S max or grand scenic

[cuckoowith2]

Hi all,

Baby number 3 on the way so need a bigger car! Currently got a newish c max which is lovely, looking at the slightly older s max as will have about £7000 budget or could get a newer grand scenic. Anyone got these cars and could tell me which is best? My oldest is 4 and in a high back booster, second child will be 3 when baby comes and possibly in high back booster by then too as he's a big boy and almost at max weight for his group 1 now. So will need enough room for 3 biggish car seats! Tia xx

C Max is big enough for 3 children under 4. If you want to upsize worth considering C Max Grand.

I definitely can't fit another car seat in the back of my car, iv tried with a friends baby seat. We did look at the grand c max but ideally I'd like something I can fit all 3 children on the second row of seats so I don't have to have one right at the back x

Sorry, missed the two in high back booster bit.

We have a picasso and can easily get all 3 across the back.

Love love love our S Max...replaced the first with a newer one, soo comfortable, soo versatile, soo fabulous for the family!!

I have a picasso so can't comment on the two models you're choosing between but speaking as a mum of 3 with two in high backs and one that's just moved from 0+ into next stage RFING seat you need to make sure whether the car you choose has underfloor storage in rear. This can drastically affect which RFING seat you get as baby no 3 grows. My baby is 10 mths and is already too heavy for infant carrier but by law has to RF until 15 mths (not a problem as I want them RFING til 4 or 5 yrs if poss). Some of the seats I wanted to get are not able to fit my picasso due to underfloor storage compartments. I can't put baby in middle (to miss compartments) else will break my back lifting them in and out each time). Having googled it this is a big problem with many larger cars. Ford do a filler, citroen had only just given go ahead to extend leg prop to bottom of compartment. renault to my knowledge do not yet to filler and do not permit seat foot prop to extend to bottom of box. Thus leaves literally about 2/3 group 1 seats to choose from!

To add: I realise not everyone wants extended RFING so if you have light/average size babies and don't want extended RFING then I guess underfloor storage problem won't affect you

Iv heard this about the under floor storage, I had done abut of research and ford do a filler so I am leaning towards s max. I'd ideally like to have group 0+ seat on an isofix base anyway so this would be a problem for me. Hoping to have the oldest in the middle as she can get herself in and out easier!

Samlovesdilys how easy is it fitting 3 seats in your s max, does it fit quite wide seats easily or do you have to go for narrower ones? X

I've had both with my 3 dc. LOVE Ford HATED Renault. The Renault constantly broke down and cost ££££ to fix, the Ford totally 100% reliable.

See I'm not as thrilled on the ownership of a ford as above poster (had a focus with 2.0 TDCI engine and it was constantly breaking and a money drain. Nearly went for s max or galaxy this time but couldn't face potential repeat so chickened out and went for picasso (I realise these are also known to be either great or terrible but it was better for me than a second ford issue). Some ford engines are better than others (I had a 05 reg one and apparently that engine up to I think the 07 model year was known to be a particularly troubled one)

Overall ford are definitely likely to be better than Renault engine wise (incidentally I had a clip previously too and by god that was awful for electrical faults!)

Clio not clip

Iv got a ford c max at the moment, we've had it just over a year and not had any problems to far. It's a 2011 model, if we got an s max it would be a slightly older one, 2008/2009 model as the newer ones are just too expensive for us. It does worry me that it would mean more problems though

My biggest was in the middle on a fixed seat, then smaller ones each side. Still loads of room, seriously!
Ours seem v reliable (touch wood!!) and are fab for packing everyone and everything up for holidays...

I have an smax and 3DC, 2 in high back boosters and one in infant carrier with isofix base. It works really well. The underfloor compartment came with the filler in situ. The three middle row seats are all isofix and move independent of each other. The boot is massive without the third row up, still room for shopping and an umbrella from ld buggy with third row up. We are delighted with ours...