Cars! Blooming great big cars...

[NotSoDesperateHousewife]

Oh they're the bane of my life! Our car is slowly dying a death and we'll need to replace it next year. when it's finally paid off We have 4 DCs but I'm beginning to really not want a 6/7 seater - do any of you with 4 DCs get away with this? DH works long hours and weekends and DS1 spends 50% of his weekends with ex so realistically there's not much time when we're all in the car. DH will, hopefully, have passed his own driving test so a runaround for him is a possibility next year too.

I'm thinking that holidays/big days out we could just hire a 7 seater if we really need to. Is this a bad idea? Will I immediately regret it?

We don't have other people in the car so I'm not worried about losing that seat. Most of the time it's just me and 4DCs or me, DH & 3DCs.

Seems bizarre to me to buy a car that doesn't seat you all. After all, no one TOLD you to have four DC, so it seems rather strange to be getting all pissed off with having to buy a car that is big enough. Surely that's part and parcel of having a big family?

I'd check out car hire prices first before you decide not to
Get a 7 seater. I reckon a week's hire of a 7 seater in high season could add the best part of £1000 to the cost of a holiday.

We struggled with a Touran and 4 kids for years thinking once we got past the pushchair stage it would be easier but have just got a Ford Tourneo Custom. It's not just the seats, it's the space for 6 people's stuff, shopping. There's no having to rearrange seats when we all go out, no having to remove seats before going shopping. Last time we went on holiday i looked at hiring a proper 7 seater and it was $1000 a week. Just not worth it.

Get a smaller 7 seater - eg the c-max??

Why don't you buy one of those cars with extra seats in the boot? S-Max, Zafira, Grand C4 picasso type of car. Most of the time you can just drive around with 5 seats and a massive boot.

The massive boot is great for bikes, scooters and the like. The cost of buying a roof box for when you went on holiday would probably be way cheaper than hiring a 7 seater.

I've never been a big car fan, I've always driven little cars....metro, Clio, corsa and the last was an aygo (I loved that car!), hubby always drove the big family car and mine was used to take ds2 to school and any running around I needed to do. Then came ds3 and I realised my beloved car was just too small, dh also realised his family car was too small for us all to be comfortable...ds1 is a very leggy teenager lol. So dh replaced his car with a 7seater and I've used it ever since, I love the fact that all my kids fit comfortably in it, I can have a boot full of shopping and the pushchair, we can cart all ds1 musical equipment about with ease and to be honest it's not as daunting to drive as I anticipated it was and I actually park it much better then dh lol

Sorry, should add mine isn't one of those full blown 7 sweaters, its one with the extra 2 seats in the back that fold in to the floor

I've got a Renault Grand scenic. The boot is great for shopping and the size of the car feels just like a mondeo type size. ive only got 3DCs but like to split them up cos they fight .

^
Same car as Castiels
The back seats are tiny and for short people but useful to have and the car doesn't feel big to drive. Great boot too.

We have a ford Galaxy and I love it. 3dcs and we always have one seat up at the back so we have a reasonably big boot. It drives well and parking sensors make it perfect for me

I used to have a Zafira and the back seats were mostly down, leaving lots of boot space. Seats were easy to pop up/down, and could be done individually, leaving half the boot for stuff. Not v exciting car but not massive either.

We have an smax (4dc). In reality I think that it'd piss you off having to make other arrangements when you need to transport all 6 of you. We initially had a 5 seater when dc4 was born. Live in central London, so car not often used, but it just became a complete pain I the arse and we brought a car when dc4 was 1yo. Smax is pretty small, smallest car with full size seats on the last row iirc. Would go with the above suggestions of a verso, smax or Zafira etc. we manage to go 2 weeks camping in France with our car also, it's a squeeze, but big enough to accommodate all our needs.

I have a toyota corolla verso, bought specifically because of the large boot, I'd say I only use my extra boot seats once or twice a year, I only have 2 children but the luxury of not packing in stuff into boot is worth it.

I will downsize next time as will be finished with buggies but in your position I wouldn't.

I do know a family who have 5 children in house plus 2 extra stepchildren at weekends and they just use a regular car, but have lots of family around so may divide out that way.

I'm not sure why the question deserved an arsey answer, I'm only wondering if people make it work or not

Sounds like it's best to stick with the 7 seats, we do have a zafira so they're optional is just so expensive to replace with another 7 seater when it goes! Never mind, as has been pointed out, it's all my fault anyway so I shouldn't even dream of considering a way around it.

I'm tempted by the s-max anyway, is it reliable? I never want another zafira again after the hassle with this one!

My friend has 4 children and drives a VW golf as her husband has a separate car for work. She hates it and is desperate for a 7 seater as they find it a pain at weekends when they all want to go out together. Also as they get older they sometimes want running about with friends or friends coming over after school so it's nice to have an extra seat or two

Yeah, I'd recommend the smax. We had a passat before it. It's not as nice a build, and it's clunky to drive under 4th gear but functionally it's great, I think a nice-looking car.

I'm going the other way.

We've just had baby #4 and are ready to replace our Zafira (which I hate). Given that I am often taking friends/grandparents with us on trips out, we have decided to go for a minibus van proper massive thing with 9 or more seats.

The minibus vans are quite comparable in cost to 7 seaters anyway, I was expecting them to be mega-bucks.

DH then drives a small, nippy 5 seater for work. If money allows we might consider a cheap to run third car (!) so that when it's just me and the kids I can have a small 5 seater but the tank is there is needed. But if money doesn't allow this I am just going o drive the minibus all the time.

NotSoDesperateHousewife - An alternate to not buying a 7 seater would be to be prepared to travel in two cars when the whole family are present.

Before out minibus plan we were worried how we would manage holidays with 7 in the car (DH, me, 4 DC and my Mum) and no boot space. So we had decided that we would go on holiday in both our cars. Petrol costs for was cheaper than hiring a minibus for a week.

our 7 seater was sooo expensive to run! fuel, tax and insurance where huge and we only justified using it maybe one day a fortnight and only local places. So i sold it and bought a citreon c1 for me and 3 dc's. so unbelievable cheap. if we go out we use dh's car (5 seater) and when we have dsd then we take both cars. rarely go more then 20miles on a day out and i figured the amount we saved in fuel/tax and insurance would easily cover 2 amounts of fuel and some!
yes a 7 seater is more convenient but not always more economic then running 2 small cheap cars.

V similar situation here!!

I'm 12 weeks with DC4 and have a Fiat Grande Punto (5 seater hatchback). DH works away a lot and DS is with his paternal grandparents pretty much every Saturday. Once a month they all go to my parents' for the weekend. When this one is born I'll have two kids in school and one in nursery 3 days a week so lots of time with just one or two kids.

I'd love to keep the little car, but will prob see how it goes after this one is born then maybe get a Zafira. Tax can be paid monthly and insurance quotes aren't too much more. DH does drive but doesn't have a car - otherwise we'd go out in two cars!

Really praying it works out...

I'm due to replace my small 5 seater next autumn and am thinking if getting a 7 seater poss zafira.

We have 3dcs now but maybe/probably will have another in next couple of years.

I'm often running extra people (gps, DCs friends, my non driving friends and their DCs) in the car and think I would get good use out of the extra seats.

I've hired a zafira before and didn't find it too big to drive.

But I'm worried about running costs because I'd be using it to commute 20-25 miles each way 5 days a week.

I've got a Ford Cmax and I still love it 2 years on.

I wanted a car that could fit my 3 dcs plus a couple of friends but most of the 5 + 2, 7 seaters had seats in the boot that just weren't comfortable for me, as they seemed very close to the floor, so very little drop for your legs. And it's got sliding back doors which are fab!

It doesn't drive like a big car (it's based on the Ford Focus chassis) and the boot is plenty big enough when the back seats aren't in use, which is most of the time. (Dh hardly ever comes out with us, eldest dc goes in the front and i have a gap between the twins in the middle.)

I know that's not what you asked, but while I sometimes miss the mini that I had before the twins were born, this car has been the perfect compromise.

Interesting contrast between different people's situations. Have you looked into leasing?

I am 33 weeks with twins, and we already have a son who's nearly 4. So three in car seats means we're waiting on the arrival of our brand new Kia Carens. It was about the smallest 7 seater around - we only need the 7 seats because 3 car seats in one row is impossible. We've gone the leasing route because then we're not stuck with it if we feel we don't need it in a few year's time. Plus with the leasing we know exactly what's going out of the bank each month.