Best family car with space got camping kit up to £10,000 tops?

[Time Waster]

Curious as to what the more knowledgeable car people on here would recommend as a used car. The two main criteria are up to £10,000 total price and big enough for a family camping holiday with everything but bikes inside the car.

We'd get a towbar and hookup fitted as we've got a towbar mount bike carrier. Possibly get roofbars as I might start kayaking again or SUPing.

I'd prefer petrol as I don't think diesel is as economic to drive. 6500 miles a year is our current mileage. So if the VED is very high it would make it more significant cost.

I have no idea what I could get or rather what would be good. It's overwhelming looking on car websites. I'm hoping for a shortcut from you people.

 

[vickster]

Skoda Octavia estate

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

Skoda Octavia estate

Seconded!

Skoda Yeti, or Roomster (looks a bit odd though)

Citroen Berlingo?

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Just rent a vehicle for a holiday as and when necessary?

 

[Time Waster]

How old would they be for this budget? I used to buy at 4 or 5 years old and lowish mileage. Now used is more expensive so it looks to me like that budget will mean 7 or 8 years old. Will cars that old still be reliable for 5 to 10 years? We tend to keep cars for a long time then replace just before scrapping is the best option.

 

[Time Waster]

Just rent a vehicle for a holiday as and when necessary?

We use it for kids activity duties through the week. Car sharing with other families but we still need a car to do our share in the week. We often don't leave the village except for kid's activities for weeks because everything's here or gets delivered. Curse or benefits of WFH.

I did wonder about car club type of thingbut they're not around this place.

 

[screenman]

Skoda or Seat, I will not be changing mine when not gets to ten years old. My sons Seat is now close on 300,000 miles and sixteen years old, he has no intention of changing, he has done 260,000 of those miles. Spares are good value and in good supply for both those brands.

 

[Jameshow]

I've been looking too....

£10000 is right in the middle of the danger zone!

No manufacturers warranty

But old enough for stuff to go wrong like a gearbox ECU or even an engine.

I'd second a Skoda estate fabia, Octavia superb?
Golf or Passat? Seat estate?

Volvo v60?

Dacia jogger?!

Tiguan or equivalent.

Kia / hyandai perhaps?
Although I have heard of stories of difficulties getting parts from some of my guys.

Mazda 5/6 cx5/7

Most of these are better as diesel tbh I'm not so clued up on petrol cars. Honda? BMW?!

Avoid anything french or Italian too.

As well as fuel economy / VED are insurance important to you?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/28587629...tixoXeJTeO&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

White just like the laundry....

 

[I like Skol]

What have you got now, and does it have any shortcomings that you wish to address?

 

[screenman]

The ved on my 2.0 ltr diesel Skoda is £30 a year.

 

[Time Waster]

Skoda or Seat, I will not be changing mine when not gets to ten years old. My sons Seat is now close on 300,000 miles and sixteen years old, he has no intention of changing, he has done 260,000 of those miles. Spares are good value and in good supply for both those brands.

Sorry, I used to buy at 5 years then keep for another 10 years or that's about 15 years old or perhaps even older. Depends on whether it starts to get expensive to keep on the road . If I buy a 9 years old because its within my price range will I only get 6 years out if it or is reliability improvements going to mean it'll run without expensive repairs for longer. Say my old cars became unreliable at 15 years will newer cars last until 19 years before becoming unreliable? That's my worry about buying a lot older cars than I used to.

 

[Time Waster]

Current vehicle is a partly converted vauxhall vivaro. Fuel costs high as is VED

 

[vickster]

I'd second a Skoda estate fabia,

Fabia estate probably too small, hence Octavia

 

[bikingdad90]

I’ve got 3 kids so I feel I can answer this question comfortably. When looking for a family car we found that the middle seat was often a 1/2 seat and this was no good as we required 3 full seats because of car seats so we looked at:

The Renault Scenic is a good solid car but it was discontinued in late 2019/2020. Our old family car is a 2015 reg with 90k on the clock. Clutch/gearbox is still going strong and it’s solid.

There is also the Citroen C4 Picasso/space tourer again discontinued around 2020.

Volkswagen Touran - good solid VAG engine but expensive.

Ford galaxy or Ford Smax. In some cars the middle seat is a 1/2 seat but not in others. I think it was an optional extra.

Citroen C5 Aircross. It has a spacious boot, 3 proper seats and is a bit SUV style. It was what we went for as our new family car as it was perfect for our needs and replaced the C4 offering too. Good boot space, stylish and 3 full rear seats.

If you don’t care about style and/or are fond of a box on wheels then there is the likes of a Fiat Doplo, Citroen Berlingo, Peugeot Tepee.

 

[Jameshow]

Fabia estate probably too small, hence Octavia

Did mention them too, superb is nice, not so great for town driving.