Need advice on fitting three car seats and choosing a family car

[frolickinglamb]

Feeling quite anxious and worried about trying to find a suitable for our 4 year old twins on the way. (Currently 19 weeks)

My current car is a 2009 bmw 1 series so will not fit 3 carseats let alone the pram in the boot. So need a new car. We weren't planning for this so i got a new job and I'm actively saving every penny to come up with a deposit for one.

My husband is super keen on an electric car, (specifically Tesla Model Y which i believe is too small) but with that comes higher prices and aside from being out of budget would be quite to weight on my shoulders knowing i've got to manage these payments every month for 3/4 years.

Then even looking at older models of cars, its just overwhelming to know what car will fit 3 carseats across, how we will afford it, etc.. if i was buying without husbands input it'd be much easier because im not as fussed on the tech.. any car will be an upgrade from my bmw. He's used to driving his work cars which are always new.

Im just ranting on the internet at this point but does anyone have any advice?

Also, i phoned a carseat store and they gave me this list if anyone has experience with any of them:
Volvo xc90
Peugeot 5008
mercedes eqb/ glb
Audi q7
Kia EV9
Hyundai Sorento

From my experience, the old model (non EV/hybrid) 5008 have three full seats across and with the back seat fallen you have good boot space. The newer ones I good but I haven’t had any experience.
Citroen C3 Aircross is another good option although a bit smaller than the 5008. It is only available in hybrid as a 7 seater.
The XC 90 is fab and has it own inbuilt seat for you 4 year old. Newer models are only in hybrid and not fully electric.

Another option instead of a new car is the multimac
https://www.multimac.com/multimac-range/
they can also be bought second hand and have a good resale value.
Afaik they are rear facing up to 18 months (could have changed) but if you’re having twins they are usually on the smaller side for a while (the multiples I know are).

My friend bought the 4 seater second hand. She had just bought a new car, already had two kids and found out she was pregnant with twins!

I have a 2019 5008 and it’s great, boot is enormous and we’ve currently got two high backed boosters and a joie 360 in the middle row.

The multimac doesn’t have a great safety rating as far as I know. The only family I knew who had one seemed to get rid of it very quickly.

IME it's not as difficult as you'd assume to get 3 seats into a standard car. You don't need to necessarily go for a bigger car.

You might want to anyway, because it will give you more space for things like a bigger buggy. But in terms of car seats, you can often play around and get three to fit together but you'll need to go to a bigger store or a small independent retailer who is willing to spend the time. You can't necessarily go by widths given online because it's much more about how the shapes of the three seats, placement of seatbelts etc work together.

This is a bit out of date now but it might be a starting point: http://erfmission.com/car-seats-3-across-in-the-backseat/

Safety of the Multimac is good for a forward facing seat. Certainly better than some of the belt fitted FF harness seats on the market. The rear facing baby seats are less practical than standard infant carriers, as they are heavy and don't click into a pushchair. But they are fine for safety as rear facing. The main safety issue with them is the short rear facing time. As a PP said you will often get a bit longer with twins so might get up to age 2 or so.

Wow thanks so much for all the responses! So kind.

I will take a look at the links you’ve sent across. @BertieBotts quite like the idea of not going for a massive car b ur if we have to for a few years that will have to be.

we did check out the xc90 which I absolutely loved. No way could afford the newish ones at 50-60k but perhaps a 5 year old one.

thank you @vladimirVsvolodymr and @HDready for the car review and suggestions. Will add to the list to look at.

i think I just need to see the cars to get a better idea of it all

The new 5008 can’t take 3 seats across the back.
there are some good Facebook groups with advice.
some really rude ones too - ‘why aren’t you buying a 60k car - it’s your baby’s safety’ LOL

😂😂 yeh I don’t think my pregnancy emotions can take the judgment. That’s good to know the new Peugeot doesn’t work.

if you have any fb group recommendations that would great please

Galaxy, Smax, Alhambra etc.
I searched for ages, only people carriers have three proper back seats.

When you go to look at cars, take your 4yo's current seat, and any other car seats you already own. If you're serious about buying, I find salespeople are generally happy for you to try putting car seats in and out of the cars.

I would also consider leasing. Sometimes it's better if you know you'll only need a bigger car for a few years - although TBH, with 3 children as they grow you'll probably want to keep a bigger car, either to give friends lifts or just to fit them all in as they get physically bigger themselves. But if you want a relatively new car it can be one way to avoid surprise repair bills etc.

Yes leasing is something we have started to consider, because we definitely need to the space for the 3 seats plus room for a big pram for the next few years. But after that, could move to a mid size suv..

and good tip about trying our seats in the car