Bit of a mind dilemma going on here!
Expecting our first child soon, and given the fact that I generally cycle most places (work included) I end up feeling like there is a huge lump of cash sat on our drive most of the time, namely in the form of this:

54 plate Civic type R.

To be honest – I'm not that 'into' driving any more, and really fancy something not too sluggish, but with 5 doors, and probably an estate (we've a pretty big push chair – you should have seen the wife trying to put it into the back of a fiat 500 to 'see if it would fit'!).

Most of the driving we'll end up doing will be longer distance (to folk's houses with kid etc) and shopping, and was thinking along the lines of:
Toyota avensis estate
Octavia
Focus / mondeo estate.

The civic's great, don't get me wrong, and with the rear seats down can easily fit a few bikes and gear in it, it's just that I'm not actually too fussed by the (very fast) speed of the thing any more!

Shall I sell and get a more sensible car – bearing in mind the re-sell value will be between 8-8.9k, which I'd probably dump straight back into the new car?

Oh what to do!

DrP

Seat Altea FR TDi?

Mondeo ST estate?

A4 Estate?

If you get a TDi and find you miss a bit of performance, you can always get it re-mapped?

Sure you'll get 8-9k for the Civic? Private sales on Autotrader, suggest low £7k for 05 plates…..so part ex-ing will get you even less.

Really that low?
Oh! See that makes me wonder if it's all worth it!

DrP

I'm about to get a Renault Scenic, pretty much covers all you're looking for.

What I really really want, though, is one of these babies:

http://www.seriouswheels.com/2009/r-z-0-9/2009-Toyota-Tacoma-ATG-Rear-And-Side-1280×960.htm

Volvo V50 Estate? Not too huge, and you can get good second hand deals. The R-Design specs look quite sporty and the 2.0D shouldn't be too pricey to run and you wouldn't have to splurge too much after selling the Civic.

Accord tourer

I've found my normal 5 door civic brilliant! Bags of room….oh and as for the pushcair – I can pretty much guarantee you'll end up getting a Maclaren by the time baby's 4 months!