What is life like with your car? Let us know and win £500 in John Lewis vouchers | No thanks
Estate - Economical family estate car ideas! - ellysmum

I normally drive a Ford Focus but after having a second child need something with a bigger boot space.

I would like an estate and people have mentioned some Japanese cars are good so need advice from people who are in the know!

My priorities are:

Big boot space, economical to tax insure and run, not too expensive to buy 2nd hand (around 3k to spend).

Any advice gratefully received! I should add im not bothered about what's cool or what the car looks like particularly, more about it being efficient and economical to run.

Edited by ellysmum on 03/12/2013 at 10:23

Estate - Economical family estate car ideas! - skidpan

Find a bit more money and get a Kia Ceed SW 1.6 CRDi. The early ones had no DPF plus they don't have a DMF to worry about.

Loads of space and ours has averaged about 51 mpg for 30,000 miles. RFL is £105. Insurance costs wife £200 fully comp.

Estate - Economical family estate car ideas! - Bromptonaut

I know I always recomend the same car but what about Citroen Berlingo or Peugeot Partner? Loads of luggage space, 3 proper seats in the back, 2 with isofix child seat mounts. Sliding doors make getting kids in/out easy. Numerous cubbys, door pockets etc for kid's kit and the back seat are raised enough for them to have a view out.

They're popular so not cheap. Your budget should get you an 06 or 07 diesel or possibly a more recent petrol.

You say you're nor bothered about image and anyway it's only the red ones that get Postman Pat jokes :-)

Estate - Economical family estate car ideas! - Sam49

I have a 2007 Toyota Avensis estate and would recommend one. The model ran from 2003-09 so you would find one in your budget. Mine is a petrol 1.8 VVTi – it’s powerful enough and economical for the size of car. It’s comfortable, it’s refined, it’s safe and it’s big – The boot is big, the back doors are wide so it’s easy to our baby seat in and out. You can have the front seats set far back and still fit the baby seat and base unit in. And it’s very reliable.

Or try estate versions of Ford Mondeo, Skoda Octavia, Mazda 6 (petrol), Honda Accord or those advised above – all good choices.