As I now have a child, it looks like my Fiesta isn't going to cope any more.
So recommendations for a car to be used for the following would be appreciated:
carry 2 adults, one baby/child (maybe another in a year or two), 2 bikes (preferably inside) plus kit, baby stuff (pram, toys etc.
It's going to need to be comfortable on long journeys (to French alps) and have a decent fuel economy.
In the winter, it'll need to be able to take snowboards inside instead of bikes.
And well priced, as I'd much prefer to be spending my money on mountain bikes.
Needs to be ok for parking as I dont have a drive and there isn't much space on my street.
thanks
So you need a massive car to carry 2 bikes IN it as well as all the baby related stuff (which normally fills the boot on its own) but need it to be small to park on the street? Sounds like you need a LWB Transit and just nudge the other cars on the street out of the way.
Or get anything bigger than a Fiesta with a towbar or roof mounted rack. Liked my old Mondeo but thats what 99% of the inhabitants of this forum will say. Also love my Octy vRS estate but thats what the other 1% will say (except they'll tell you to buy a diesel). For bog standard versions, both dirt cheap.
I bought a Passat estate plus roof bars. The baby seems to need an extrodinary amount of stuff. We went for a long weekend in Wales with two bikes on the roof, her trailer in the boot then all her stuff and a couple of bags of clothes. The car was rammed full!
[img] 
[/img]
tick
tick
tick
mondeo estate (and similar, vectra, the beloved octavia, etc) will tick the boxes too
I have to say that an Octavia TDI (yes i have one). Over 50mpg, reliable, comfortable, cheap to service, cheap for parts and relatively cheap to buy.
Dead easy to drive too according to the mrs
Skoda Yeti?
Clarkson says it's the best car in the world!
Touran with DSG. 2 bikes, 2 kids and two adults no problem with plenty room left.
+1 for the Mondeo estate like a tardis inside and lovely to drive
[img] 
[/img]
[url= http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5300/5392987492_02c2c14d7a.jp g" target="_blank">
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/neil853/5392987492/ ]france016[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/neil853/ ]99c5faa01725362d73494aff686e3664[/url], on Flickr
My southern friend providing the humour........ 🙄
My southern friend providing the humour........
Your having a laugh arnt you if you want to get 2 adults a baby and bikes in a car... some thing will have to end up on the roof or a rack, depending on what you need to take ie travel cot, baby food, toys, pushchair, rucksack etc etc.
Oldshape Skoda Octavia if on a budget -plus you don't really care about parking scuffs.
Newshape Skoda Octavia if you've got more money.
Fiat Multipla
[img] 
[/img]
Two adults, two kids, luggage etc. plus DH bike and kit (with DH kit removed could probably add another bike) fitted in when we drove to the alps last june. The picture doesn't show all of the luggage that we took. All fitted in comfortably.
Passat estate. We can get 3 people and 3 bikes in ours with room for luggage and it's superb on long trips.
My brother is a motor engineer in Detroit specialising in chassis and powertrain, he built Hummer 2 for GM (Yes!)
Last July he came to UK and hired a Passat estate; he and his American wife were blown away by it, he said it was by far the best car he'd even driven of it's type. He should know.
For cheap, frugal and big I can recommend the Zafira. Best bit is when the nipper is in a child seat you can put them in the middle seat and slide it all the way forward. Kids like it because they are up clise to the action, and you get an extra foot of length on rhe already big boot. But as has been said, baby stuff will fill any available space.
We have done 2 adults plus infant, dog (in cage that takes just over half the width of the boot), Croozer trailer and a weeks camping stuff in the car with the bikes on the towbar. takes some thinking tho.
'Last July he came to UK and hired a Passat estate; he and his American wife were blown away by it, he said it was by far the best car he'd even driven of it's type. He should know.'
I guess he's used to driving American cars. Passat is nice, but not massively better than the competition.
[url= http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2353914.htm ]http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2353914.htm[/url]
[url= http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/fs-ot-citroen-berlingo-multispace-deasire-20-hdi ]Citroen Berlingo Multispace[/url] 😉
If you want to stay on the small, economical side of things... I can highly recommend the Skoda Roomster.
Pretty cheap for a good condition car. We've got the 1.4 3 cylinder diesel engine, does 50-60mpg depending on the trip. Has removable rear seats... loads of head room in the back and boot, making it really easy to get baby in the car seat in the back without having to lever them in under the roof and potentially bang em on the head.
You'd struggle to get 3 adults in the back comfortably, but you could get 2 kids in there and prob 2 bikes.
I frequently take out 2 of the 3 rear seats, leaving 1 for the nipper's seat, and get 2 bikes and the baby buggy in the back and loads of bags etc.
Had it a year and been proper impressed with it. Most practical small car I've seen.
However, we've no plans for baby number 2... if we did, we may want something bigger for long bike trips. You may want more luxury too - in which case the octavia estates are really good value. Modeo estate's are nice too.
For me though, even with a big boot, estate's are still a faff to put bikes in. With my roomster, I can roll the back seat forward (or take it out), take the front wheel on my bike and wheel it in rear wheel first, with the saddle at full height. It's brilliant.
I used to have a VW van, so thought going to something this small from that would be tough. Had to do it for the family and commuting reasons though. So far, no looking back. Really is a great wee car.
Realistically, how often are you *actually* going to drive to the Alps? I ask because I got my current (estate) car based on the premise that I needed the extra space, and have used that space probably 2 times in 18 months (to take stuff to the dump). The rest of the time, I could have managed with a saloon and saved on the car (since the estate is pricier).
If it's really only going to be once or twice a year, can't you just accept that there will be times when you've got to put snowboards/bikes/whatever on a roof-rack or boot-rack? Doing this opens your choices up to pretty much any mid-size or large family car.
Define "well priced"
No point in saying anything is well priced in comparison to another car, if it's out of your price range!
Personally, for what you want, buy a B5 or B5.5 VW Passat TDi Estate. Brilliant, reliable cars, that are cheap to run and an ideal bike car.