New car, three across, recs?!

[pamshortsbrokenbothherlegs]

I know this question has probably been asked loads, but I’m looking for some advice on cars and car seats for a family of five.

We live in London and have never owned a car, but we think for various reasons that needs to change soon. We have a 4yo and twins, 18mo.

As we’ve only needed car seats for holidays so far, we currently have a mishmash and the focus has been on smaller, portable seats we can secure with a belt in various rental cars. The shorter of our twins is in a Maxi Cosi Pebble Pro, we can get a couple more months out of it but will need to upgrade soon. The taller one is in a Joie Stages, rear facing. Our older daughter uses a Maxi Cosi Nomad, which I know isn’t ideal and she’s nearing the height/weight limit for anyway. I’d like a better permanent option for her once we have a car, but it certainly is convenient for travelling. I admit she was front facing from 2ish when she was in the Stages as she’d just scream for hours faced backwards, when we turned her around it was like a different kid. It was no fun for anyone driving; I’m not sure we can turn her around again but I’m willing to try, and I’d definitely like to keep the younger two rear-facing longer (they’re better in the car so far so hopeful it’ll continue).

We’re thinking about a Kia Sportage as we have heard good things and recently drove one and liked it. I’m not sure three across would be possible, though. Car recommendations appreciated.

What’s the best configuration for three across with these ages? I guess one in the middle? If my older one was in a HBB in the middle, is it ok for these to be secured via a belt long term? I know there aren’t many cars that have three ISOFIX in the back.

Any particular car seats you can recommend?

(We have considered a 6 or 7 seater but the tiny boots and huge size puts us off! We know one is probably in our future as the kids grow; this would be a starter car. 😅)

We’ve had 2 Citroen C4 Picassos as we like them so much. I’m sure it’s not stylish enough for a lot of Mumsnetters. But 3 ISOfix across the back and a massive boot and reasonable price trumps style for us.

Key is to get a second hand car that is a couple of years old - practically unused but far cheaper, and our latest has all the gadgets available as it was a motability car for a year. Also bank loan way better rate than a PCP/HP! Not that you asked for financial tips 😆

HBB are OK to be secured by a seatbelt long term but it's better if you can get a lighter one. The Maxi Cosi ones tend to be fairly narrow.

The Stages is very wide so you would be better off with something narrower, like Axkid Minikid 2 (which is about £220 I believe now). However with the right shape of HBB in the middle, you might manage 1x Axkid, HBB, Stages across a row. It tends to help to alternate RF/FF/RF.

We are expecting baby number 3, our 10 year old and 7 year old are now in HBB but still not wide enough across our Renault Kadjar for a baby seat too. They were both RF in the axkid mini until around age 6.
We had a play around on the forecourt with all the car seats and ended up getting a used Vauxhall Zafira, defo not glam but 100% practical and will fit them all in across the back, safely and with plenty of space :)
Also has two pop up seats in the boot for ferrying friends about if and when we need to.

We've got a citroen c4 spacetourer. Love it, so comfortable, tons of space, massive boot with 2 extra seats if you need. It's not pretty but it's really useful.

3 isofix across the back, they're full size seats too so all seats fit. We've got an Axkid one 2, a cybex cloud and a besafe izi.

I also have a Picasso c4. I thought the Kia sportage was actually quite small in the back. Renault scenic is another option. Possibly a ford c-max (not sure if that has 3 seats though)

Thank you for all the advice! We will definitely be getting a (gently) used car, will check out all the recs. Glad to know it may be possible with the right kit.

Ford smax has three isofix seats and good boot space

ford cmax grande has 7 seats- two isofix in the middle and the back can be used for boot space or two high backed boosters

The problem with a belt-only HBB is that the seat is only secure if the seatbelt is done up! Which means keeping it belted even when there is no child in it, to stop it flying around the car in the event of an accident.

I found it very frustrating to have to belt the seat again after my child had got out of the car. Maybe if you aren’t using the seat several times a day it would be fine, but it is really important to belt it in even when the child isn’t in the seat.

Re 7 seaters having small boots - they only have small boots when the third row is up, which probably wouldn’t be very often with 3 children as they’d go three across the middle row? 7 seaters tend to have three ISOfix seats in the middle row.