills and steeper mountains with snow down

 

[Janne]

I am from Sweden........
Yes it has some benefits, but if I found a vehicle that suited me wonderfully, the lack of all wheel drive would not deter me from buying it.


Gentle footwork on the gas pedal works well.
Today most vehicles have very powerful engines, compared to the old days ( 1960's and 70's) and that is not the best in avoiding slippage.
The electronics can be quite useless, if it is really slippery you can lose a lot of power to one or several wheels.

 

[Sundowner]

Ford galaxy. Big enough for 4 ppl and dog, gear etc. If it's just 2 of us, double air bed in back, no probs

 

[Paul_B]

I'm going to take the discussion a little further (only because I remember you asking similar questions before) I really think given what you've posted here and in the past that you'd be happier with two vehicles. One medium or smaller one for everyday use and a second larger one for camping use. I'll leave the recommendation of individual vehicles to members who are actually in the UK and have better knowledge of what's currently available.

In any case let us know what you decide.

Ideally yes, two or three or more cars. But then the crunch. Money! Fixed budget (currently undecided like type of vehicle).

So let's say £10,000, two cars = say £4,000 small / medium car leaves £6,000 for a bigger, weekend / activities car.

What you get is a lower quality of car but two of them it you compromise and get one better car that's best for one use.

Plus running costs. Unfortunately we chose a good few years ago to only ever run one car at a time unless work situation changed drastically such that we needed a car each. Environmental, cost and parking space on a good old northern terraced street.

I do however feel multiple cars is a very American approach (no offence intended). I was a young kid when my grandparents came back from America (visiting my American granddad's mother and relatives for the first time since he left in the 40s. He came back with a newspaper cutting with a house for sale Basically a very big house, in a nice neighbourhood and big garden for half the pokey UK house prices. I only saw the nearly new muscle car going for the price of a 5 year old escort(or possibly a lot less). I think cars are cheaper all round in the US perhaps.

Personally we need less cars in the world IMHO) I'm a cyclist and cycle commuter so direct vested interest in seeing that happen.

 

[Paul_B]

Actually I have access to a second car. Parents added me to insurance if my mum's little corsa. Cost them little extra and it gives me emergency car access fur example if they're away and my gran needed me but no car free.

Basically we only need one car but that emergency use of a car is a nice safety net in some ways.

Any car in budget that fits family is a very good definition for a family car. What criteria makes a good family car for you? Fits your family and its within budget is possibly first two, but what else? Extra space when needed seems to be important as does towing ability for some. 4x4 is mixed opinions. I'm of the opinion 4x4s are a complication that's my really needed for family use in most cases. Having driven a front wheel drive car past abandoned 4x4s ( landcruisers and defenders) one bad winter proves that to me.

I've never got caught out on campsites. Common sense not to park on wet or muddy grass without drive wheels on firmer ground or a downhill run out to firmer ground or other precaution.

Most campsites I have gone to have cars parked on his ground without the need to go onto ground you could get stuck on. YMMV but I really do question the need for 4x4s.

 

[Janne]

You mean a 25 year old escort, correct?


Yes, cars are much, much cheaper in the US.
And can be bought with bigger engines.
We bought a 3 year old MB C350 with AMG body and wheel kit and special order manual gearbox and othervise fully loaded for under 20 000 USD ( about 14 K UKP)

The idea of buying 2 cheaper/older cars has one minus, that is that the cost of ownership will be probably more than 2 x.

Unless you plan to use the 'extra' vehicle many times a year, maybe renting something suitable could be a better option?

 

[Mr Wolf]

Octavia diesel with dsg box. Big enough,does everything,great in snow
Leaves my rs clio for playtime

 

[Janne]

Skodas are great cars. Pity VW 'cheapens' them down not to be on the same lever as the 'real' VWs.

Excellent engineering, excellent value.

Cars are my hobby Numero Uno and greatest weakness!

 

[Paul_B]

So a bit of an amateur expert? So what's good for three people, three bikes and too much car camping kit?

We want space for three bikes inside the vehicle or loaded outside at as low a position as possible so my partner can load the bikes too. Looked at towbar mounted carriers and cars with those cycle carrier drawer things. Looked at vans, estates, van based cars SUVs, etc.

What's your view on car age, mileage? Is there a recommended max mileage per year or does mileage not really matter within reason? I think most reviewers look at 10,000k per year of the car as boundary between low and high mileage. I think even 12,000k to 15,000k isn't an issue. Is there a maximum mileage cut off I should consider? Same or different fit petrol / diesel?

 

[Janne]

No expert at all. Pure enhusiast!

I do not care about mileage. The most damage done to an engine is done at the moment of engine start, in the seconds before the oil pressure is up and all lubricating areas are oil covered. Then a bit more damage before the oil is hot.
Low mileage can mean short trips. Many short trips ('old lady going to church") are the worst. Service history is important.
My check points:
Full service history, stamps and signatures done at different times ( different ink, stamps, pens, signatures) ?
does mileage correspond to wear of car - rubber on pedals and steering wheel ?
How does the tyre wear look like? Even all around?
Shutlines and body lines even and consistent?
Overspray on rubber details, under wheel arches, suspension components, exhaust ?
Engine filthy ? Lower part of engine filthy? ( oil leaks)
Acceleration smooth?
Heavy breaking smooth?
Squeaks? ABS working silently?
Clutch same at start and a few minutes later?
No shudder in steering wheel? front tyres, wheels and suspension
Shudder on butt cheeks? rear tyres/wheels/ suspension

 

[Mr Wolf]

Merc sprinter or vw transporters if you need people and bikes internally

 

[Janne]

BI kind of agree, but to be truthful I would hate it to have to drive those everyday.

 

[santaman2000]

......Today most vehicles have very powerful engines, compared to the old days ( 1960's and 70's) and that is not the best in avoiding slippage.....

Today's cars have more powerful engines than those that were made in the 60s and 70s? That was the very height of the muscle car era. Ever since then power has taken a backseat to fuel efficiency. Today's cars are certainly technologically superior to then.