Which seven seater and how to pay for it

[SurpriseTwinPregnancy]

As my username suggests we recently found out I am having twins. We already have two children, aged nearly 5 and nearly 12 months.

My current car is a Kira Niro and simply isn’t big enough to fit them all in. I have it on a lease via salary sacrifice and luckily I would only have to pay about £700 for early termination, which is good as I’ve got over two years left on it.

Now I’m left wondering what car to get. We’ve had company cars for years, until mine was taken off me so I got the salary sacrifice. So we are a bit spoilt in terms of always having good, new cars and having all costs paid for us (insurance, servicing, repairs etc).

Since relocating and moving to WFH, I have only done 8,000 miles in 18 months. My mileage is unlikely to increase. The car would mostly be used for short journeys.

I am minded to buy a second hand car using a personal loan, and run it into the ground. My BIL is a mechanic so we could get advice from him about reliability etc. We have some investments maturing in a year’s time which will leave us with plenty of money to repay the loan early so we won’t pay too much in interest.

DH isn’t keen and thinks we should keep my car (which categorically will not fit enough car seats in) and just “make sure we are organised about who needs the 7 seater each day” (he has ordered one as a company car will arrive in good time before their arrival). I am minded to have two 7 seaters as it’ll be easier, we can be more flexible and frankly it’s just one less thing to worry about (as if we won’t have enough to worry about with four children under six!). We definitely do need two cars as DH does a lot of driving for work and I’ll need it for school and nursery runs as neither are walking distance.

Never done PCP/HP so keen to avoid, unless someone can convince me otherwise? Or is leasing the way to go? How would you buy a car and why?

Any particularly good 7 seaters? Particularly ones available second hand that aren’t absolutely enormous. The prices are eye watering so I’m really keen to get the purchase right if that’s the way to go.

You need to consider the fact that many 7 seaters don't allow a car seat in the middle or in the 2 back little seats. I have no recommendations but more of an mpv type.
I've always bought 2nd hand and wouldn't personally do lease or finance. I usually pay about 8k ( save for years!) and keep for as many years as possibe! Or an interest free bank transfer.

We had a Ford Galaxy years back and it had full seats all throughout. I think the newer version has the folding ones in the back now. The Seat Alhambra used to be the same car with a different badge so that may be worth a look. They’re discontinued now but you can still get them a few years old.

I don’t think you really need 2 7 seaters, i have 4 dc, as do several friends ( all older now) and none of us have ever run 2 7 seaters, it would be a very expensive option, and if there is only 1 parent and 4 kids then you would all fit in a biggish 5 seater.

Yes this is a fair point and could save us some money!

We have 3 children not 4, but also run a 8 seater and a "big" 5 seater. For several years we were lift sharing and had a Citroën C4 Picasso or similar so that we have 3 proper seats in the back and could get 3 car seats in.

Even with 7 seaters, look carefully at whether the middle row does actually have space for 3 car seats. Many don't. The MPVs are best, but many have now been discontinued.

I think as long as you have 1 x 7 seater, no need to change the other car. I don't know any family that has 2, far more usual is 1 x 7 seater and one smaller. You aren't going to be swapping 4 x car seats between cars so you only need 1 big car.

As long as your husband doesn't mind using the Niro for work, I'd save your money.

If he does a lot of miles, he might find it becomes uncomfortable, at which point, then you could think about a smaller but comfier swap for the Niro.

We said we'd stop having my car and his car and it'd just be big car and little car, whoever had the kids has big car. But turns out I do 95% of driving kids about so by default, big car is now my car and little car is his car!

You're not getting 4 car seats in Kia Niro, not a chance. With 4 car seats and presumably a double buggy you really need a bigger 7 seater. Alhambra, Ford Galaxy etc or the vans - we recently got a very uncool Vauxhall Combo Life. You need to be looking for something with 7 full seats or you will struggle fitting car seats in.

Got 4dc, and we've a cabin crew van. Spacious leg room for all the family, massive boot for shopping, beach stuff, buggies and bikes, dogs etc.

I have a prius plus and am very happy. The last row has some leg room. Downside no boot space as a 7 seater. Plus side feels like a small car to drive.

Previously I had a xsara Picasso (not 7 seats) but so that I could fit 3 child seats across the back. Not all child seats worked I had to find the ones that did. Massive boot. Great fir transporting kids and buggies and everything.

You are going to need boot space for all the stuff that Comes with taking multiple kids around. I would get a good practical 5 seater that fits all the child seats - do not take the sales persons word for it....take them with you and put them in yourself. (If you have the next stage seat or can borrow them take those too because they are bigger than the rear facing baby seats.

I only say get a 5 seater due to cost of buying and running. Can you walk to the kods school for ease of bringing kids home for play dates?

Just bought a new to me 7 seater, having replaced an older one. We’re a five person family who occasionally needs another seat or two, so the compromise on boot vs people space is ok for us, it will be different for you.

it was really noticeable how fewer 7 seaters have three separate seats in the middle row compared to eight years ago, when there were quite a few that could get three isofix along the middle row. Peugeot has a new 5008 out next year which also loses that middle proper seat.

Since having kids, we’ve always had one car that follows the children and one follows the other.

Some large 5 seaters have more room across the middle for 3 chunky car seats than some 7 seaters do.

Round here japanese import minivans are very popular - Nissan elgrand, Honda stepwagon, Toyota Alphard. Sliding doors are a game changer with clumsy kids, and the back row is full sized, not just little jump seats.

previously had a Chrysler Grand Voyager- it was fabulous.

I stopped reading when you said your DH would have a 7 seater! Running 2 is completely unnecessary- cost and environmentally. Means he is driving a huge vehicle alone lots of the time. You just no longer have his and hers cars. You have the kids car and the solo car. Each have a key to each so you don't have to keep passing them.

You probably need to look at car seats and work backwards to be honest. And consider what seats you need after infant carriers. Extended rear facing seats take up a lot of room. I have a Ford galaxy which I love, but with storage boxes in the rear passenger footwells it ruled out most car seats with a support leg. A lot of seats can't be fitted in the third row of a 7 seater either, although my galaxy has 2 full size seats in the boot which gives more "musical chairs" options than the smaller seats that my zafira had prior to this one. Middle row also has 3 full size seats which all move forward and back independently

We do a 7 seater (we have a seat Tarraco and I really like it!) and a big 5 seater.

you won’t need 2 7 seater cars.

And yes to the pp - we don’t have “my car” and “DH’s car” any more - we have kids car and no kids car! Keys always kept in the same place in a box, take which one doesn’t need it. Can be a bit technical with drop offs, but you’ll be on mat leave for a bit so can worry about the logistics later!

With 4 car seats you're going to be really limited with which big 5 seaters you can fit in. 3 in the back and ability to turn the front airbag off. There aren't many that can accommodate.

Another vote for Seat Alhambra. It isn't just about the number of seats, you have to consider the boot space for the buggy/dog/groceries/school bags plus PE kits etc.

We briefly had a smaller 7 seater in which the 6th and 7th seat took up almost the whole boot and it was just ridiculously impractical. Can't remember the name of the car now, something jeep-like, I think, but it was very quickly sold on and we've never regretted that.

the Alhambra is a wider car, so it does accommodate the 3 full seats across the middle row as well as the two back seats being full seats, rather than little mini things that aren't comfortable for any period of time.

The passenger door slide open too, so you don't have to worry about the kids flinging them open in a car park and bashing other cars, or maneuvering baby car seats in and out in a tight spot, despite the additional width.

Really couldn't rate it highly enough. Ford galaxy is much the same, although I'm unsure about the storage boxes in the foot-well that PP mentioned. The Alhambra doesn't have these, or at least our model doesn't.

See if your company will use Tusker then get a Volvo xc90, Kia V9 or similar. I got my car through Tusker using salary sacrifice with a car allowance- no deposit required for a new car so a no brainer. Hybrids also look cheaper than full electric at the moment.

You don't need 2 7 seaters. I grew up in a similar sized family and we had one 7 seater and one 5 seater. Obviously car seats were less of an issue then!

Look for the smallest high back booster for 5yo.

You want sliding doors on whatever you buy.

Seat Alhambra or VW sharan as they have sliding doors on the back seats.

You can put the younger three kids across the back and the 5yo in one boot seat, accessed via the boot door, or fold down the middle seat in the back row and use both boot seats.

Bear in mind that if the boot seats are accessed by tilting a back row seat, this isn't possible with a car seat installed on that tilting seat. Hence suggestions above.

Whether you need two seven seaters depends on how you do drop offs and pickups obviously. I wouldn't want to keep swapping car seats around though

Can you drive the 7 seater or does dh have to use this for work purposes? If the latter you can't work that way.

I'd look at Ford B max, C Max and S Max

The large American made 7 seater minivans are a lot more spacious than the Japanese and European ones, which are nearly all designed as 5+2. We rented a dodge caravan in the USA and it was brilliant to seat 6 people (4 adults, 2 car seats), fit luggage and a double buggy but it was a good while ago, models change.

Have you seen the multimac which might work for you? It's a big 4 seat child car seat which fits in a normal car.

I'm only now pregnant with my first but discussing how many we're going to have and my DH's argument for fewer children is he wants a normal car so this might be my argument for a 3rd/4th if/when we get there. Haven't looked into it in any great depth.

I wouldn't go back to a car again after the space for a large family with cabin crew vans. Absolutely spoilt. Sliding doors are a big win. Lots of leg room too.

We had a Kia Carens 7 seater years ago but it wasn't very big for four growing children who need leg room - they don't stay in baby car seats for long!