We're currently looking at investing in a 7 seater. We need to fit in 3 toddler seats and 1 baby seat (although give it 9 months and we'll need another toddler seat). We've looked at the Peugeot 5008 and the VW Touran but have concerns about the stability of the 2 back seats to have toddler seats on them. We don't have 4 DC ourselves just 2 but support our niece who has 2 DC so regularly need to have 4 in the car. Today we have been and looked at the VW Sharan which has 5 Isofix seats including the 2 on the 3rd row, by far the best and ticks all our needs but the cheapest is £18k (ouch!!). Does anyone have a 7 seater with 4 kids seats in and the third row isn't isofix? Would love to hear people's experiences. Realistically whatever we by will need to last us at least 5-7 years!

Today we have been and looked at the VW Sharan which has 5 Isofix seats including the 2 on the 3rd row, by far the best and ticks all our needs but the cheapest is £18k (ouch!!).

Why not find a cheaper one then? I've just had a quick look (on a classified site not known for people carriers, because Autotrader is being a pain in the arse) and found 8 under £10K.

The Seat Alhambra is the same car rebadged, and the Ford Galaxy is very similar.

In fact, those 8 cars I found were all under £7K

I have a Mazda Bongo and cant fault it
It can seat 8 adults with plenty of leg room, they range from £1000 to 9000, depending on age etc.
Mine was £1200 as it needed some work, but its Automatic, massive sun roof, power steering, electric blinds on all the windows, Air con, heating in the front and rear so you can have it at different temps, its just ideal for family days out etc
MPG 22 around town 30 on a run, ok this is low but our alternative was to take two cars
www.bongofury.co.uk
Even has its own forum for info.

wmittens which site? I'm struggling to find them at that price?

Autotrader is working again, and across the country there are 182 Sharans listed between £0 and £8K, 170 Seat Alhambra* and 471 Ford Galaxies.

*Alhambra already sounds plural to me

I'm not getting any on autotrader within 60 miles. Must live in the wrong place!

Does the Sharan have lots of boot space even when using all the seats?

4 kids and all the stuff you need to shift it has to be a Van type, Bongo Toypota Granvia VW T4 / T5 etc.
No car has the same amount of room

I had a Chrysler Grand Voyager when I had to fit in 3 booster seats and 2 baby seats.
The thing I loved most about the car was the seat configuration which was 2-2-3.
The worse thing was the fuel consumption

I have a Galaxy. Great car, the back row of seats are exactly the same size (and in fact the same seats) as the other 5 seats.

Downside is, there's bugger all boot space when all 7 seats are in use.

Did some searching and found a 2011 VW Sharan for £2.5k less so we bought it. Fuel consumption averages at 50mpg and car tax is £135 for the year. There's enough room in the boot for what we want on a day to day basis with 7 seats up and tons with the 3rd row folding flat. We also have a roof box we can use and when going on holiday will have everything bar clothes loaded in the folding camper we'll be towing. As I understand it apart from the name the new Sharan is a complete redesign. We looked at the Galaxy but the 3rd row seats aren't isofix. We also looked at older cars but realistically we will be keeping this for years so bit the bullet.

I'm a childminder and have a galaxy and love it, I still get a double and single pushchair in the boot with all the seats up and it's lovely to drive.

Personally I would not bother about Isofix fittings, except possibly for fitting (most likely stage 0 infant carrier type) car seats which you regularly move in and out of the car. Car seats can be fitted safely using the seatbelt (as long as you do it correctly). We never move DDs seat out of the car so an Isofix base would not be of any extra use to us.

We've got a Fiat Multipla, which sits 3 in the front, 3 in the back and still leaves a decent boot for a double buggy. All seats are equal size. it's been great for us, and we had 4 under 5 when our twins were born.

We love love our ford smax. You could use one of the seats in the boot, leave the other one flat and still have room for a buggy etc....

Have had 2 vauxhall zafiras and loved them 5 kids and buggy or 4 kids and all camping gear no problem