To ask how big of a car I need for 3 children?

[NKfell]

It hits me sporadically through the day while I'm at Mumsnet...I mean, work...I need a new car. It's got the point where I push it out of mind.

So, I have a Fiat 500 for my current 2- almost 6 and 2.5 but now with this one due in a month(!!) I need another car.

I don't want a big car because a small car is very convenient where I live and drive to. I've managed perfectly comfortably with the 500 for 4 years but baby number 3 really pushes it.

I have a little bit of equity in this car to part ex so I'll be spending up to £15k absolute maximum.

Help?

I have a Renault Clio and my 3 kids comfortably fit in it, as well as a slim adult in the middle. It is my car though, DH has a Renault Laguna (which I dislike) for outings as a family. Friends with 3 kids tend to have people carriers like Zafira, which are 5 or 7 seaters.

I have three children - at one stage all five and under so one in a HBB, one in a maxi cosi rodifix, one in a cabriofix. We had a scenic but it soon became apparent that it was a squash in the back and getting the bugaboo in and out was a pain. We then bought a sharan which is lovely, much more space but still filled with kid crap. Now have two in HBB and one still in isofix.

I look at small cars longingly

Do you need to have 5 seats ( how often does your dp travel with you?) we had an aygo for many years with the eldest in the front in as high back booster.

If you don't you will have to look at putting the eldest in the middle with a small booster, or going up to a much bigger car ( we have a Sedona for the seperate seats across the bac, which replaced an old cmax which only had a half seat in the middle)

I can just about fit 3 across the back of my Jazz- one first size seat, one high back booster and one booster in the middle. If the eldest child sat in the front it would work really well.
I'm only the Granny though and tend to put the baby carseat on wheels (which fit easily in the boot with nappy bag etc) rather than using a pram.

I had 2 britax eclipses and a graco high back in the back of a 3 series BMW.
Much to the amusement of the driver behind us in a 3 hour traffic jam. When 3 small boys were desperate to water the hedge, one after the other. Comfy for two adults in the front, and a decent boot too.
I would be looking at something classed as "small family car" focus/Astra sized. Go and test drive a few. See what you like.
If possible, go with the kids seats, but leave the kids with dp/grandma/anybody? See how your seats fit in each of the cars.
Consider where each child will sit?
My friend had 3 under 5 for a year. As the oldest was in school and they lived in the city, he squashed between the other two seats on just a booster. Leaving the door seats for the baby and the toddler. Easier to fasten them in.
For longer journeys, dp had a bigger car, so they all had more space.

When you go and view cars take your car seats and buggy with you and attempt to fit them in, you'll soon see if they fit without the need to go and purchase different brands.

We have a C3 Picasso which is a bit of a tardis but only two DCs. It doesn't have a full size middle seat but if you're not taking anyone else you could put the 6yo in a HBB in the front seat. It's a dream to drive, turns on a sixpence and is built on a Fiesta wheelbase apparently, so a 'small' car but with the inside space of an MPV. I dislike the squeaky plastic that Citroen use though. I dislike driving and previously had my own Cleo (which was big enough for me) and I really don't mind driving the C3 Picasso. The boot is very square too which helps for fitting stuff in.

I had 3 children under 2 and fitted them all in the back of a VW golf. I then upgraded to a Ford Mondeo which had more than enough room and if you had the estate like I did there was plenty of room for buggies, shopping etc. I was never the sort of person who, after having a baby, immediately bought a people mover! I can understand it if you have more than 3 though!

I'm going to go totally against the grain here and say it made much more sense to me to pick the right car for our needs then buy the right car seats to fit in it that car. The larger purchase cost and increased running costs of a larger car covered the cost of 3 new seats. Dh does 100+ miles a week in combination with negotiating 20+ very tight, very full school carparks. Our main car needed to be economical, as small as possible and fit 3. It wasn't necessary that there was lots of space as we are all in the car less than once a week, location means we can generally walk most places we go as a family.

That's very relevant of course. If we drove with all 3 children more regularly and in different contexts then I'm sure we would have made different choices.

ATM we have a 2011 seat Ibiza (estate version but that's irrelevant as the rear bench is the same in the hatch) and a 2014 hyundai i10. Dc are now 7, 5 and 3. Prior to this, when all the dc were aged 4 and under we had a 2006 focus. That was definitely an easier fit but we made a conscious choice to go smaller due to overall circumstances.

We have had a Ford S-Max, which was fantastic - but I understand your predicament with tight corners and lanes (I'm a fellow Cumbrian).

Our last car was a Renault Laguna and, whilst it was a lovely car, I wouldn't recommend it for you - its turning circle wasn't the best.

We now have a Renault Scenic (the 5 seater version) and it's fab. It's a bit like a tardis - it looks no bigger than a Focus, but it has bags of room inside.

Someone mentioned volvos. Don't. It's like turning the QE2. I can park well but that thing I abandoned.

We comfortably fitted three kids across the back of our Ford cmax, absolutely brilliant car. The trick was getting a high back booster that had no side wings at hip level, so you could reach a hand down to plug in the seat belt. We've also comfortably fitted that seat(a Brittax I think) and two 5pt harness baby seats in the back of a Renault scenic. But the cmax is a much nicer car! Both have decent boots too without being enormous cars.

I have 3 DC (3 months, 4 and 9) and a Fiat 500.

Bit cosy but manage as I love the car and it is so cheap to run. I have a Bugaboo Bee that fits in the boot, 3 car seats and 2 scooters in there!

All very interesting so thank you very much- lots of food for thought.

I'm going to look into the yeti- my uncle visited us in one and got round to my house in 3/4 manoeuvres unassisted so that's good enough for me.

I just don't need the hassle of trying to negotiate a huge car in a passing place on a lane or very tight corners plus 3 children.

It's mainly me and the children but I do have the odd passenger mainly for short journeys so I need the 5th seat.

Any thoughts on a Polo/Golf?

When we had dc3 we got a Honda CRV, it was still too small so we got a VW Touran and it's perfect. 3 car seats fit well on the Middle row of seats but we have the extra 2 if we need them.

I managed to completely miss you saying you needed a small car, sorry! I've fitted all 3 in my grandparents cars often. They own a dealership so always have a different one. A scenic, a yeti and some Kia one but I can't remember the model.

The Hyundai i30 is a tardis of a car.

I manage four children under five in my fiat; we have a seven seater volvo for longer drives/ family stuff.

The way that car seats fit across the back of the car depends entirely on the model and trim of each car. The more 'luxury' trims are generally more padded, with the two side seats given priority over the back seat, so three across is a nightmare. This basically makes all our recommendations redundant - you have to go and try seats in cars yourself to see what will fit!

The other thing is to think about the chassis that a car is built on, particularly when deciding whether a car is 'big' or not. The Touran is the same chassis (and therefore the same footprint) as a Golf. It's just the interior is more basic, with narrower pads etc, so it can fit three proper seats across the back.

we have a pre schooler and 2 teenagers (both over 6') and have a Ford Mondeo, and previously had a Skoda Octavia. obviously the big ones don't have car seats, but they do take up lots of space!

We have a Golf - I use seatbelt extenders (Amazon) which makes it easier to wrestle them into carseats. They're about £6 and make life sooooo much easier. We can manage Maxi Cosi Tobi & high-back booster and normal booster (tend to use Trunki thing for 6 year old). Couldn't do it without the seatbelt extenders though.

I'm not overly worried about space- having 2 dc's and the odd friend/dog it's all been fine it's just that I now need an extra seat.

If my 500 had 5 seats I wouldn't be changing!

Graciescotland which Fiat do you have?

You could get a mutimac fitted to make 3 car seats in the back

www.multimac.co.uk/fiat_500_child_seat

This may be of use:

www.thecarcrashdetective.com/3-across-car-seat-guide-html

I think it's US based, but could give you an idea.

Car garages tomorrow complete with 3 car seats and a pushchair!