Hey guys, My wife and I are expecting our first baby any day now (in fact she is 40 + 2 today )and need to sort out a second car for her. We are likely to keep this for a minimum of 5 years and will be used as a run around as such it won't have high mileage so looking for petrol over diesel. We are looking to spend no more than £10k and she has a number of criteria which are: Needs to be a 59 plate or newer Done less than 20k miles Isofix points Be cute! Not a VW or BMW We have come up with a shirt list which is as follows (in no particular order) Alfa Mito Ford fester Fiat 500 Mini Cooper / cooper S What are people's thoughts on the above? Anything we should watch out for when buying? Or any other options? Thanks in advance
We were well pleased with our Nissan Micra when our first was born. That's rolling around to five years now and it's only ever set us back some unlucky punctures. The car goes on and on! It's also very economical on the 1.4i petrol and we are getting around 43mpg on an 05 plate.
The Mito is basically a Punto underneath, whereas a 500 is a Panda with a cutesie look. From my experience, the Mito is the better of the two, from both a quality, size and driving perspective, but not as accomplished as the Mini or Ford. The Fiesta appears to be all things to all people, and you'll get a newer/lower mileage/higher spec one for your money than with the Mini. The Mini is the most "premium" of the lot, but the interior is small (it's a slightly bigger car than the Ford, but has a smaller boot and interior space), and doesn't actually feel all that special - though it will have the nicest interior of all of those. I doubt you'll find an '09 Cooper S for £10k with <20k miles though. The list looks like you want something that looks good but is also reasonably fun to drive and reasonably quick - is this a fair assessment? If so, it might be worth looking at a Citroen DS3 - the THP155 engine in particular. Should be becoming available for your budget and requirements, is larger than the Mini and is a good looking car. Not as sharp as the Mini or even the Fiesta in sportier trims, but not bad at all, and has got some decent power.
Personally, I'd avoid a three-door car if you're using a car seat... especially as you've specified ISOFIX points as a must-have. No rear doors will mean that you won't be able to use a rear-facing Group 1 car seat, for example, and will make using any front-facing car seat a real ball-ache. That said, based on what you've listed, it doesn't appear that practicality is top of your list, so feel free to ignore me
You be looking at something like an Astra or Fiesta with £10k and max 20k miles. There's plenty of choice on auto trader at that price point. With kids, i could only recommend a 4 door jobby. Good luck with the hunt.
As someone that has kids, I would avoid all 4 of your listed options, too small and impractical imo. Focus, ceed, megane, guiluetta would be better choices. Don't underestimate the amount of crap you'll be carting about. Sent whilst mobile
Thanks, personally I'd choose the Alfa (not my choice as I won't really be driving it) so glad the build seems ok, I've only had experience of older Alfa's and know they can be temperamental. The mini would more than likely be a cooper as she would need to compromise on the age / mileage for the S. We'll have a deeper look into the DS3, the sport looks nice Gives me plenty of food for thought, thanks again
She only wants a small run around and does not get on with larger cars, hence the choices (I should have made this clear in the OP) To be honest it will only really be used when I'm not around, if she needed the family car she would use mine. I do like the guiluetta so I think I should try and crowbar that in instead of the Mito Thanks!
She does keep coming back to a Fiesta Titanium, and that is the only 4 door that is liked that we have seen, hhhmmmmm choices
Personally a car carrying my wife and child I think safety would be my priority and tbh the one's you listed ain't that highly rated
It is a priority, all the cars that have been listed are (to the best of my knowledge) 5 star for adult and the lowest scores 3 stars for child? (Which is one of the reasons we are leaning toward the fiesta as it scores 4) Lower rated cars did not even make it onto the list! Any suggestions on higher scoring cars is greatly welcomed Edit: I have just researched how the Ncap scoring is made up and although each car is a 5 star there are marks lost on all for child protection (although this could just be unclear markings / stickers)
Hmmm... well if safety is a priority I would try and look up this Nicholas Kravchenko fellow and see where he got his run about from.
Had a Fiesta, got a Giulietta .. not a lot of difference in space tbh. I'd pick the Fiesta every time ... just more refined, everything just worked. The electric windscreen would have been perfect had we still had it this past winter. Visibility much better too (as an example, there is one of those width restrictions near us - we drove through at full speed in the fiesta, have to crawl though in the Alfa to make sure its lined up). I echo the 5 door tip - never get a 3 door car if you've even a remote chance of carrying people in the back more than once or twice a year.
Agree with both of of these, 4/5 door hatch back/estate for the win, things to look at are ease of getting pram in and out of boot some can be quite heavy and cumbersome if you have a little lady, the ladies at coffee mornings would covet my missus' car were she could roll the pram in an out due to being an estate, also need to look at can the pram your missus is drooling over even fit in the boot and leave shopping room. Other thing to note is the size of rear facing seats is shocking and if placed in the back can take a sizable chunk out of the interior and lead to you having the front seat squashed up against the dash, which if you carry taller passengers is a problem, same for if its in the front, the seat may have to go far back, making one side of the rear useless. Good idea to go seat fitting in cars your are thinking of, I wanted a 159 but we ruled it out on the cramped internal space with a good safe seat. Lot to be said for 4x4/SUV/MPV when it comes to kids, or other small cars with high seating a boon for lumping there dead weight about in and out of cars seats and the space when travelling. My missus didn't want a big car, I told her she'll get what she is given and like it or walk She couldn't even look at a smaller car now she is used to it and wants even bigger.
KIA Ceed. Very, very underrated car. Nice and cheap to buy (you can get the year & mileage you require for £7k). 5 Doors with ample room for children. Cheap to run (tax, economy & insurance). Reliable with good warranties. Reasonably good looking. Although they don't have the 'badge appeal' of many of the other cars, they are excellent. If you don't believe me, just check out any review on them!
Ford Fusion, basically a fiesta that's been owned by old people. Reason I mention this car is the height of the vehicle. When leaning into the back to strap the little one's in, bending over into a low car really really f*cks your back up over time. There also dirt cheap, wouldn't have been abused and you can get a lot of options for them.
