Honda Civic Tourer - 1.8 petrol. Especially the 5-speed auto.

Sorry, they are a large labrador and German shepherd. I also may have a third slightly smaller dog coming along in next month or two

Some hatchbacks seems to have a slight flatter back

cheers

You should be able to get a decent Mondeo for the budget. Octavia also has a big boot.

Does this car have to fit all the dogs in the boot with the seats up?. And, if the answer to that is yes, what do you consider too big?.

BIG dogs how about a golf estate

1.6 petrol Focus estate, approx 10 years old for that money, not quick cars but decent boot which may be big enough without going to Mondeo size cars.

Probably the best shout TBH. But there are two problems here, first is the extremely high used prices at the moment, second is the relatively small budget.

I think the OP is just going to have to go looking at stuff in the local area to determine whether or not the boot is big enough for the dogs and that the car is not too big for the kids!.

Try and stick to a naturally aspirated (not turbo) petrol engine and manual gearbox. Use the MOT history check to get an idea if the car has been well cared for.

Yes, I was about to say the Civic is very accommodating if a hatchback is what you are after.

We had big dogs for a couple of decades now and my last hatch was a Primera Mk3, the dogs had to stoop down a bit when closing the hatch and some are known to have their head banged by the slopping orifice.

We moved on and got an estate in 2003 and never looked back.

Maybe you can look for a class B or C estate?, plenty out there under your budget:

1. Clio Tourer

2. Ibiza Estate (a bit like a longish Polo)

3. Fabia Estate

4. Rapid SpaceBack (Technically a hatchback)

5. Cruze Estate

6. Cruze Htchback

7. Mini Clubman (quality is not great)

8. Dacia Logan MCV (With steel wheels and FM radio!)

Edited by JonestHon on 26/10/2021 at 12:08

Thanks for your advice..I've been busy with a spreadsheet ( nerd comes to mind )

I've compare , car length, boot capacity and overall cost ( fuel, insurance etc ) Quite a list but now all I need to do is cut some of them down so we can test drive.

ibb.co/wQ6mQkC

Edited by logger on 11/11/2021 at 14:11

Yet another 'which car' question to which the obvious answer is a Citroen Berlingo or one of its badge mates.

Exactly what I was thinking!

Yet another 'which car' question to which the obvious answer is a Citroen Berlingo or one of its badge mates.

Edited by SLO76 on 15/12/2021 at 23:21

Any more thoughts ?

My immediate thought is yesterday you halved your budget.

so used hatchbacks with low boot to ground and tallish boot heigh ideally for less than £2k

In your original post it was under £4000. Most of the advice already given will be worthless.

You really need to get out and look at a wide variety of cars and see what will do the job.

But for under £2000 there is no guarantee of getting a car that has much life left. You would probably be better spending money on your existing car providing it has no really serious issues and wait for the market to get back to normal by which time you may have more money.

I used to drive Picassos a lot through work when they were new and liked them. Very comfy things, in the traditional French way. I think I've read they can rust on the sills as they age - worth checking out. The MOT history should give any advisories.

Yup,

A colleague had one and it failed it's MOT one year with this. He showed me an inspection cam photo. Very localised rust - most of the sill was perfect with no rust at all. It seems there is a bad water trap in that area. The rest of the car was fine so he had it repaired and the added a drain hole. He then thoroughly rustproofed. It does seem a weak spot but it's worth repairing if the rest of the car ok. If it's still ok there it's could be worth having a look inside with an inspection cam and rustproofing thoroughly. It won't be picked up on the MOT until it holes as it rusts from the inside.

Edited by Big John on 03/01/2022 at 12:42

To the original question Skoda Rapid / Seat Toledo - petrol models are reliable Diesels capable of big mileage but have turbos/DPF/injector replacements due around 5 years old

1, The OP's most recent contribution to his thread was to say the budget was £2k. That might get you into a mega mileage or insurance write off Rapid/Toledo, but nothing else.

2, While it is probably fair to say not all the diesels are unreliable, the particular engine used in the Rapid/Toledo is the very same unit at the centre of the 'dieselgate' scandal. Which didn't have the best reputation anyway (this is why I went for a n/a 2.0SDI Caddy rather than the more powerful and possibly more efficient 1.6 turbo diesel). So even at the OP's original £4k budget (never mind half that), I really wouldn't. If a buyer really had to have a cheap diesel, there are much less risky options than the VAG 1.6 turbo diesel.