Car Recommendations/ Inspiration

[Prestonion]

Hi all,

I have a budget of 8k, currently have a Ford focus but my family is starting to out grow it. 2 kids approaching teens.

I don't drive often, mainly weekends due to now working from home so I will probably want to avoid diesels and DPFs.

Can anyone suggest a good reliable car for around that price? Been looking for a while and it's giving me a headache.

Would like it to have some semi decent pace, and decent spec if possible.

Do your magic 😊

[Glosphil]

Skoda Octavia vRS.

[BenS94]

All varying ages and mileages etc, but plenty under budget

Volkswagen Golf SV
Honda CR-V
Ford Mondeo
Ford S-Max
Ford Kuga
Dacia Duster
Volvo XC60
Mazda CX-5 (Fantastic manual gearbox)
Mazda 6 (see above)

[Prestonion]

Thanks will take a look at some, I enquired about a CR-V today but it has gone. Do they do petrol ones? Heard they can have dpf issues (had bad experience with DPFs in the past) won't be able to blast it much either due to low mileage

[samoht]

A C-Max would be similar to the Focus but bigger, described as 'astonishingly good to drive' by evo https://www.evo.co.uk/ford/c-max . There are a few with the 1.6 or 1.5 Ecoboost with ~150hp, which should be enough to give it a decent turn of pace.

[ninjag]

Prestonion said:

Thanks will take a look at some, I enquired about a CR-V today but it has gone. Do they do petrol ones? Heard they can have dpf issues (had bad experience with DPFs in the past) won't be able to blast it much either due to low mileage

The CRV in your budget does come in a 2 litre petrol as well, but it's naturally aspirated and not enough torque. I had the auto version 4th gen and kept it for a month before getting rid. It was lovely around town, but on the motorway I had to keep kicking down a gear just to maintain 70mph. They manual might be a little better but it reality needed the 2.4 petrol that could be found in the Accord.