If you must have a VW, you might want to consider a Golf SV (assuming you don't want/need 7 seats). Essentially it is a taller roomier Golf, but very much ignored and unwanted by most buyers. As such, they don't seem to hold their value as much as a regular Golf or Touran. I haven't looked specifically at your area, but Autotrader are listing 30 nationwide with the 1.4TSI engine, in both power outputs (it is also available with the 1.2)

Size wise, pretty much splits the difference between Golf and Touran. Boot space is 500l vs 380l (for the Golf), wheelbase is only 5cm longer than the Golf (Touran is 15cm longer), but as the seats are higher, it does feel like there is noticeable more room in the back.

Here is a nice high spec one with the more powerful 1.4,

www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/20191116443...1

Ah, i did wonder why the move to a 7 seater. And of course the Golf SV would have the same number and positions of isofix points as the Golf.

As i am now clearer on your requirements, i have another suggestion, well three actually, though they are actually the same car with different badges. On the minus side, they are very utilitarian and not very glamerous at all (nor do they have the badge appeal of VW). But on the plus side they do offer isofix points on all three seats and on top of that, for a young family, this is going to be pretty much the most practical and useable choice you could make. They have the nice high seats along with sliding doors on the rear (so much easier for getting kids into and out of child seats) and an enormous boot. Also, going by what i have read, they drive well, have good ride comfort and are pretty refined.

The candidates are, Citroen Berlingo, Peugeot Rifter and Vauxhall Combo Life. Here are examples of each on Autotrader,

www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/20200211718...1

www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/20191115441...1

www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/20200203688...1

My wife's Leon has the 1.2TSI engine in it. It feels quite quick when there's only one person in it, but when loaded up with 4 people and luggage it has to be worked quite hard and the fuel economy goes down much more than it does with the 1.8TSI in my car. We do live out in the sticks though, and it's quite hilly in places.

Is there not the option with the Touran to buy a slightly older car with the more powerful engine to stay in budget?

There is also the occasional ordinary car which has 3 ISOFIX across the back which might be worth considering. The current Insignia is one, though if the OPs partner doesn't want a big car and it's being used mostly in town, that may not be the best option as they are quite long and difficult judge where the corners are when parking.

Edited by SkodaIan on 04/03/2020 at 09:24

The 1.2 engine has been reported as perfectly adequate pulling much larger Peugeots and Citroens, so it should be fine in these.

The 1.2 used by Citroen/Peugeot is a different engine to the VAG and has loads more torques, about 50 from memory. That should make it much better.

We tried a 1.2 90 PS 1.2 in a Polo about 2 years ago and found it woeful and that was compared to a Focus 1.6 Diesel, we were happy to leave it. We were stunned when we tried the current 1.0 TSi 110 PS in a Fabia, the difference was staggering. We bought it and do not regret it. The 1.0 has loads more torques than the older 1.2.

The old VAG 90PS 1.2 makes 160nm of torque from 1400-4000rpm, the current 95PS 1.0 makes 175nm from 2000-3500rpm. So while the newer car does make more torque, it arrives at higher rpm is sustained for a shorter range.

The 110PS version of the 1.2 (like in the Touran mentioned) makes 175nm of torque from 1400-4000rpm. The 110PS 1.0 in the Fabia makes 200nm from 2000-3500rpm, so same differences in characteristics as the previous pair.

Don't disagree with those figures but they miss one important fact. Although the torque band in the 1.0 TSi's is narrower the torque available at 1500 and 4000 rpm will without doubt still be more than that available in the older 1.2's. Looking on the old interweb a torque curve for the 110 TSi shows the curve dropping off at 3500 but at 4000 its still producing 190 nm. In my book 190 torques is still better than 175 torques in any language.

With regards to the 1.0 TSi 95 at 4000 rpm the same site shows that it still has 160 nm, exactly the same as the earlier 1.2 TSi.

I would suggest that the slightly narrower torque curve results from it being a smaller engine and having a slightly higher tune. But in my personal experience wheras we walked away (actually ran) from a dreadfully slow Polo 1.2 TSi 90 we actually found the Fabia 1.0 95 TSi very good despite only having 5 PS extra which in truth we never went anywhere near finding. The short run we had in the 110 PS version immediately afterwards and 3 months of ownership have proven to me that the 110 version is well worth the small extra outlay, it has a 6 speed box for starters.