Which stylish, child-friendly car to replace our Fiat 500?

I have owned a Fiat 500 1.2 Sport since 2008 – bought as an ex-demo and have been very happy with it. I like the way it looks and drives. However, due to being pregnant with our first child I have accepted that the tiny boot and three doors will make it impractical and I’m going to have to change cars. What would you recommend that has five doors, a bigger boot, enough to fit a reasonable sized pram and a couple of bags of shopping but still has the style factor of the 500? I am looking to spend up to £10,000 for a 2-3 year old car with less than 40,000 miles on the clock. What are your thoughts?

Asked on 29 June 2013 by JC, Halifax

Answered by Honest John

Nothing with five doors has the charisma of a 500. A Mazda 2 1.3TS2 drives and handles much better, but doesn't have the look. An altogether more sensible choice, for the sake of your back lifting the baby-then-child in and out would be a 5-door Suzuki Splash or Vauxhall Agila. Or you could stick with Fiat and get a Panda. This advice comes from someone who wrecked his back lifting a toddler out of the back of a Peugeot 205GTI.

Tags: large boot children load space small cars

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