What cars do you drive and would you recommend them?

We have a Peugeot 307 Xsi - I love it. It has all the bells and whistles as that's what my OH is like too! OK to insure, but a bit pricier to run.

OH has just got a VW Passat Tdi - cheap to run and insure and he loves it (he drives quite a lot for work).

Peugeot is a no no, that's what we're trying to get rid of. We looked at a Passat at the weekend actually, I like them for space.

I drive a BMW 320D. its my 3rd. had a bit of a disaster with it last year, you may remember the engine somehow managed to injest the turbo ? however, it was all rectified at minimal cost to me, and wasnt under warrenty either so quite a result. its reasonably cheap to run.

Peugeot 206. I like it because it's the first decent car I've had (I've always had old bangers) and it comes with a lot of extras as standard. It is however more girly than I orginally wanted but cost and practicality won out over speed and sportiness. It is also French and I am not a lover of French cars ?

I have a Mercedes C200 Kompressor and LOVE IT! It's an auto so is an absolute dream to drive. It's fast and looks cool. It's black with a blue tint in certain light. The only downside is there is no back windscreen wiper so when it rains I find it hard to reverse / park.

MrKB has a transit van and a fiesta. Do any of those take your fancy? ?

ETA: The Mercedes costs more to fill the tank, about £50 but does about the same MPG as my old fiesta used to. Tax is £115 or thereabouts for 6months.

My Hubby is looking too, he currently has a Audio A6 16V 2.8 quattro and wants all the same extras, like your Hubby. He has browsed at Volvo's, VW Passat, Jaguars and the other he had moved onto Saab's. I think the top end Fords are Titanium ones. He likes the 307 and 407 but reckons none of those come with climate control, leather seats etc.

I own a vauxhall insignia and love it lots, its shiny, has lots of gadgety bits and is quite fast for a diesel (160bhp). Mr jaz drive a golf gt tdi which I think he loves too and I like it because it's quite nippy also (170bhp) but not very cheap to insure. We used to drive astras, his much more exciting than mine and it was lovely too though again the nice one wasn't veyr cheap to insure. We've also had 307s and I loved mine but it wasn't all that reliable.

I have a new shape renault clio. I really like it, it's got some nice extras as standard, pretty cheap to insure and run.

If i was swapping i'd go for the new shape skoda fabia if i was after cheap to run. If i was going for something that i would actually love to drive then my dream car would be a beetle convertible.

We spoke about the Titanium but when I looked online it's not listing air conditioning as a feature. I'll have to look at the main ford website. He'll still take some persuading though. I like Saabs.

I had an Audi A4 Cabriolet and am replacing it with the A3 Cabriolet - let them, they're comfortable, reliable and very easy to drive

We have a boring Astra that we're going to replace later on in the year.

Prior to that we had a Volvo V70 which I adored, I miss it so much! It had air con, and I know they come with leather seats although mine didn't.

My parents have a Saab estate (can't remember the model) and it's gorgous. Really lovely to drive, very comfy and must be quite economical knowing my father!

Your H sounds like mine! Mine says climate control is much better than air conditioning, my Citroen has air con and is a bit rubbish. H Audi has CC and could freeze an eskimos nose! The Saabs H looked at the other looked nice. He has a budget of 6k.

You dont wanna buy his A6 do you? Passed its MOT last week and he has just taxed it ?

I have a Honda Jazz and Mr R has a Toyota Avensis and both are very good cars, if not remotely exciting. They have excellent repuations for reliability on top of good NCAP ratings which is why we got those, as we were fed up of our previous car haemhorraging (sp) money.

It will be a long time if ever before I get another Renault. Before we had the Avensis we had a Renault Megane and it was fucking awful. Very well specced for the money, very safe (the Megane was the first car to get 5 stars in the NCAP ratings) but sooooo unreliable. There was an undiagnosable electrical fault that used to randomly lock and unlock all the doors, not start the engine etc culminating in 2 days after giving birth for the first time the electrics completely conking out and me having to steer the bloody thing with no power steering out of the driveway while Mr R pushed it. This just kept coming and going and was never ever sorted despite taking it to specialist auto electricians and spending hundreds of pounds on it. The final straw was when we were told the steering rack was about to come off the car was 5 years old and done about 30k miles so we ditched it for the Avensis. I also had a diesel Clio which I loved for the fuel economy but also had an undiagnosable electrical problem, this time with the passenger airbag.

I used to have a Micra which I also loved, way more reliable than that fucking Megane despite being much older I only got rid cos I needed something bigger as I was expecting again.

Tbh unless I ever have the money to get one of the really prestige car brands, I don't really see me buying other than Japanese again.

I drive a Renault Scenic - it's a nice, safe family car! It's really nice to drive actually and it's really roomy with lots of hideaway places to store things. If I didn't have two kids I wouldn't choose this as my personal car, but it does the job really well for now.

MrOs drives a BMW 5 Series with all the bells and whistles. It's really low to the ground though, which makes me feel sick every time I get into it. It's a bit too boy racer for me. He claims there's nothing boy racer about it and that I'm just an old fogey. ?

I drive a Renaultsport Clio 197 and absolutely love it! It's great to drive, all all sorts of gadgets and gizmos (keyless entry, automatic headlights and wipers, climate control etc) and goes like the clappers thanks to the 2 litre engine. ?

Also I love how it looks too:-

Knowing your H (from what you've said) I'd say it's probably a leeetle bit boy racerish ?

Hmm, Roobarb, i'm inclined to agree about Japanese cars. We were a vauxhall household but had to give up our love of them when they kept letting us down so we bought a Corolla, it's fab and a lot better inside compared to the Astras which is what put us off, they're just too plastic looking in comparison.

Right, we'll take a look at Saab, haven't been annoyed by their staff yet ?

and go back to take another look at the A3, we previously looked at the A4 but for our budget (about £9k) it was 'doing it' for me lol!

There is supposed to be a new astra out towards the end of the year which could explain them looking a bit plasticy but might mean there are some bargains to be had in a couple of months. Did you consider a vectra? That's what we were thinking about being a bargain with the insignia coming out but I got distracted by all it's shiny bits ?

We have a nissan almera and are currently looking to replace it. It's a great little car but over 10 years old and the body is starting to go. We are having a real struggle finding a replacement though - everyhting out there seems to be an mpv or a city car. We just want a mid sized hatch but the lack of availability seems to have pushed the prices up out of our range (6 grand for a fabia vrs).

I've got a Seat Leon FR TDi, which is fabulous. It's nearly 3 years old, but it's still such a good car. I had a (Seat) body kit fitted, so I look like a right old boy racer in it. ?. I think my insurance is about £300p/a

My H drives a 1 series and its very comfy but boot space is limited and it seems to always need new tyres, though this may be the way H drives it! It's quite heavy to drive too, but that's compared to my little Z4 so maybe it's not so heavy compared to other similar cars. Personally we'd not get a 1 series again and would favour an A3 or maybe a 3 series BMW. Have you thought about a Mini maybe? I nearly swapped …y Z4 for a John Cooper Works mini last year as loved the drive and style of the mini, might be a bit small though?? I also love the new sirocco (sp) from VW but have no idea about them other that that they look good!!

Can't recommend a VW Polo/Golf highly enough. So reliable and cheap to run.

Have a Volvo at the moment - lovely to drive a v comfortable, even after a looooong journey.

We've got an Audi A4 estate and a Mini. Love them both, especially the Audi - fabulous to drive, and we managed to get the demo model, so loads of extras too.

The Mini's a fun drive, although not great for long distances, and we tend to only drive it when it's just one of us (can't easily get the children in and out, so if we're out en famille, it has to be the Audi).

Last car was a Jeep Grand Cherokee - GREAT to drive, really luxurious, but not so good for the onld environment, and a bit thirsty (hence why we got rid).

I've got an (old) Audi A4 estate TDI and absolutely love it , it's nice to drive and really cheap on fuel. The only negative is it's not very good on inside space even though it's an estate but after having Vauxhalls, Fords and Landrovers in the past I've sworn I will always have an Audi in the future (hopefully a nice shiny new(er) one!). I like the A3 but due to having child and 2 big dogs an estate was a better option.

My H has a Peugeot 407 estate TDI which he loves and I think it's nice to drive, but am not a big fan of Peugeots generally as his last one was so unreliable.

We've got a Golf GTi and and Audi TT Roadster - would recommend both although the Golf is obviously the practical one! Great to drive round town and on long journeys, not too thirsty, best in class sized boot, reliable, pretty etc.

Given your choices I'd suggest a Passat or the new Mondeo - all but the base base model should have a/c whether it's listed as that or climate control. The first has an a/c button, the second you set the temperature and it decides when the a/c needs to be on.

My H is in the motor trade and everyone he knows in the business drives German or Japanese sa they're safe, reliable, quality cars.

I drive a Smart Passion fortwo coupe petrol turbo. Its fab. Tomorrow it's going and Im getting a new Smart Passion fortwo coupe turbo diesel. Obviously not a family car, but it gets me back and forth to work. Last month I sold my Mitsubishi Pajero 2.8TDi which I loved, loved loved! But as I wasnt really using it that much I sold it to someone that wanted it to tow his caravan.

Mr WT drives a VW Golf Tdi which he loves to bits.

We've got a Ford S-Max which is great for transporting three young kids and associated gubbins (and towing a caravan). Before this we had a Toyota Avensis estate, which I loved, and would happily have again.

Mr Z has a Toyota Aygo - he only uses it for a shortish commute, so it's ideal for that. Can't get much in it though!

Another vote for Toyota, I'm on my 2nd Yaris and love it. They are cheap to run and insure and never never never break down (fingers crossed icon)

FWIW, so called 'prestige' cars are well overrated IMO......H had a Merc CLK which was in the garage every 5 minutes and now has a 911 which drives like a tractor and has enough boot space for one very small handbag. And we can't afford to sell it as the value has plummeted. Grrrr

Another vote for VW Golf TDi, we both had one and mine is quite nippy at 130bhp.

Tax is £120 per year, reasonably cheap to insure, think we're £150 per year but in the Scottish countryside if that matters, it's 7 years old.

I can drive from Aberdeen to Newcatle and back on one tank of diesel. Really nice to drive. And a humungous (sp?) boot.

Recently traded one in for a Seat Leon turbo diesel type car too (that is H's) which is on a par with the Golf though handles corners better than the Golf.

I have a Honda Jazz and I love it. It's been great and I think it's as good now as it was when I got it back in November 2006.

I had a Peugeot 206 before and it was awful! I replaced it as soon as I could!

At the mo - mercedes A classs Classic SE. Very reliable. Economical. Good build quality.

If I were buying now, the new Fiesta would be my bet:

or the new Mazda 3

We have a Honda F-RV (six seater) which is maybe too big for you, and have just got rid of our second car which was a Peugeot (would never, ever buy another) and are hoping to replace it with a Honda Jazz. If we were looking for a car in between those two we'd love a Honda Civic, we had one before and it was great, v reliable. Can you tell we like Hondas?!

I've got a diesel Astra which I love. Very economical and nice and solid, pretty roomy too. I used to have a Renault Scenic, mine also had an electrical fault which made it not start or simply cut out when at roundabouts. It was rubbish.