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Hi Anne,

Most MPVs will, so Citroen C4 Picasso, Renault Scenic, Ford C-Max, Peugeot 5008, Kia Carens and so on. The bigger ones too, of course, such as the Ford S-Max and Galaxy and the SEAT Alhambra. If you want something sleeker, such as a saloon, estate or SUV then it comes down to how bulky the child car seats are. Rule of thumb is to always bring the seats (and preferably the kids, even though I know how awkward that is) on a test drive to make sure that they'll all fit in comfortably.

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Hi Louise,

Yup, the Outlander is a cracking car (although you'll have to accept that it's not as spacious as the Discovery) and Mitsubishi does indeed have PCP plans available. Your local dealer will have all the details.

Read our review of the Mitsubishi Outlander

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Hi Ed,

Land Rover's quality has been getting better and better and it seems as if the current Discovery model has shaken off a lot of its reputation for weak gearboxes and electrical maladies. I think it's probably worth the punt, but there are two other good options - both the Mitsubishi Pajero and Toyota Land Cruiser are also available in 'business versions' that mean you can buy them for the price of a commercial but you get the back seats and luxury touches. That said, you'll have to tax them as a private car if you're going to carry the kids around - it's a €4,000 fine if you're caught with the incorrect tax.

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Hi Daniel,

Two very different cars there. The Galaxy is bigger and has seating for full-sized adults in all three rows. The Citroen is considerably smaller and, realistically, you're only going to be able to fit kids, and not very tall ones, into the third row seats. The Citroen will be considerably cheaper to buy and run than the Galaxy, however.

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Hi Pamela,

Unless you actually need the seven-seat layout of the Hyundai, I'd go for the BMW. It'll be much more affordable to run in terms of fuel costs (close to 60mpg versus more like 45mpg in the Hyundai) and cheaper to tax too. The only concern might be that the Hyundai would be more reliable than the BMW, pound for pound. If you're buying the Beemer with a full service history and a warranty though there shouldn't be any problems.

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Hi Charles,

Yeah, with a small car like that (a) diesel is not generally available and (b) it would push up the price tag so much that you'd never earn the difference back in fuel savings. Of the ones you're looking at, I'd go with withe Hyundai i10 - it's really comfy and spacious for a small car, and should be sufficiently rugged to deal with the roads you're talking about. Plus the five-year warranty should help to keep the running costs down.

Relevant reviews:

Volkswagen up! review

SEAT Mii review

Skoda Citigo review

Fiat Panda review

Hyundai i10 review

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Hi Martin,

The Sandero is one of those ‘Ronseal’ cars – it does what it says on the tin, and the tin is pretty cheap. It’s a very simple, small hatchback that’s long on value but short on refinement or excitement. The front is perfectly comfy for a long journey but the back seats are rather cramped if you’re trying to squeeze taller passengers or kids in big car seats in. It’s a solid, practical and pretty reliable thing though. Nothing wrong with it, and at that price point, that’s the point. The diesel though? It’s a very good engine, that 1.5, but in a car like the Sandero you’re probably better off going for either the basic 1.2 or the really impressive 900cc turbo petrols as you’ll be a long time getting the extra purchase price of the diesel back in fuel savings.

Read our Dacia Sandero review here

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Hi Fergal,

I presume you mean something small to medium if you're contemplating three doors. If you want to go really small, the best ones are the Hyundai i10, Volkswagen up! (as well as the Skoda and SEAT versions) and the Renault Twingo - a car I know isn't quite as technically good as the others but I personally really like it. 

If you want to go a bit bigger, then your best bets are the Honda Jazz (pricey but really well equipped), the Skoda Fabia or the Mazda2. The Hyundai i20 is also worth looking at but it might be better to wait until it gets Hyundai's new 1.0 turbo engine.

Here are some relevant reviews:

Hyundai i10 review

Volkswagen up! review

Skoda Citigo review

SEAT Mii review

Honda Jazz review

Skoda Fabia review

Mazda2 review

Hyundai i20 review

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Hi Kieran,

We asked BMW Ireland about this and here's the response:

"To answer your question regarding getting satnav and heated seats retrofitted to a 2011 BMW 520d, this is specification sensitive. There are retrofit kit options to fit satnav, but without the chassis number of the vehicle in question, I can't guarantee that this option will be available to your reader. With regards to heated seats, there is no retrofit kit available for this so we would not recommend retrofitting this option. However, if the reader is interested in these options, I would suggest that they contact their local BMW retailer for further information."

I hope that helps in some way

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Hi Martin,

Only around €1,500 I'm afraid.