what type of car do you drive? And do you like it?

[Zann]

Hi there. I'm new here and looking for some advice on cars. We need to upgrade to a larger car now that the twins have arrived. I've now got 4 dc -ages 9, 7 and 5-month-old twins. So I'm thinking we need one that can seat 7 but also have enough space behind the back seats to fit a very large twin pram. I have been looking into other people's large cars in car parks (!) to see how much space they have and find alot of the cars don't have much extra space if all 7 seats are being used.

Anyone have any suggestions?

Oh yes - and we need to get a used one as our budget isn't very big!
Any advice will be gratefully received!

i think most 7 seaters are a bit rubbish when you want space and 7 seats!
weve got an 04 renault grand scenic, we also have 4 children 10, 6, 5 and 19mo obviously we dont have a huge buggy but we can get our m&p p3 behind the 6th and 7th seat easily
we paid £3100 for it and it has not skipped a beat we picked ours up so cheap as it was a part ex
have you considerd and 8 seater vw caravanell or transporter?
if you didnt want to get something so big maybe getting a smaller twin pram and a 7 seater with 3 children in the middle and 1 in the boot leaving enough room for a buggy where the 7th seat would be?
its very tough car hunting isnt it

When you work out the answer please share, we have 4DCs 10,8,7 and 4 and we cannot for the life of us work out how to fit us and the luggage in any car, other than a minibus, although we do like the look of the Hyundia i800 but it only came out last year so prices are still sky high, currently we have a fiat multipla big boot but can never take a friend with you

We have ordered (another) Mercedes Vito with 3 seats in the front and 3 in the back. DC4 landing in July so our previous one was 2+3 instead.

The boots would happily swallow 10 massive double buggies. Uncollapsed!

Yes, it looks like a van but it drives well and is not too sluggish. And it doesn't matter how much you put into it, the mpg is always the same.

And if you happen to be drunken lushes appreciaters of good wine then when coming back from for eg France, you can fit a tons worth of wine in the back. Literally. And enough gubbins for a family of 6.

It really is tough car hunting - I didn't think it would be quite this difficult.
Thanks for the input.

Bellylicious I take your point about a smaller buggy - it might be worth it to invest in one for when we go out in the car. I figure we'll need all 7 seats as my older 2 like to have friends along and as we live rurally, quite often i have to pick up extra children from the school and ferry them around.

wheresthe pimms - have you seen the Seat Alhambra? A friend just got one and it has space behind the seats, but probably not enough for luggage for 6!
It's one I was considering but it is also huge.

Buttonmoon78 I have looked at the Vito - hadn't come across that one before (I don't usually pay attention to cars). It looks amazing - I absolutely love the look of the space. And obviously it's comfortable enough for the whole family to drive around France. Is yours a 6 seater or an 8? Does it take massive amts of petrol to run? Can you park it alright?

Anyway, looks like it won't be an easy decision. And it looks like I might be driving a very large vehicle in the near future!

Have you considered something like a Galaxy and removing one of the seats? That's what we did when we only had 4 and it freed up a lot of room.

We now have a Viano - basically the more car like version of the Vito and it is VERY thirsty. Huge, yes, and v comfy for a holiday to France (had a lovely time and also brought back lots of good wine :o) but wouldn't really recommend if you didn't need a very large vehicle.

I have a Cheverolet Uplander, it has 7 seats, but probably fits 6 in comfortably. I love it.

We have a VW Touran and it is fine and practical. Only have 2xDC and an au pair, so not quite the same as your situation. It is a hell of an improvement on our old Peugeot 306 though, particularly for our frequent trips to France.

And I suppose I like it...certainlly don't dislike it. But I don't love it like I loved my MX5

The newer Galaxy has fold-down back seats. I could fit my tandem double-buggy in the back with the rear-most seats in use (but not much else, mind!).

Tubby do you live overseas? We had an uplander when in the states but you can't get them here in the uk, I did love it, we even camped with it without having to much issues over space.

zannSeat Alhambra just isn't big enough, we have 2 away at weekly boarding school and they have to take big trunks, guitars, amps, skateboards etc etc with them, dread to think how we will do it when or if any of the others go, may be a 2 car journey

Vito diesel all the way dahhling! Petrol is just a non starter with larger vehicles like this. TBH, my car is currently a petrol - my first in years and I hate it. I can't wait to swap it for a diesel.

We'll be getting the 6 seat version on the compact (ha) chassis. It's dead easy to park as the back is as flat as a pancake so where you can see is where it ends and at the front, you're so high you can see everything.

Provided you have windows in the middle section it's classes as a car when using for eg the M6 toll or the Severn Bridge. And as long as it's only 2 rows of seats (ie 6 seats max) it's classed as a commercial vehicle for company car tax purposes - v v v v cheap.

It's v v comfy - loads of leg room for everyone and all the seat backs (in the rear) adjust independently. Last one was silver with privacy in the back - essential for such huge windows as it helps keep everyone out of the glare of the sun - this one will be in black. Now I need to find dh a t shirt with ba baracus on it as it's a bit A Team!

The last one was a sport x so had a massive 3L turbo charged diesel with an auto box. Lovely to drive but not exactly marvellous economy although, as I say, the same, whatever the load. The next one will be a 2.5 manual. It's really not that bad - about the same as an average petrol but with much more grunt. They can really pick their feet up when overtaking.

Comes with lots of bells and whistles too - cruise control, aircon, cd, bluetooth etc etc. We had leather in the last one but not bothering with this one.

I can't praise them enough and love the space. Must admit, I got totally spoiled and when dh got made redundant and we had to give it back we had to use my small family car which was interesting when going away!

Can't wait to get it back again. The only problem I would say is that you suddenly develop lots of mates who need fridges/sofas/washing machines/fence panels/all kinds of crap moving!

Yes, sorry didn't think about not being able to get one in the UK.... sorry OP, your loss, tis a great car!

We have a Citroen C8, 7 seater with electric sliding doors.

What we did was remove one of the rear seats so we have it as a 2-3-1 configuration. DD1 sits in the front during the week and at the back at the weekends when DP is in the car also. I was able to get my Phil and Teds double in the back, and a Maclaren single. With that seat removed we have always been able to get all our luggage in the back for holidays. It does have a bit of space at the back with all 7 seats up and I reckon you could get a double in there.

A friend has 4 DC including rear old twins and puts her buggy in a roof box.

Another has a Mazda (don't know the name of it) but has 5 young DC and fits a twin Nipper 360 in the back which I reckon our C8 could do as well.

I would have the twins in the middle row at each end, your 7yo in the middle on a booster and your 9yo in one of the back seats then remove the other for your pram. Any larger 7 seater like a Galaxy/Alhambra/Sharan/grand Scenic that you can remove the rear seats would do this.

We just bought a 15 year old VW caravelle with 8 seats. Fab :)

I fit 4 in a toyato starlight 3 door 1.3
I have a baby in a rear facing car seat but no boosters or anything like that which helps but if there's a crash they are so tightly packed (with seatbelts i'm not being too flippant) that nobody would move anyway.
It was meant to be an emergency car to last whilst i withdrew my savings for a 7 seater, but I quite like spending £20 a week in petrol rather than £70

Fiat Multipla is a great car. Ugly as sin on the outside but fab on the inside. Yes you can only take 6 but you can take 6 in comfort and have a decent boot.

And because they are ugly as sin they are dirt cheap

i have a landrover discovery which is very practical if a bit ugly. i can just get a pram in the boot (but only umbrella style ones and i likeit because the 3rd row of seats are proper seats and not squashed at all. tend not to drive much so suspect it would cost a lot to run if we didn't walk to school.
when i went on holiday a few years ago i rented the biggest ford you can get and it was amazing. can't remember what it was called and it wasn't very fast loaded up with 7 people plus holiday luggage, but soooo spacious.

I have a Fiat Scudo- 9 seater. Room for a Phil and Teds unfolded in the boot. It's brill and good value too.

we have a Mazda bongo, its fantastic! big boot, the back seats dont really go down, but its designed as a surfer campervan so the middle seats fold down to make a table theres 5 kids in our family

With 7-seaters you have to choose a basic type as follows:

Minivan, medium size (e.g. Sharan)
Minivan, large size (e.g. Grand Voyager)
Van (e.g. Vito)
Medium 4x4 (eg Santa Fe)
Large 4x4 (eg Xc90)
Huge 4x4 (eg GL)

Then there are some specific US imports, eg suburban.

If you know the type(s) your interested in I have done way too much research when we bought one last year

Oh I forgot there are the estates with +2 seats in the boot, eg V70.

Actually, if you can manage with 6 seats you may want to consider the Honda FR-V. Two rows of three seats so you don't eat into the boot. The 2.0 chain-cam is meant to be the one to go for. Drives better than most minivan alternatives as well.

MrMan are you my DH? you sound exactly like him and we have done lots of research and still can't agree on which car suits us so are still driving around in 2 cars

wheresthepimms actually DW drives the car much more than I do, so I did all the research and suggested a few top options based on her answers to some questions, then let her decide between them.

I am still a bit that she did not go for my top choice, even though it clearly had a gold star next to it
:o