Cheap (and smallish) family car for London (Rover Freelander S, Citroen Xsara Picasso, VW Golf)

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Sun 26 May 2013 10:04
Cheap (and smallish) family car for London (Rover Freelander S, Citroen Xsara Picasso, VW Golf) - papajohn

I'm looking for suggestions for a cheap family car that would be used a few times a week for any of the following:

  1. supermarket trips in the city
  2. getting across town to see friends and
  3. occasionally for getting out of town to the coast or a children's park.
  4. 2-3,000 miles a year (probably).

I'm 33 and haven't had a car for seven years. Living in London the busses and tube are great for getting around. Plus my cherished Saab 96v4 wasn't used that often and kept on getting hit and run while parked.

I have two young daughters and the convenience of a car is attractive, but I know it's going to get some cosmetic damage as living in a flat it will have to be kept on the street.

Requirements are:

  1. cheap to run and buy
  2. good boot space for family of 4
  3. not too long for ease of parking

I had considered the Citroen C1/Toyota Aygo/Peugeot 107 as parking is free, road tax low and mpg very good. Unfortunately they are not good on the motorway and have almost no boot space. The new VW Up! looks good but is too expensive.

VW Golf might be another option, but not sure about the boot space as need to see one.

Land Rover Freelander s was recommended by a friend as you can pick these up for cheaply (under £2k) but I'm not sure about costs for parts.
eg: http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201305236917803/sort/default/usedcars/price-to/2000/model/freelander/make/land_rover/onesearchad/used/onesearchad/nearlynew/onesearchad/new/page/1/radius/1500/postcode/n193hs/quicksearch/true?logcode=p

The Citroen Xsara Picasso looks good as these are cheap and seem roomy, plus being slightly higher is nice.
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201305236902220/sort/default/usedcars/model/xsara_picasso/make/citroen/onesearchad/used/onesearchad/nearlynew/onesearchad/new/radius/1500/page/1/postcode/n193hs?logcode=p

As I can't use my no claims and as I will keep the car on the street insurance is quite expensive at £1,300

Finally, as long as the car has service history are high mileage vehicles ok?

Would appreciate your recommendations and advice, thank you.

Edited by Avant on 26/05/2013 at 16:02

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Sun 26 May 2013 10:27
Cheap (and smallish) family car for London (Rover Freelancer S, Citroen Xsara Picasso, VW Golf) - Oli rag

A toyota yaris or corolla would be a good buy, make sure with your low mileage that you stick to petrol engines.

Personally I'd avoid a "cheap" freelander like the plague, although the later ones I understand are good.

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Sun 26 May 2013 10:36
Cheap (and smallish) family car for London (Rover Freelancer S, Citroen Xsara Picasso, VW Golf) - Bobbin Threadbare

Aygo is fine on the motorway. Depends if you like to feel ensconced in a tank or not. They aren't amazing in high wind, and there is no real boot!

Sounds like you could do with a petrol Ford Fiesta to me - some semblance of boot space, enough room for children and they are good pootling about cars. Also fine on the motorway. If you want bigger, a Focus or a Mazda 3 would do you. There's quite a range of size in your post, from Aygos to Landrovers! Something small to park on London's streets would be a good plan I reckon.

Edited by Bobbin Threadbare on 26/05/2013 at 10:36

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Sun 26 May 2013 16:06
Cheap (and smallish) family car for London (Rover Freelander S, Citroen Xsara Picasso, VW Golf) - Avant

I'd look at a Toyota Corolla/Auris, Mazda 3, Skoda Fabia or old-shape (2001-06) Honda Civic. If you need more room, a Picasso is certainly one to look at but a Toyota Verso has a better chance of being reliable.

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Mon 27 May 2013 01:06
Cheap (and smallish) family car for London (Rover Freelander S, Citroen Xsara Picasso, VW Golf) - papajohn

thank you everyone for the suggestions. Any thoughts on the golf?

After visiting a large car supermarket in whitecity, the VW Golf seems like it has enough boot space for it's small size.

i will do some research into the cars mentioned here, thank you again!

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Mon 27 May 2013 16:52
Cheap (and smallish) family car for London (Rover Freelander S, Citroen Xsara Picasso, VW Golf) - Avant

Golfs are fine but as I think you're buying secondhand, they hold their value better than most other cars of that size and and are therefore more expensive to buy compared with, say, a Corolla / Auris or a Focus.

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Mon 27 May 2013 18:23
Cheap (and smallish) family car for London (Rover Freelander S, Citroen Xsara Picasso, VW Golf) - Bromptonaut

As others say the Freelander is best avoided, certainly at your price point.

My choice would be the Picasso. Neat interior, three proper rear seats and an ample boot. I know it's my answer to everything but what about a Berlingo or Partner? Slidin doors wouls be an abbsolute boon with youngsters and it's another one with three proper seats in the back. Lots of stowage for kiddie paraphenalia. And while it will carry the same loads as a big estate it has a medium car's footprint.

The best one's are diesels but that means the petrol versions are cheap Pre 2005 1.9D is OK and cheap if you can live with sluggish acceleration and considerably higher CO2 than the hi tech HDi.

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Tue 28 May 2013 12:49
Cheap (and smallish) family car for London (Rover Freelander S, Citroen Xsara Picasso, VW Golf) - papajohn

We have a look at a Corolla yesterday and were really impressed. 12 years old, 48,000 miles, no rust, very clean, FSH and all for £1,500

Then I double checked with the council about getting a residential parking permit only to find out our new build flat is "car-free" which means we won't be able to park.

What a dissapointment.

The Corolla would have been £29 to park for the year. If I can find a garage it's £2,600(!) (or £50 a week) and the council parking vouchers work out at around £3,000 a year.

Thank you for all your advice and recommendations, I guess it'll have to be a zipcar then.

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Tue 28 May 2013 23:29
Cheap (and smallish) family car for London (Rover Freelander S, Citroen Xsara Picasso, VW Golf) - Avant

What a stupid council. Would you like to let us know which one, so that people can think twice before moving to that area?

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Wed 29 May 2013 00:05
Cheap (and smallish) family car for London (Rover Freelander S, Citroen Xsara Picasso, VW Golf) - papajohn

Islington Council - but apparently all new build flats across London have this planning requirement of being car free. Which I think is why some developments will have their own underground parking.

Although annoying I can see this makes sense, for example there is a development of 300 new homes around the Emirates Stadium. If each home had two residential parking permits that would be 600 cars on the street - where would they all park?

After calling around I found out that the housing association on the estates will let you lease a bay for around £8 a week (depending on your cc). So ~£450 for the parking bay is a possibility now. If I buy a £1,000 car then it's the same price as the £1500 with the park.

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Wed 29 May 2013 08:49
Cheap (and smallish) family car for London (Rover Freelander S, Citroen Xsara Picasso, VW Golf) - TeeCee

I can see this makes sense,

I can't. All I can see is some council planners taking a huge backhander to allow the building of a few extra flats (which generate profit for the developer) at the expense of parking spaces (which don't).

It'll also lead to a whole new load of vehicles parked illegally on a regular basis. Another nice little earner for the council.

Anything like this, regardless of the spin, is always about money and ensuring that it ends up in the right pockets.

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Wed 29 May 2013 11:34
Cheap (and smallish) family car for London (Rover Freelander S, Citroen Xsara Picasso, VW Golf) - papajohn

Probably, but there are some very high density developments in London. "Dalston Square" in Hackney for example, they built 500+ new flats next to the overground station across a really small area (Nine 20 story flats). If everyone had a street permit no one would ever find a space!

Talking about backhanders and getting angry, part of the development included building a bus stop for one (yes ONE) single decker bus at a cost to the tax payer of 40 million!

http://opendalston.blogspot.co.uk/2010/04/scandal-of-dalstons-40million-bus-stop.html

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Wed 29 May 2013 13:30
Cheap (and smallish) family car for London (Rover Freelander S, Citroen Xsara Picasso, VW Golf) - Snakey

If they can't provide any parking, then aren't they building new homes in the wrong place? Or too many!

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