Car for 3 car seats, easy to drive

[Tiredofbromley]

Unexpectedly pregnant with third. Child, looking for car which can have three seats across. Have explored previous threads, but my issue is this. I am a nervous driver, currently driving a fiesta auto and am scared by the thought of driving a bigger car. I hate parking and find it tricky even with a fiesta... (that's how bad I am, but also we have a small drive etc and narrow roads where we live . Am looking at the Citroën 4 Picasso (but the grand Picasso looks too big for me to manage) - is it? . However by avoiding 7 seaters e.g Ford grand c max, I will regret it long term as the Kids get bigger and to be fair we will need more stuff (pushchairwhen we go on hols later this year....My eldest is 10 but very petite so needs a high back booster for at least two more years, 3 year old and baby.

Can anyone suggest a car which takes three seats, available in auto and easy to park? Also our budget is 8k.....
Is there anybody else that has struggled to drive a bigger car? X thanks

[Tiredofbromley]

Sorry for typos, toddler sleeping on me x

[thegoatwhogotthequiche]

The Picasso is easy to drive, being higher up (as you are in a larger vehicle) actually makes things easier. When it comes to parking I do find reversing into spaces much easier as you can use the mirrors.

Life in general is easier with the larger car so by the time we drive off I am less stressed, this IMO makes driving better.

If I were you I would probably look at a part time 7 seater with pop up seats in the boot, that way when you are out and about with just 3 kids you can enjoy the massive boot space...even my friends massive 7 seater you'd struggle to get a big travel system in the boot without faffing about.

[kippersandcurtains]

I drive a ford smax which fits three car seats on back seat and has further seats in boot (useful if extra kids or passengers) or a large boot if 7 seats not required. This means we can go on holiday with buggy as well as packing.
It's a big car but automatic with parking sensors and rear cameras so parking is t nearly as difficult as it might seem. To be fair though, I don't often need to squeeze into tight spaces.

[Ding3kids]

We have a Toyota verso 7 seater but the back two are down most of the time to give us a massive boot. With a bit of figuring out, and buying new car seats we can fit baby, 2 year old and small 4 year old in back seat next to each other. We also test drove picasso grand and our car felt much smaller to drive.
I'd go test driving some to see

[BingThing]

I've gone from a micra to merc b class to fit ds2, which felt like a massive jump at the time, and now to a Honda CRV to fit in dc3. It has a flat bench style seat in the back and fits 2 narrow high backs plus infant carrier. It has a massive boot and i also like the fact it has a flat floor in the back i.e no hump in centre. I'm not a very confident driver and can only drive straight into parking spaces so this car has taken me a while to get used to but it has reversing cameras and front, side and rear sensors which have really helped. I looked at temp 7 seaters but when you're using all 7 seats the boot can be v small depending on model and some don't have air bags for the boot seats which put me off. I'd recommend going to dealerships with your car seats. If you're anything like me you won't be confident enough to test drive but my dp did and that helped a bit too when it came to making final decision. Good luck op!