Is there a car that fits 3 isofix in the back?

[3ormoredogs]

If so what and would you recommend?

I need to fit DH, myself and 3DC still in car seats into our new car, so 5 seats with 3 isofix bases in the back.
Also need a huge huge boot (so 7 seaters with seats in the boot are out as they don’t leave enough boot space)

Has anyone got any recommendations please as I’m so sick of looking?!

Thankyou all of you!

I have thought about just upgrading the car seats but our freelander is just about dead so we need to upgrade anyway. It’s 12 years old and dropping to bits! Our dog is also old and struggling to jump so I would prefer something with a lower boot.

I would have rather have had an SUV type thing but the pop up seats in the boot don’t feel safe, isn’t the boot the crumple zone?

I think I’m leaning towards the sharan (or seat version) or a Ford of some description. DH wants a caravelle or a transporter van but I don’t think the budget would go anywhere near that

Peugeot 5008 will do this. It is a 7 seater but you don't need to use the seats in the boot, if you want the boot space. The 3 seats in the normal back all have isofix and even the front seat does as well.

If you want an mpv with three full sized isofix seats in the back (where for example you could fit 3 x Axkid Ones in a row) then either a Citroen C4 space tourer/grand spacetourer, a ford s-max or a Volkswagen touran are good options.

Also need a huge huge boot (so 7 seaters with seats in the boot are out as they don’t leave enough boot space)

I don’t understand that? You need 5 seats, so the 2 in the boot can be down.

We have a Citroen c4 Picasso grand, in fact we’ve had 2 as the first one died entirely through user error, so no reflection on the car itself. Massive boot, 3 car seats across the back, and I’m a size 16 and comfortably sat in the back with 2 car seats for a 4 hour drive (3rd child was up front).

@MassiveSalad22 some of the cars we had viewed had some of the isofix points in the 2 boot seats. So I would have to have 2 small DC in the middle and then DC1 car seat in the very back because his car seat wouldn’t fit between the other 3 car seats and the spare isofix point was in the boot seats.

Not sure if that makes any sense!

We have a Volvo XC90 - 2 isofix in the outer 2 seat and in between we still fit a full sized belted car seat so imagine a booster would fit fine.

Boot is huge with the additional 2 seats down - and when one is up (making it a 6 seater) we can still fit in our golden retriever and the double push chair in.

So you actually need isofix? Some of the safest car seats in the world (axkid minikids) for example will fit three across in the back of a large estate car, with boots as big or bigger than many SUVs, for half the price. Or two axkids and a booster would also fit easily.

Second the Peugeot 5008. Ticks all your boxes - has the three Isofix across the middle row. Large boot and two additional seats in the boot which are easy to pull up and down, and also fit booster seats which are great if taking kids friends as well. We can still for enough for a day trip in the boot with all 7 seats up but do use a roof box as well - particularly for the pushchair in that situation.

@3ormoredogs ah yes I didn’t think of that! That does seem less than ideal. Citroen is 3 isofix across the back (middle?) row ☺️

Please don't use the rivemove, it's only approved for high backed boosters for one, so if you're using it with other seats that's an issue in itself. If they are high backed boosters, you don't need the rivemove because you can just detach the Isofix and move the seats themselves along.

I know the in car safety centre sell it but they are the only specialist in the country that advocate for it which is very strange. It's been crash tested in that it doesn't detach from the Isofix in a crash, but what it does do is position the car seat a good 3-4cm further forward than it normally would, which increases the risk of the child impacting on the seat in front, since there is only a certain amount of tolerance built in to begin with, and because of this gap if you have rear facing seats with anti rebound features, those won't work properly with a gap which is dangerous as well. There was a little girl in Spain who died after hitting her head on a tablet attached to the front seat who was using the rivemove. The parents tried to sue but it got thrown out as there were too many other factors in the crash. I can't see how it didn't contribute though. If she had had those few cm more space, then she might have missed the tablet.

The whole point of Isofix is that it's a rigid point of attachment directly to the car. This product completely bypasses that, and that's worrying.

If in doubt, contact the car seat manufacturer and confirm with them whether they approve the rivemove, I would expect that none of them will.

I’ve got a Q7 and it can fit three seats across the back. Boot is massive even if you have one of the seats up to make a 6 seater i dan get pram, shopping dog etc in!

We had a 5 seat Renault Scenic, 3 full seats with Isofix in the back.

You probably need a French car if you only want 5 seats. That also spent a lot of time in the garage unfortunately.

Ford smax. 3 full seats for Isofix and the back seat fold down into the floor. It’s also not quite as tragic looking as a people carrier!

C4 Picasso (5 seater). Has three individual seats in back. All three can slide forward/back independently so can adjust a bit to accommodate width of car seats. Three isofix points.
We also use this on one high back booster
incarsafetycentre.co.uk/blog/post/maximise-rear-seat-space-exclusive-rivemove-isofix-attachment As it gives a little more space for car seat in the middle.
Boot is also substantial
feel your pain as it took us so long to find one that wasn't 50k +

Renault Scenic. We call it the tardis because it’s so much bigger on the inside than you might imagine.

Touran has 3 isofix points BUT is not wide enough to fit most combinations of car seats across all 3 seats together. Might work if all boosters but we certainly couldn't find anything to work for 1,3,5 y old

Ford Galaxy does it, and we could get a double buggy in the boot without folding it up!

Feel your pain. Was also sick of looking. Also didn't want a people carrier. Also have a 14 year old car that lives in the garage.

But alas have bought a Ford S Max. Haven't physically got it yet but MN loves them.

Most SUVs will not work, couldn't find an estate that would. Q7, only post 2017. A Peugot 5008 has 3 isofix points and 3 full size seats (same as S Max but more SuV esque). Other options are Ford Galaxy (even bigger and more people carrier looking than S Max), VW Touran (similar size to S Max), VW Sharon (similar size to Galaxy). Seat Alhamara (I think thats very similar in size and spec to Sharon but a bit cheaper).

I got an S Max with every extra going to make myself feel better. Only potential downsides of Ford MPVs is they don't have sliding doors.

The Kia Sorrento, Discovery and XC90 do not have 3 full size middle row seats and so would need one of the rear seats up all the time and then the middle seat in the middle row collapsed all the time to let the 3rd child climb into back (since you can't flip the side seats down as they'll have car seats in). That either means you have a tiny boot, or you leave the seventh seat folded down which would leave your 3rd child exposed to whatever is in the boot. Not ideal.

If you have big money then a Mercedes V Class is freaking brilliant (albeit you'll probably be hailed everywhere you go).

The world is not designed for us to have more than 2 children and it is very frustrating.

I have a toyota Verso, Middle seat isnt Isofix but i have 3 carseats along the back and the kids have loads of room. Currently its 2 high backed boosters and a booster seat but has been a variation of baby seats, big bulky 2nd stage car seats and high backed boosters over the last few years.

Massive boot, and 2 seats in the boot if needed. Even with both of the seats in the boot up my double buggy used to fit.

Our old Citroen C4 (?) does.

If you consider changing your car seats to seatbelt fitted ones, this will also give you more flexibility. I know lots of people have success with the ERF 25kg+ seats (such as Axkid/Britax Maxway+). We have three across with a high back booster in the middle, and two Axkids on the outside. These tend to be stocked at smaller independent retailers, the Axkid website has a list on their website if you were interested in finding your local one.

Do check the manuals of any cars you buy, as some don't allow car seats in the middle seat (e.g. the 2016+ Renault Grand Scenic, whereas the 2009 model does).

Personally I would avoid the multimac as it has a very low rear-facing weight limit and has no side impact protection.

Ours was about £14k I think, 1 year old ex-mobility car so had all the cameras etc! Newish but second hand is the way to go! £14k is still eye watering in my book though 😄

Our s max was awful, permanently breaking down with bits falling off!
did fit the kids and dog in though. Got rid of it as soon as they didn’t need car seats anymore