Decent,affordable family motor-any advice?

[Superclassic]

Hi folks.Thinking about swapping my motor soon,I have a young family and as you are probably aware I play drums and travel quite a fair bit,so my car needs to be a decent enough size.Currently own a Ford Focus,5 door hatchback,which has been a brilliant,reliable motor.But the mileage is creeping up now and she is starting to look a little tired.

Anybody have any advice on a nice affordable family car?Lokking to spend between £2500-£3000,not a fortune but I thought I could pick up something nice,and drop down a few years.Perhaps a 55 plate or something.Been browsing Renault Megane hatchbacks,but mixed reviews.I am a car admirer,but not a petrolhead and I know nothing mechanically.

Any advice,anyone?Thanks for your patience!!

[Del Boy]

In my experience if you want longevity and reliability go Japanese or German. The Vauxhalls I have had have been mixed bag, more good than bad though.

All my cars from the above makers have been better than anything with a Ford badge on it or the French motors we've had.

[John Steed]

As Del Boy said it is widely recommended to go for German or Japanese for reliability. Having said that myself and other members of my family have always had good reliabilty from Vauxhalls. A lot of French cars are regarded as unreliable but my wife is on her second Citroen Xsara Picasso which is very reliable. We owned the first Picasso for over 8 years (very, very reliable) and the only reason we don't still own it is because somebody ran into it and wrote it off 

Steed

[Windy Miller]

I think you want a diesel car that has a good documented service history.
There's too much to go wrong on a petrol car, especially since they have computers now to make them work.
Don't go for a car with loads of gadgets and electronic things, because on a 10 year old car, those are the things that go wrong.
Parts for German cars can be expensive, so Japanese may be the safest, ie a Honda.

[Del Boy]

Did you buy a new motor in the end Super ?

[Superclassic]

I ended up buying another Focus,Del.I thought I'd stick with what I know as the other 2 I've had gave me very little trouble.I bought a 2.0 Ghia and I am very happy with it!