To wonder why car manufacturers make 7 seaters without boot space?!

[Snowflakes1122]

Trying to find a new car is proving difficult.

We have 4DCs and, all the 7 seaters look great...until it comes to boot space with all seats up. I also question how safe it is having the seats so close to the back?

Is there a good 7 seater with a decent-ish boot?

I had a Honda frv and a roof box.

We gave up looking a MPVs and ended up with a combo van (VW Transporter). The space is amazing but yes, a bugger to park if you have to do town a lot, thankfully I don't!

@Snowflakes1122
Bonus of the nissan nv200, reading other people's posts is that it does fit in a normal car space, side to side, nose to tail, and has sliding doors!

We have got a seat Alhambra. It's got a big boot! And you can have one back seat up and one down for more space.

Very rare we all went somewhere together so negligible boot made perfect sense for us.

We've still got a Honda FRV. Three seats in the front and three in the back with a decent boot even when 6 are seated. Not seen anything else like it unfortunately.

We've resorted to two cars, one small and one medium. We looked at going to one large 7+ seater and a compact car and can't get both onto the drive. We need two cars for our separate businesses and ferrying kids in different directions for clubs etc.

Volkswagen Caddy maxi life is a van base but drives like a car. Decent boot when all seats in use. Rear seats are not actually in the boot and you can remove them entirely to get a 5 seater with an enormous boot. I love mine.

Honda FRV has six seats and reasonable boot space.

We have 4 DC and a ford galaxy - can put one seat down to increase space, but now we are almost beyond our pushchair days, we can leave all 7 seats up and have room for two suitcases and a stroller in the boot (suitcases upright). That then leaves room for the cat in the middle back row seat, plus the huge amount of snacks in the footwell below. On the occasions where we've needed more space (particularly when travelling to stay with family for Christmas), we add a top box.

We tend to drive to France or similar for holidays and I remain impressed by the amount of stuff we manage to fit in.

I've got a zafira and a roof box I got from gumtree. Pain in the bum but it is what it is

We have a SEAT Alhambra, which is the same as the VW Sharan. It has a massive boot with the back two seats down, and a very reasonable boot with all the seats up. It feels very different to the slightly smaller Touran/Zafira etc; it is much bigger!

We’ve got the new Peugeot 5008 it’s got a decent amount of space if you only need one back row seat.
You can completely remove the seat you’re not using and use the void it came out of as extra packing space. Middle seats move back and forward as well so back row can have decent leg room. We’ve got 4 adults one kid in a car seat and one on a booster seat plus a Labrador and enough stuff for a weekend away for all of us into that car and still had a comfortable journey.

I have 4 and previously drove a Honda FRV. Absolutely brilliant car. Now I drive a Land Rover Discovery 3 which is fantastic - full sized seats with footwells in the boot. We have a massive roofbox for when we go on holiday.

I worry about unsecured luggage in the space left if one back seat is down. Items of luggage flying about are lethal in a crash.

Just a side note, i think if you do go for the van style if they can hold 8 passengers + a driver you need to check your licence as you need to have a particular category on your licence and i think it stopped being standard around the millennium. My husband passed in 1998 and he can but i passed in 2001 and i cant.

You can still drive a 9 seater with just the B class license as long as you meet certain criteria

Can I drive a minibus with a B licence?
If you passed your driving test on or after 1 January 1997

You do not automatically have the D1 entitlement on your licence. However, you can still drive anything from a 9 seater minibus up to a 16 seater as long as the following conditions are met:

<strong>You’re at least 21 years old</strong>
<strong>You’ve had your driving licence for at least 2 years</strong>
<strong>You’re driving voluntarily</strong>
<strong>You’re driving for social purposes</strong>
<strong>You’re not charging passengers</strong>
<strong>The weight of the minibus does not exceed 3.5 tonnes, or 4.25 tonnes if it carrying equipment for disabled passengers, such as a wheelchair ramp</strong>
<strong>You’re not towing a trailer.</strong>

We have a Chrysler Grand Voyager for day to day as that has decent boot space.
We also have a minibus because there's too many of us.

This is exactly why we traded in our Citroen c4 grand Picasso for a Hyundai i800. “7 seaters” are not really 7 seaters. Now we have an 8 seater that can fit 8 adults as well as boot space you could walk around in.

I worry about the fuel economy sometimes but we tend to avoid using it where we don’t have to. Use the Yaris for commuting and save the van for weekend/shopping trips.

Interesting thread. We are currently looking at the minivan options as we need 7 seats and boot space simultaneously. Some good tips here!

coffee we love our mini bus as dc4 calls it. It was bloody expensive but so worth it. It’s also dh’s 6th baby. We’ve too many dc for a sports car so he’s lavishing his attention on the VW instead . We have a 9 seater, at my insistence, so we can take a couple of the dc friends out with us if they want. The boot space is amazing.