I'm in Europe, looking for family car and have no idea what to look for, as cars are far from my thing.
I'll start with a bit of info. We don't drive that much, most often just short rides in town (like groceries, kids to school, etc.) or short drives to nearby towns (10-15km). Longer distances about once a month (50+ km). Slughtly bigger car is a preference as we usually have stuff to carry in boot. Currently we have old Ford Mondeo turnier from 2003 and due to its engine problems it needs to be replaced. I have around 15k € budget, so will be looking at used market cars.
Because of intended use I scratched out all diesel offerings. Right? Leaving me with either gasoline or hybrid options. Full EV are probably no go due to price. I've picked a few possible cars from local/nearby sellers and would really appreciate your input on them (or alternatives I should be looking at).
Ford Focus wagon from 2019. Has 1.0 ecoboost engine (92 kW / 125 hp), has some nice equipment options like auto AC, heated seats, steering wheel and front screen. It has a mileage of just about 90k km (60k miles). It's priced slightly under 13k €.
Toyota Auris sports wagon hybrid, from 2018. It's typical Toyota prius-like hybrid with 1.8 liter engine and electric motor. Not plug-in hybrid. Mileage of around 150k km (100k miles). It's slightly less equipped than the Focus (and it doesn't support android auto or carplay) and is priced around 15k €.
2019 Kia Cee'd wagon. It is probably the simplest car in this list - it has 1.4 liter engine without direct injection and without turbo (73 kW) - does it mean less things to break? Other equipment is pretty good though (parking camera, heated seats and wheel, ...), it has mileage if just 40k km (25k miles) and it should still be in factory warranty till 2026. Priced at 12.5k €.
There's also VW Passat variant 2016 plug-in hybrid. It's decent condition, although it has over 210k km (like 140k miles). I don't have option to recharge at home (flat), but there are 2 or 3 public stations in walk distance. Priced at roughly 16k € it's slightly over my intended budget, but it's a bigger more comfortable car and has plenty of optional features (like parking camera, driving assistants, full led lights, etc.).
And there's about another gazzillion of cars and my brain hurts... Would you please help me decide?
I would got for either the Passat or Ford Focus - my first choice being the Passat) - provided its got a full service history and had all the warranty work and software updates (and if you are getting it from a dealer they have warranty). VW's are fine (at least here in Europe) provided they are looked after and serviced regularly, but increasingly just like tech early adopters end up being unpaid beta/QC testers. That the Passat has clocked up 210 000 km does however suggest its been reliable enough...
To be honest Ford Focus was my primary thought and I was eyeing mainly at them. The car is nice, spacious (last gen 2018/2019 and newer), 1.0 liter engine should be powerful enough, and the car has good ergonomic - physical controls for all the things you need: starting from radio, through AC control and ending with turning off Stop/Start. Since car prices went nuts in last years, better spec'd ones tend to be way more costly though :-( I still consider it one of the best candidates so far.
I've stumbled upon the Passat by chance. I wasn't even looking at Passat models at all because they are usually 1. diesel engine and 2. way above my budget. I didn't even knew VW does hybrids. This one is tempting because it is really nice comfy car and has probably more bells and whistles than all the other cars I mentioned combined. Sure, it has 210k already, but when I looked into it I've seen 300k and even 400k+ up for sale. Seller states it has been well serviced through all its life, oil changes, spark plugs, brakes, etc. Haven't seen service book yet, though.