Family car recommendations please

BehindTheBikesheds wrote:

 

why is it a ‘lot’, how much do you think a ‘small’ car can save you? Bike racks are a hassle, they expose your bike/s and they cost you money for a decent one, plus they cost you in terms of fuel economy as well. A Fiesta is not much cop for long distances even three up with three bikes plus kit IMHO, they are also not that much cheaper than a bigger car. See above for the C4 Grand Picasso I found for £3.5k with low miles!

Trips with family that would be all but impossible or make them extremely expensive by train plus some journeys that need a car on the odd occasion make £5k not that big a deal when you add things up.

Pollution factor and reliability is more of a consideration IMHO. I’ve kept my car for 13 years after buying it at 4 years old and done less than 5k average over those years, I consider it to have been a very good ‘investment’ in terms of being able to get places sometimes fully loaded (self catering trips as above) and/or 5 up going into London on nights out that would have cost an awul lot of money otherwise.

£75 (at least) in offpeak train in London for 5 of us or £8 in diesel, that’s just one trip, I had my old Astra before the Passat so we’re going back 25+ years of going for nights out in the smoke

Train to visit family in North, offpeak that’d be £140 easily for the three of us when minibikesheds was little because otherwise it would mean getting the very last train on a Sunday night to get tickets £10-£15 cheaper. Diesel+tolls would even with todays prices only cost me £39, 6 trips a year (1860 miles – which would be the biggest block of my annual miles) that’s £6000 less cost over 10 years we went up together plus being able to come and go as you want.

Whilst I’m doing a year without the car it’s being bloody difficult at times and makes some trips simply not doable or a real bane not to mention pretty costly both in money and time. If I do replace the Passat I’d deffo spend c.£5k and not be concerned if I did fewer than 5,000 miles.

And I certainly would never buy a small car for family journeys, just not worth the hassle to save a couple of bob.

You’ve raised some good points, which obviously fit your domestic circumstances, however they may not meet the OP’s. The point I was trying to raise was that big is not always best. The main point of the OP’s post was to transport him and his son and their bikes 5 miles down the road. He also mentioned having 3 seats available. 

Ifyou are only using the car half an hour a week to transport bikes, what are you doing with it for the other 167.5 hours of the week? A small car may be easier to drive around an urban enviroment, take less room up on the drive/street, be cheaper to tax, insure, fuel etc. Certainly a bit more than ‘a couple of bob’.

I don’t remember advocating public transport in this example, so that’s irrelevant.

12 months without a car? Kudos and way to go.

zero_trooper wrote:

Sorry to hear of your son’s fear of our modern transport system. If the roads and their users weren’t so shit then this wouldn’t be such an issue for you (and your son).

£5000 is a lot of money to spend on a car only doing 5000 miles a year. Especially a ‘big’ car. I know that you mentioned cycle racks, but have you considered a cheap, small car and on the money you save, a decent cycle rack? One that you can easily remove after use. How often will you use the car to transport bikes? Would a cycle rack really be that much hassle?

 

why is it a ‘lot’, how much do you think a ‘small’ car can save you? Bike racks are a hassle, they expose your bike/s and they cost you money for a decent one, plus they cost you in terms of fuel economy as well. A Fiesta is not much cop for long distances even three up with three bikes plus kit IMHO, they are also not that much cheaper than a bigger car. See above for the C4 Grand Picasso I found for £3.5k with low miles!

Trips with family that would be all but impossible or make them extremely expensive by train plus some journeys that need a car on the odd occasion make £5k not that big a deal when you add things up.

Pollution factor and reliability is more of a consideration IMHO. I’ve kept my car for 13 years after buying it at 4 years old and done less than 5k average over those years, I consider it to have been a very good ‘investment’ in terms of being able to get places sometimes fully loaded (self catering trips as above) and/or 5 up going into London on nights out that would have cost an awul lot of money otherwise.

£75 (at least) in offpeak train in London for 5 of us or £8 in diesel, that’s just one trip, I had my old Astra before the Passat so we’re going back 25+ years of going for nights out in the smoke

Train to visit family in North, offpeak that’d be £140 easily for the three of us when minibikesheds was little because otherwise it would mean getting the very last train on a Sunday night to get tickets £10-£15 cheaper. Diesel+tolls would even with todays prices only cost me £39, 6 trips a year (1860 miles – which would be the biggest block of my annual miles) that’s £6000 less cost over 10 years we went up together plus being able to come and go as you want.

Whilst I’m doing a year without the car it’s being bloody difficult at times and makes some trips simply not doable or a real bane not to mention pretty costly both in money and time. If I do replace the Passat I’d deffo spend c.£5k and not be concerned if I did fewer than 5,000 miles.

And I certainly would never buy a small car for family journeys, just not worth the hassle to save a couple of bob.

An estate made from a

An estate made from a Japanese or Korean maker.

Proven reliability and practicality, not much badge going on plus no ‘perceived quality guff’.

I would look for a Caddy Maxi

I would look for a Caddy Maxi with 5 seats, gives you the back end of a van and still acts as a family runabout.

The 2 seater van has lower speed limits but the 5 seater avoids that I believe, because it isn’t classed as a van. a couple of quick release mounts on boards on the floor makes for quick loading and you can happliy use it for garden rubbish to the tip etc as well without getting carpets dirty.

With a bulkhead fitted it keeps the bikes out the way of the passangers in the event of a collision as well

Skoda Yeti. I got my bike in

Skoda Yeti. I get my bike in mine by just flattening one of the back seats. In fact, you can remove the seats altogether to essentially turn it into a van. 

Heated seats standard on all Elegance/SEL spec cars.

kil0ran wrote:

Thanks – agree re the diesel comment, as I’d hope to be running it for at least five years. Probably only around 5000 miles a year if I keep working from home. 

Passat is probably going to have to go simply because the climate control motor has failed. Which is buried deep in the dash. And is about 10 hours labour to fix for a £50 part. (Common fault on the Passat B5 BTBS) #bloodycars

(it’s fine in the summer but won’t be able to demist the windscreen in the winter)

Only needs to take two bikes but I don’t want to faff with taking wheels out or dropping my seatpost because it will be used frequently for short trips. Sadly my son is now too scared to cycle on the road to our offroad rides so we need to drive there #bloodydrivers

I’m thinking the solution is probably a hitch rack but it would need to be left permanently attached to the car to have any benefit over a Saris Bones or similar, and I’m a bit paranoid about the local scrotes spotting the rack on the car on the drive and raiding the shed.

The other option is finding an ancient Volvo or Merc estate from the mid-80s but perversely that would be more expensive than many newer options. Same goes for a Pug 505. I’m done with overcomplex cars having been bitten by a dodgy auto box on a V70 and now this climatronic issue on the Passat.

Mine is a 2001 model, the only issue I’ve had is the well known blocked drain hole under the battery, I’ve had it since Dec 2005, it’s been very, very reliable.

I’m not sure why you want to avoid a diesel when you’re going to be making as much pollution from a petrol car. Sadiq Khan put out a statement last year regarding pollution/diesel motors, he summed up by saying

“new, well maintained diesel cars, built to the latest standards have similar emissions to new petrol vehicles.” NOx is roughly 30% more in diesels but your fuel economy is going to be 30% better in many instances. As for particulates, don’t believe everything you read. 

‘Vehicles tested by TÜV Nord all showed the number of particles emitted from GDI engines is likely to exceed the 2017 European emissions limits, known as Euro 6 standards. Emissions from the Renault Mégane were almost twice as high as those from the Ford Focus and Hyundai I40, when tested without a gasoline particle filter fitted.’

https://www.transportenvironment.org/press/new-petrol-engines-cause-more-air-pollution-dirty-diesels

So a 5 year old petrol car is very likely to put out as much if not more particulates than a 5 year old diesel, you need to make sure you buy one that has a GPF.

VW Transporter (or similar);

VW Transporter (or similar); what you do with the space in the back is only limited by money and your imagination.  They even have a fitted bike rack if you’re really loaded up with toys (and family).  It’s the only vehicle I have.