We have a sports car convertible that we obviously need to swap for a more practical car. We have had a lot of problems with the car recently so we are keen to get rid of it soon to reduce the stress levels!!

We went car shopping on the weekend and saw 2 or 3 options worth considering
1) trading car in, adding some money and getting second hand Renault Modus with only 9000 miles on the clock for a really good price
2) trading car in for even older Vauxhall Meriva with more milage but same proce as modus
3) trading car in for new Kia Soul with monthly payments at 0% for next 5 years but with 7 year warranty

option 1 is great because we are getting practically a new car with no monthly payments but am worried if its big enough. I know it could fit the pram but I'm not sure on a day to day basis how important having enough space in the car is??

option 2 takes away the space debate but would worry that things could go wrong as its older with more milage

option 3 in an ideal world would be what I prefer but am uncertain if I want to commit to a monthly payment when my pay will be going down on mat leave and I am unsure what my pay will be over the next 5 years. I also dont want to regret paying out 100 odd pound a month that could go on more benficial things for a child in its first 5 years.

What do you all think?? My decision making skills are really poor right now and dont want to make the wrong choice in haste, so I thought I'd ask people who already have babies what they think.

The modus sounds like a good option, although they are a smaller car, if you can fit your pram in the boot and have space for shopping and baby things like changing bag, toys etc I'd say great.
Check on the whatcar website to ensue the price you would pay for the modus is the recommended resale price, it gives you trade, private and px prices.
Option 3 is great if you have that spare money, the last thing you want to be doing is committing yourself to finance in this climate.
Good luck hope this helps x

Since moving house away from schools I have wanted a more reliable car, so something with a warranty on it is always good, (being useless with maintainance!!) and space is good with children!(shopping, pram, child!!)
I have had Zafira's but i do have a big family, I have just come up to needing to tax, mot and service it, so i have called the garage i got it from, said what money i have, what car i have to trade in and what i wanted, i said he may think i am having a laugh but to look into it for me and see what they could do!

Don't always be restricted by what is on offer, if you know what you want, and how much you have then call round a few sales rooms and see if anyone will give you what you want for how much you have!

Last car i had i really haggled and got a 1 yr old car with 2 yrs left on the warranty at a price at least £2000 less than it was advertised at.
At a year old price drops and you still have 2 yrs left on most warrantys, now is a fab time too with the 09 coming up to that year mark!

May be worth a shop about, it is time consuming but if you can get what you want well worth it!

Will let you know if i get the car i want, good luck, happy car hunting!!!

number 1 xx

Until a few months ago I had a Modus and loved it- it's SUPER practical as a family car!! It's much bigger than you think and VERY reliable

Also with the Kia, 7 years is great but if your family expands you'll probably want bigger...

Not sure what the other cars are as I am in the USA, but I had a Kia Sportage and HATED It...piece of tin...It was cheap for a reason (that is my thinking now).

i'm going to have to get rid of my car because i have a fiat 500 and it can't fit a baby seat in it as well as a pram

hey don't really know much on cars but i have a renault megane 04 model dnt know comparison with size of a modus but we have found it is bigger then you actually think, only problem with megane is to change lights battery has to come out so has to go garage but idnt know if modus is the same