Ford S-Max or Volvo XC90

[Carnovice]

Full disclosure: I know nothing about cars and haven’t driven for years, so please forgive any ignorance!

I have three children aged 0, 2 and 4. We have moved from London to somewhere with less effective public transport and have realised that we need a car. We will obviously need the option of three car seats for several years yet! The option of seven seats is a bonus as we would like to be able to include grandparents on day trips as much as possible, and also like the idea of a huge boot for UK-based holidays with all our stuff.

It seems that the Ford S-Max might be a good option as it fits three Isofix seats across the middle, and it’s a lot cheaper than the Volvo. The Volvo appeals due to its safety and, admittedly, it looks a bit less like a van - but not sure it’s as practical with the car seat situation.

Help me please!

The s max has three full size seats across the back, which is very helpful as often the middle seat is smaller. Other similar options are things like a VW touran or Sharan or seat Alhambra. All basically boxes on wheels, but very very practical. The boot size is better too. I do agree the Volvo is a nicer looking car though.

We have 3 kids, all older now but the same age difference as yours, We had 2 S-Max’s. Fantastic cars.

It sounds like the S-Max may be the sensible choice! Is the boot decent, especially with one or both of the back seats down?

I’m not sure why I’m letting my head be turned by the Volvo like some diva when I usually just do not care. The last car I bought was older than me and cost me £500… 😂

S max looks great. We went whole hog and went for the galaxy, as our kids were a bit older, so we wanted the boot space seats to be more generous. They’re brilliant and are fine for full size people. the galaxy boot is amazing, it’s small with all 7 seats up but great if even one is down, and brilliant with all the boot space. We had a cmax before which was great, so kind of skipped over the smax :-)

We’ve had our Smax for years and it’s still doing duty taking DC back and forth to uni etc. do check out the rear seats though as they are not really suitable for grandparents and you have to remove a car seat to access them. Otherwise highly recommend.

Thank you!! I’d be happy to hop in the back occasionally to let grandma in the front. I got used to squeezing in between two car seats in the back of grandma’s small hatchback at 9m pregnant for family days out, so even a squashed up third row will feel luxurious!

Love our SMax. Took me a long time to persuade my DH but after a couple of Zafiras he finally caved. The SMax swallows so much crap and the 3 full sized seats are great, they even move independently so you can offset them slightly which resolves many a teenage "your shoulder touched my shoulder, you are in my space" argument. The person in the middle can actually get their feet in their own foot well too instead of having one foot in each side and prompting even more arguments.

In short, while it might not matter that much whole your kids are little you will be very grateful for the space when they are older.

I’m on my second S max. I love it. My mate used to tease me about my love for my car but she then got one, she’s now on her second one. Loads of space, decent on fuel, really comfortable on along journey.

We have the XC90, mine is the clunky older version (on my 2nd of these) and dh's is the newer show pony type.

No need for car seats so can't help there although the middle seat does convert to a booster seat which might give you more room.

We are in volvos for their safety. We've driven them for over 30 years for this reason. Nobody has died in an XC90 in this country.

Love how much they can lug around. We do a lot of driving and they've not let us down.

We do very rural trips all through the year, awd is essential in our Welsh weather here. Dh has to drive to London so motorway driving needs to be good too and they are so comfy.

Both cars are superb, dh is probably going to get the new verion of XC90 next, we can't go electric yet its really not doable for us atm.

I've had an s-Max and it was okay. Was a bit older than you're probably looking at. Steering rack had to be replaced which was about £500, and the 2.5 turbo petrol Volvo engine had to have a bit of work on it but pretty good overall.
Maybe worth considering a Japanese import such as a Toyota estima? Huge space and hybrid.

Kia Sorento and Hyundai Santa Fe take three seats too, such nicer looking and better to drive than the S Max in my opinion

Volvo

Thanks! I’ll have a look at these too. Is it three seats in the middle row do you know? 2 and 4yo are travel sick so would prefer not to have one of them in the back row for now.

It's not 3 full ones but there's so much space esp in the Santa Fe three seats will fit (definitely Axkids and a baby seat anyway).
You have to ensure to read the manual to see what's allowed/not allowed.
For example, the 3rd row in the Santa Fe doesn't allow support legs but this wasn't an issue for my friend as she wanted the bigger boot so had the 3 car seats in the 2 row.

Out of those two I’d go for the Volvo.
Not mentioned but a cheaper option for a 7 seater with 3 full sized seats in the back which works well for a family of 5 is Peugeot 5008.

We are on 2nd S-max with 3 kids. The rear seats are brilliant. All 3 the same size and the back for each one moves independently from the other which they liked when they got older. I travelled for 2 hours on a journey in the boot seat so my parents could have proper seats and it was fine. I am 5'7. There's also still enough room in the boot for a few small suitcases when all the seats are up.

Agree that it's not the most glamorous looking car but it's a fantastic workhorse. My DS (19) is taking it on a Scotland road trip this summer and all the seats fold completely flat so he's planning to use it to sleep/camp in.

We have the Volvo - and two car seats. We got it for safety reasons ( as PP said - no casualties in the UK) and the massive boot as we have dogs too.

really pleased with it and have had it 3-4 years now. I can’t comment on the ford as the Volvo was our first “big” car

Snap exactly. First big family car

Ours is a 40 rather than a 90. The middle space is practically unusable with two car seats on the 40.

Have to say we are over the moon with it. Still to this day I get in and it feels like new and I praise myself on our good decision 😂

Peugeot 5008 is also a 7 seater (2 are easily collapsible in the boot) with 3 separate isofix seats in the middle. Ours is only a 1.2 petrol but is fantastic.

Volvo is a much superior car to a Ford.

Been driving XC90s for the last 20 years, on my second. Love them, relatively safe and comfortable.

We’ve had 2 Ford S-Max and loved both of them, so practical, comfortable and reliable.

If you’re looking at an smax consider the galaxy too - it’s the same car just with a bigger boot. When the rear seats are up there is very little space in the boot in smax. Have a look at both and see what you prefer. There is only about 10cm difference in overall length

If you can afford the Volvo, go for it. In the same situation as you, we’ve had a Peugeot 5008 and a Seat Alhambra. Would recommend both.

I always thought it was rhe years of three isofix car seats thst would make this hard. Now I have two isofix seats and one growing teenager who is already taller than me, the need for decent space is even more.

The Volvo is by far the better car. I had one around 18 years or so ago - it was old then - and I still miss it. Sadly it went in my divorce. My kids are older teenagers now so I’m looking to downsize my cars these day but it was brilliant and when they were small.

I hired an SMAX in Mallorca once and it was ok. Did the job. In that Volvo I felt was safer than a tank. Miss that Volvo so much!