We can’t fit our Croozer in our hatchback boot. The kids take up the room where the tent used to go. SO..we need to upgrade our car.

Not knowing much about cars, does anyone know of any sites that would take a set of requirements, (e.g. budget, amount of room wanted etc) and then recommend make/models to look at?

Or alternatively, please feel free to suggest any make and models that would fit the following:
< £10,000 (hence probably a used model)
– fits a growing family of 4 that like to go out camping and biking and no stinging on the equipment please
– is cheap to run and maintain
– reliable
– comfy for reasonable long journeys

Cheers!

Citroen Berlingo multispace….
Very roomy, very versatile, and a killer chick magnet…

Fiat Multipla

3 year old Mondeo should scape in at 10k iirc. very happy with ours. the boot is huge.

VW Touran

tbh any mid-size MPV, for £10k you should be looking at nearly new

2nd the Berlingo proper big, sliding doors etc ours is old slow and has the handling of a barge but tis good for what you want. Cheep too.

Either an S max or galaxy

I have the galaxy and it’s huge. We use it as a large 5 seater with a large boot which can fit numerous bikes in with ease. With all the seats folded down in the back I can fit in an American fridge freezer/double bed/2seater sofa etc.
I have the 1.8tdci version and it’s plenty enough for me(even with 6 large blokes in).
Economy wise I’m averaging 48-49 mpg at the moment based on 9k worth of records.

We originally wanted a large estate car(previously owned passat and mondeo estates) but couldn’t find any that would accommodate 3 full size car seats in the back so started looking at mpv’s.
We can chuck all our camping kit,clothes etc for a week in the back and the put the bikes on the rack and we’re away.
Plus it has cruise/climate control etc so you wouldn’t be left wanting toys wise either

We had the same issue.

4 bikes, family of 4 & a large tent.
We used to have a Honda accord estate but the rear suspension could not hack the whole load at once with 4 bikes on the back.

Being of a certain (midlife crisis) age & our mileage is not great I went for a landrover defender 110.

I’ve just come back from a weeks holiday in France where we had a Citroen C4 Picasso.

Not the most exciting thing in the world to drive, the gearbox is clonky and the suspension a bit rattly over slow speed bumps but it was comfortable and had acres of room and was very quiet at cruising speeds.

As a family car I thought it was great, and for £10k you could get a 2 year old one.

Meriva – dull but does the job.

Renault Scenic LWB or Renault Espace. Absolutely love ours for carting bikes and kids about, fairly nippy (in the bigger engines) and drives pretty well too.

I might be getting a “cheap” x-Trail for caravan towing and bike duties 😀

3 year old Mondeo should scape in at 10k iirc. very happy with ours. the boot is huge.

They’re coming in at a lot less than that!

Renault Scenic? Dear god, no. The in-laws had one. One of the worst cars I’ve ever had the misfortune to be inside and even more unfortunate to have had the ‘pleasure’ of driving it a few times.

FWIW, Mondeo. Miss my old ST. Was vast, cheap, economical and perfect for launching down motorways on holidays/biking trips etc.

Replaced it with an Octy VRS estate and its nowhere near as nice (despite being STWs ‘in’ option in these kind of threads).

Getting another ST/newer Titanium X next.

New shape berlingo, got mine new for less than you’re spending. I’ve posted lots previous on it, search my history…

You could get what you want from a Mondeo, for a fair bit less. Or Focus but they’re a little bit smaller obviously (still astonishingly big) and they’re generally not as good value.

There’s got to be a million cars that’ll fit your bill though- any big estate, or people carrier. Get a Zafira VXR 😉

(we used to do the family-of-5, big-tent, thing with a cavalier saloon and the biggest roofrack the world has ever seen)

Fiat multipla, 6 proper seats and loads of boot space. Take individual seats out to make more holiday room too. I love mine.

mazda 6 estate !!

nicer to drive than the mondeo to !!

Ahh the fiat multipla aka the fiat jade, ugly as f@#k from the front and capable of accommodating 3 in the rear;-)

We’ve got a Honda Stream, lovely I’ll car and quite a rare sight as only 2000 ish where sold in the UK. It’s got 5 seats plus a fold away 3rd row. Looks small on the outside but is massive on the inside really, and ultra reliable as its a Honda.

i keep looking at honda FR-v 6 seater, need to do a test drive!!

Got a Mondeo est and Galaxy both good cars

I love my Honda, it was cheap, quick ish and never goes wrong in the 6 years I’ve owned it.