Help me pick a new car please

[hennaoj]

Need a new car. I have to fit myself, husband, three children of ages 14, nearly 12 and 9 (size of a 12 year old) and large dog plus luggage. Will be keeping car for around 10 years so needs to be nearly new or new.

I've narrowed it down to a Kia Ceed Sportswagon or Skoda Octavia Estate but I'm not convinced the children will all fit comfortably in the back as neither have full sized middle seats. Unfortunately they've stopped making the Renault Grand Scenic that I currently have plus we have no need for a 7 seater.
Does anyone have these cars with 3 oldish children in the rear?

Honestly, neither. Get a Ford S Max. It doesn't have the annoying hump in the footwell of the middle seat and all are full sized. I know you don't need a 7 seater but just don't use the additional seats. You have think in terms of transporting 3 full sized humans in the back. Dh was adamant we were not getting one and so we sat in a LOT of different cars including the octavia superb but eventually he caved and agrees I was right all along!

Plus the huge boot is amazing, we drove to the south of France including taking the paddle board and didn't have to put a single thing in any footwells where just a few weeks before we had done a trip in the UK in our old zafira with footwells packed and everybody uncomfortable.

We have the Octavia (hybrid). I think it would be fine for you, it is v spacious.

Unless finance is an issue don't get a car without a full sized middle seat. They are uncomfortable, your children will fight over it, and as they get bigger it will be too small.

If you have luggage and a large dog you do really need a 7 seater imo, some have removable rear seats so you can have a bigger boot.

Audi Q7. 7 seats, plenty of space for luggage & dog if you don’t need the back 3 seats.

I agree with PPs, I do have 4 DC so on occasion still use 6 seats (though not often as oldest - teen - chooses to transport themselves at weekends or not join the rest of us etc) and I wouldn't be without 3 full size seats!

To be honest, I often use a rear seat and two middle seats so I can separate the three I do transport a lot because otherwise I might murder them they argue like cat and dog and it's just not worth the stress/hassle.

We have a peugeot 5008, older style, but I would definitely have a newer one too. Next car I would prefer an S-Max, purely due to drive enjoyment and, most importantly, the heated windscreen!

The heated windscreen is amazing. The S Max you can move each individual seat backwards and forwards so you can offset the middle one which also helps with arguments about elbows and shoulders and feet. Mine like to kill each other or make me want to do it for them too.

It's quite annoying, my car only cost me 12k 10 years ago and it was 6 months old. Now it's £22k for the same car but 2/3 years old and 20k miles on the clock. Mine's only done 55k miles. :-(

Think I'll wait, save up more and get a newer S Max. Got approx £15k plus mine to trade in at the moment, not doing silly finance deals.

My vw Touran had the biggest boot but my Citroen c4 is the most comfortable and def full size middle seat

Not far off a decent one, keep an eye on Ford dealerships as ours periodically does interest free finance on used cars. I reckon around 20k for a 19 plate with not too shabby mileage.

I had an Octavia estate. It could comfortably fit two kids in high back booster seats and an adult in the middle. The boot is huge too. No need for a people carrier when you don't have a need for the extra seats or 3 little ones to transport

The problem we found coolblur was not when kids were in boosters, it was when bigger because it is about legs. Most cats have the big lump in front of the middle seat so whoever sits there sits with a foot on either side which is fine when those on either side of them are in car seats or have little legs but when they too are full sized it it is like sitting next to an inconsiderate man spreader on the train because they have a random foot in their foot well and can't fit their own legs and feet in.