The most important questions : what sort of mileage do you do, and what sort of length of trips, urban, motorway, etc ?

That defines whether people recommend petrol or diesel, which is a major consideration given the potential costs of repairs etc. if the fuel type is 'wrong' for your sort of use.

In that case steer well clear of diesels.

“isofix rear and front”: You won’t find isofix in the front seat though it is something the industry is considering (something I’m dead set against and have said so in strategy meetings)

“don’t .. want anything .. like a saloon”: hhmm, rather restricting your choice there. Especially as you’ll need 4 or 5 doors with kids (see above)

I run a Saab 9-3: can’t argue with Saab safety and it has a huge boot and very comfortable

We recently bought my eldest son his first car, a ’03 Polo. Surprisingly roomy with a decent sized boot. It’ll also take roof bars so luggage carrying can be expanded with a roof box.

Car with sensible and economical engine. plenty of bootspace but also good rear passenger room, not fancy - look at the Seat Toledo / Skoda Rapid - both built in the same factory. Do not select automatic for reasons that also apply to the Skoda Octavia.

Lots of good suggestions above. When recommending cars it's easy to forget the Skoda Rapid. It's not liked by the magazines, but I had a 1.2 Rapid as a courtesy car for a day and was surprised how lively it was. The SEAT Toledo is identical as Smileyman says, but even more people forget about it and so there aren't many used ones around. Both these will be cheaper secondhand than the equivanelt Volkswagen, so you'd gewt a newer one for your £10k.

The Kia Venga is upright and roomy (it's the Hyundai ix20 that's the same model) - a good idea if you can find one: also add the Nissan Note and Honda Jazz to your list - both have lots of room in a smallish overall size of car.

There are of course lots of Fords to choose from: if the Fiesta isn't big enough go for the Focus.

If you would like a brand-new car, lok at the Dacia range - a lot of car for your money. But if you go secondhand, be sure to get one with a full service history.

Edited by Avant on 14/09/2016 at 00:00