to not understand why you can't buy a 5 seater car that seats 5 people?

[haveuheard]

We have been trying and failing to buy a bigger car for about 6 months.

We want a car that will seat 5 people, with the possibility of having three car seats. Not massive seats, just HBBs. Nothing fits. Yes we could buy a minibus or a 7 seater and shove one of the kids in the boot inches from the back window but I don't want to, or we could spend more than a lot of people have for a house deposit but that seems stupid for a family car.

Why doesn't anyone make a sensible family car??

Yes a VW Touran is on the list as a possible but there don't seem to be many around to view.

I think we are going to have to dump the kids at the weekend and go round every car dealership in turn so we have tested every available option. Sound fun!!

We have a VW sharan with 2 HBB & 1 Stage 2 in, its amazing! Sliding rear doors are so useful. It is bigger though. A VW touran would be ideal for what you describe. Do Seat do an equivalent? Seat’s Alhambra is basically the same as Sharan floorplan etc but cheaper, maybe they have a Touran equivalent?

We have a Seat Alhambra. Most of the time we have the two back seats down flat and have 3 full size car seats in the middle row. I know you said you didn't want a 7 seater but in the 5 seat configuration it's a brilliant car and I love, love, love being able to get extra kids in. Our middle row seats have built in boosters so I can move the car seats to the back row, flip up the built in boosters and take 2 more children.

The boot space in the 5 seat configuration is impressive and ours also has sliding doors which make car park spaces much easier to manage. I never thought I'd feel this way about a family car

The S-Max is definitely wide enough. If it's too expensive, what's your budget and what age car are you looking for?

We have an S-Max. We were looking for a car that was wide enough for 2xHBB and a group 1 seat. All the other 7 seaters were too narrow in the back row for the DC to comfortably do their seatbelts for the HBB. We only use the back row if we have family visiting. The Galaxy is good as well but much bigger and we are a short family so don't need the leg space.

You can fit three seats across the back if one of them is a narrow booster. You’re talking about occasionally taking an extra child in the car, right? So there isn’t really a problem.

Sell one of your kids - jobs done😁

Smax cmax

Also a dacia sandero wierdly as it is tiny. thry compromised in side impact safety I think

The Skoda Superb comes with the option of 3 ISOFIX points along the back seat in the new model.

We have a Peugeot 5008 (new model) which has 3 isofix points. It’s technically a 7 seater but we have removed the back seats completely (can be folded or removed) so it’s just a 5 seater with a big boot! We love it.

Or this in your current car:

https://incarsafetycentre.co.uk/rivemove

We had a xsara Picasso. We managed to get two hbb and a normal booster seat (in the middle) in without any issues

Try Volvo, i had the same problem as you andy Volvo was the best option for me

Get a used Volvo XC90. It has a built in booster seat in the middle. The third row is safe because it has airbags and enough boot space behind it.

We have three high back boosters in our sandero

We only have one child though. Don’t ask why we have so many seats!

If it helps, the Joie Elevate seems to be the narrowest HBB, can fit 3 across in an SMax.

C4 Picasso can fit 3 car seats across the back, they come in 5 and 7 seat versions.

S Max - too expensive

WTAF? They start at £1.5-2K on Autotrader?

Surely an Smax is cheaper than a Touran?

Maybe it’s your car seats? I used to fit three car seats in the back of my clio...

Peugeot 3008 from 2017 onwards will take 3 car seats across the back. Great car to drive too.

We bought a Touran when DC3 was born, for this exact reason (needing to fit 3 child seats across the back). It has been wonderful. Easily fits 3 full sized child seats in the middle row. Even fits 2 high backed boosters in the rear (3rd) row. We didn't think we needed the 2 flip-up seats in the boot, but they have been really useful for friends/family and we have used them a lot. With them folded down out of the way, the boot is huge. The kids grew up and I now carry 4 teenagers daily - none of them small!

I am looking for a replacement car now as we bought our Touran used and have run it for another 13 years, so it's getting more expensive to maintain. However, having trawled round the dealerships for several weeks now, with an open mind, all I want is another Touran. Nothing I have seen seems as good. I realise this reads like a shameless advert, but it's a great car.

familycourtq We are looking to spend about £12-14k. We'd have to get a much older S Max than some of its competitors for that price. Which is why I'm saying its expansive. What I probably mean is poor value.

We have previous bought very unfashionable (Vauxhal Merivas!) nearly new cars with very low mileage. We have doubled our previous spending this time, I don't want to end up with an old car. All I really want is a Meriva or other standard car that is 10cm wider. Hence being frustrated with the whole thing.

You’ve had loads of examples of cars that will work.