looking to replace Mrs JB’s Ka for something more practical for arrival of small person. can’t be too big as she wants ease of parking etc, but big enough/low enough for her to get the buggy/assorted paraphanalia in/out of the car.

I quote “it can’t be too boyified either. I want a pretty car”.

Help!

A really big one – sorry not helpful

One kid? Any Focus sized hatchback. Two – any estate. When we had our third I caved and bought an S-Max…..

HTH

Ford c or s max, vw touran. Both good access to rear seat and decent boot. Good availibilty second hand.

Hatter has the best suggestion.

Golf Focus Citreon DS2 sort of hatchback tings should do it

This is the minimum that will keep your precious one safe and sound, anything less and it would be irresponsible 😉

or sensible answer any mid size 5 door car that you will run into the ground as it will be chewed, vomited on and have all sorts deposited down the seats 🙂

If you want small then Honda Jazz, otherwise C Max.

budget? annual mileage?

Only 1 kid, then a small hatchback like a fiesta or clio IMO…preferably 5 doors.

Planning on more…then bigger 5 door hatch.

3 or more then S max type…you can also get a full bike in the back with its fold flat system! Mine was great…but heavy on fuel even with diesel engine.

On a slightly less pithy note, 5-doors are a must and the need to lug pushchairs, travel cots and assorted bumpf around means that a serious boot is a very good option.

The ability to get everything in easily first time at the end of a long day could just save your marriage in the very near future.

1 or even 2 kids any 5 door hatch is going to work well. If you buy a big car you will carry about more stuff so it can be self defeating. It’s worth checking the access to rear seats, cars that are a little low/narrow rear door can make lifting the little one in and out a pain (literally). If car is generally just going to be the mrs plus sprog then he/she can ride in the front with airbag switched off.

Good luck with the arrival.

I sometimes use my a4 avant for family duties (2yo & 4yo) which you’d think would be fine, but the door openings are far too small/low so threading an infant into a car seat is something of a challenge. This is what the mpvs are all about. Not needing 7 seats is a red herring.
We’ve got a Zafira too which is pretty good, but if I was buying again I’d get a berlingo as they seem to make much better use of their space.

VW Golf estate, drives like a real car, fantastic performance and fuel economy and doesn’t have the aerodynamics of a brick. They can easily handle all the kit associated with two kids.

Also, rock solid residuals.

Why buy a mini van when you don’t need one? IME the usable boot space on a Touran is substantially less than a Golf estate.

Went for a focus in the same situation. Handles well, reasonably economical and reliable. Also had a big boot to swallow prams and other gubbins with ease. Decent access and overall v happy.
Bought a newer one after no 2 arrived. Can see us having to get something bigger in a few years but for now if we need more room for holidays the roof box gives us much more room.
Oh aye.. apparently the boot in the new one is smaller- good to know.

I bought a MK1 Golf GTI with full roll cage. With the rear seats fitted you could squeeze the baby seat in nicely. Really rather safe and safety conscious I thought. It lasted a year!

Not that girly but kid seat friendly doors and go quite cheap.

Or i30s are supposed to be quite good in this bracket.

I hardly ever post without reading every post, no matter the number of pages… But I’ve made an exception. A small Volvo. Safe, reliable and safe. Unless she hits a landrover, she’ll come out tops

As above, small 5-door, as your back won’t thank you for lifting a surprisingly heavy child in/out of the back of a three-door. If this isn’t going to be the only car and the other one is bigger, need to cart huge amounts of junk (eg travel cots) isn’t really relevant as buggy & change bag is about all you need day to day. Bear in mind some buggies remain huge even when folded, and car seats can be massive too.

DOI – Ran Astra/Golf when we had one child, with roof box for holidays. Now run Astra/Avensis with two kids and still need roof box on holiday.

Fiesta or Ibiza.

p.s. these 5 door cars mentioned on here only have 4 doors.

We’ve a Passat Estate and a Meriva now (2 kids) but made do with a TWO door Corsa for years.

When our first came along the wife had a Focus and I had a 1987 Porsche 944 turbo. Seemed to be a perfect combo at the time. When number 2 came the Porsche had to go unfortunately. But was replaced with the SMax. No spoertscar, but a stinking car all the same. It’s like a nice Snap-on toolkit. Well built and practical.

We replaced the wife’s Ka with a fiesta, which is good for getting her and EG junior around when it’s just them, then use my bigger car at the weekend longer trips etc…

What sort of budget are you looking at?

Get the pushchair first and then the car to suit. This is also a good introductory lesson for your new priorities as far as time and money are concerned…

5 doors and split fold rear seats. Then you need to decide how much else you need to take with you, if you’re planning on going away then you also need to fit travel cots, high chair stuff and an inordinate amount of clothes. I’d not be wanting to go smaller than a focus for a main car.

one with sliding rear doors ime/imo

Not sure if it’s been mentioned yet but;

One you can hose out.

would, in retrospect, be my choice.

Never thought this day would come, but I’m going to suggest a 5-door Golf. The mk4 is quite round and girly.

We used to have a Jeep Cherokee, which was ace, but ultimately a bit too big and the boot space was woeful. Now struggling with a pre-2000 Clio, 3-door, and looking for a new car with the same criteria as OP. The Golf is a strong contender for the change, because I can’t see the wife letting me buy the W8 Passat I’m after 🙁

Also, do try whatever buggy you buy in the boot of whatever car you’re looking at.

We had a Mountain Buggy and the Golf’s boot was too narrow to fit it in.

You can manage with just about anything (to counter the usual muppets…)

But for convenience, these would be my requirements:

– 5 door
– boot big enough for your pram (you’ll be surprised, just how big some can be – my 206 wouldn’t take the pram without taking the wheels off which admittedly wasn’t too difficult but a bit of a hassle when it’s raining and Clubber Jnr was screaming
– If you’re tall, check that you can move the seats back and still have room for the baby car seat
– Seats in a colour that will clean well… (unless you buy cheap and don’t care)

We have a Focus (as well as the 206 which has since been replaced) and that was pretty good – good day-to-day, reliable and just about big enough for weekends away without having to restrict (excessively) what we took.

wwaswas – Member
Also, do try whatever buggy you buy in the boot of whatever car you’re looking at.
We had a Mountain Buggy and the Golf’s boot was too narrow to fit it in.

We can get a mountain buggy in the boot of the wife’s Panda so you’re not trying hard enough. That said I’d not want to be doing that as a main car as it does need the wheels off.

Grand news, Jimbo! (Email me if you want/need any tips on how to manage with a mini-person! Having just about got through the first year without a single drama, I think I’m fairly well qualified!)

FWIW – A big car. You will never understand quote how much stuff you suddenly “need” to take with you to visit the grandparents, etc.

So, big, safe, comfy and reliable estate. V70, Mondeo, Superb, etc.

Of course, the big plus there is that they are also excellent bike cars…! If you ever get time to ride, that is.

On a slightly less pithy note, 5-doors are a must and the need to lug pushchairs, travel cots and assorted bumpf around means that a serious boot is a very good option.

This. Anything else is just a bonus. If you go 2nd hand make sure the car has isofix fittings, not all do.

We can get a mountain buggy in the boot of the wife’s Panda so you’re not trying hard enough

We had the ‘terrain’ version., I think, which is fairly hefty and the problem was the length when folded, even with the front wheel off.

And my wife spending 10 minutes dismantling a mucky push chair with a screaming kid in the car was a bit of a non-starter really.

Anyway, it’s just somethign to be aware of with a smaller boot – even if the pushchair fits will you get a weeks shopping or whatever in there too.

Hatter has the best suggestion.

+1 😀

If you go 2nd hand make sure the car has isofix fittings, not all do.

It’s a bonus, but there are pros and cons to Isofix. It’s worth having should the idea appeal to you (our car does) but when we started digging and speaking to friends that do and don’t have it, we decided not to use it

In your shoes 21 months ago we went for a newer shape 2.0 tdi A4 Avant.
Plenty of space for the 3 of us, a great size boot for weekends away, holidays etc, swallows the pram no problem with room for all the other cr*p you inevitably cart about, (dont underestimate how much stuff you need in the early months!). The wife liked it because the flat load area meant pulling the pram out of the boot was very easy for her. Isofix, parking sensors all round, decent drive, low running costs and of course roof rails for the bikes too 🙂

Weirdly, after I bought it I was strangely compelled to go and buy an Orange….??!!

It’s a bonus, but there are pros and cons to Isofix. It’s worth having should the idea appeal to you (our car does) but when we started digging and speaking to friends that do and don’t have it, we decided not to use it

I never used it – but then it wasn’t that popular 13 years ago in Spain. I only mentioned it as something to be aware of.

Golf or Focus – basic, practical cars which you’ll be able to shift onwards when the smell gets too bad.