Advice on fitting three child seats across in a seven-seater

[LilacKangaroo]

We are expecting our 3rd child and are looking to get a 7 seater. When new baby comes our older two will be 2 and 4 so we'll have two car seats with bases and one high backed booster. We would prefer 3 across the back with decent boot space as we travel to see family a lot .

We've been looking at the Touran and Sharan, can anyone advise what it's like having 3 across the back in these cars? Is it going to be too tight for the kids?

We bought a Touran in your scenario and I'm still driving one (our 2nd) 20 years later!

It was absolutely fine for them in 3 car seats and still fine when they were 6 foot teens. Plus their friends! My only proviso is that I don't know if the size of car seats has changed in the last 20 years so I would definitely recommend taking them to try before you buy.

We chose the Touran because it was a little narrower than the Sharan and I needed it to go through a particular set of narrow gates. But it was still plenty wide enough for us and the boot is still huge. The middle row of seats moves forward/back a few inches and although we usually had them 'back' to give the kids more space, I used to move them to the forward setting when we went on holiday and wanted to fit more in the boot (UK cottage breaks so we'd take a lot of stuff). And I've moved a sofa and a double bed mattress in it more than once.

If you're worried about space, the Sharan is a bit bigger, and I assume still has sliding rear doors which would definitely have been a help in car parks. But it would have been less easy to park in narrow spaces so it's a personal preference thing.

The very back row of flip up seats are ok even for adults on short journeys, but for long journeys you'd only want one adult in there. My 6'1" son still actively chooses row 3 on the rare occasion someone needs to be in there. We've had high backed booster seats in there too when giving friends a lift at primary age. I think the Sharan has a bit more room in that 3rd row, though, which would definitely help adults and long journeys, and give a bit more boot space behind it. So again it will depend on your usage.

Anyway, I absolutely love my Touran (as you can no doubt tell!). Happy to answer any questions I haven't answered.

I have had a Touran and now have a SEAT Alhambra (same as a Sharan),

Both are absolutely fine for three seats across the middle row. They are each full size, separate seats that move independently, so unless you have obscurely wide car seats you’ll be fine in either car.

I much much much prefer the Alhambra/Sharan to the Touran. The boot is significantly bigger for camping/family trips. But the best bit about the Alhambra/Sharan is the sliding back doors. No more panicking when you stop in a car park and the kids reach for the handles! And getting kids in/out of car seats in parking spaces is so much easier without worrying about the door hitting something.

Unless you have a narrow gate problem like the previous poster, I would hands down go for the Sharan (or an Alhambra, which are a bit cheaper despite being the same car with the same parts because you get a SEAT badge instead of VW!).

I would avoid the Tiguan, and maybe consider the larger seven seater Citroen Berlingo if you need a third option. Friends with Tourans loooove them.

We had a Sharan and had car seats as you have indicated.
We used it a lot to drive down France and into Spain. It was excellent and could accommodate all the body boards etc when older.

I bought a Ford Galaxy 19 years ago for exactly this reason and the seats fitted perfectly. I have only just said farewell to my third one.
My first one was very similar to the Seat Alhambra and it was perfect for seats and boot space, then as the children got older they liked the extra space that the "far back" seats gave.

Touran and Sharan are like the gold standard for getting 3 across!

ERF seats for age 9 months - 6 years are often extremely helpful in terms of wiggle room and adjustments, if you have any DC in this age bracket who would be happy to be rear facing. For example Axkid Minikid or Britax Safeway.

It is often better to physically try as many seats as possible rather than going by online width descriptions as the shape of the seats matters more than the overall width. If they both have sticky out bits that interact or block seatbelt anchors, that can cause a problem for example.

It can make a difference which side you put a seat, so if it doesn't work e.g. on the left side consider trying the right side. Again because of seatbelt placement and interaction.

If you're considering a spin seat for the youngest or 2yo bear in mind that the spin function might not work when next to another seat, as the back of the seats tend to jut out a lot.

If you have permanently installed seats which are seatbelt fitted plus a high back booster in use, consider protecting the permanent seat with a belt lock like this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/HowseHold-Universal-Prevents-Passengers-Unbuckling/dp/B0BDMXHNDK/

We do car sharing now and found that the base of a lot of high back boosters will overlap the buckle or be so close to the buckle in a lot of cars that it's hard to actually fasten it. This is a change from a few years ago. With my eldest ~10 years ago I never encountered this issue, with DS2 we encounter it a lot.