Big car for family of 6?

[neutralfoxx]

Just had my fourth baby and we have a Ford S Max, feeling a bit of a squeeze really even though there is enough seats. My children are all under 7 so we still have big car seats and a double pram so when everything is in the car it is packed. We usually like to do holidays in the Uk too but the car is definitely not big enough.

Does anyone have any recommendations? We would be buying second hand

I’m expecting my 4th in early Summer. We are looking at VW Multivan and equivalents. I think we have narrowed it down to van type cars unfortunately.

We have a Volvo XC90 which I do love but would buy a van next time or one with a minibus style door to reach the back seats as the kids have to climb through the boot or middle seat as the car seats are in the way.

there was enough space in the Volvo for our double buggy and with all the seats down. We did use a roof box for holidays though.

Modern vans/van like cars are nicer than you'd think. Think the high driving position ( higher than a RR ) has a lot to do with it.

We’ve had two Hyundai i800s. They’re 8 seaters with a huge boot and worked brilliantly for us as a family of 6.

We have a ford transit custom. We get in the kids, the dogs, shopping, travelling gear and we have loads of space. Before that we had a bmw 520 estate and the ford feels much roomier.

Seat Alhambra for us. Previously had a VW touran which I loved but as kids got a little bigger we upgraded. Love the sliding doors it’s a game changer. Vw sharan is the equivalent but more ££

@neutralfoxx Seat Alahambra. Most recent year is 2020. You can get a really good one under 20K. 7 seater which fold down into a huge boot if you're not using them. One of the few cars were the middle seat is isofix too.

Alahambra can have leather seats too! Don't bother with the panaramic roof though.

You need a van, the Viano, Tourneo, i800 etc. We've had two tourneos, the best was two front seats (rather than 3 as you can climb through to the back) then have 2 in the middle (again for ease of access) and three in the rear. Still leaves a massive boot big enough for bikes/double pram/trombones etc. Also has slidey doors on both sides. They came with beepers and aren't that much larger than an S Max length wise but oh my god the relief at what you could squeeze inside in comparison.

SEAT Alhambra with a roof box. 5 isofix points is a definite winner.

My favourite 7 seater we’ve had was a Chrysler Voyager with stow and go - it looks like a big car, not a van but had sliding doors and there’s so much room we used to just chuck all the suitcases in with the dc’s. There was like a channel in the middle and the seats were either side so they couldn’t kick and punch one another either and all had their own space. I bloody loved that car!

What's a matter with the panoramic roof? We have the VW Sharan (same car) with one...

OP, I would also recommend VW Sharan/ Seat Alhambra too if you don't want a van size car. Very good value. My cousin has a multivan though and I'm jealous. When the kids are older, think we'll consider one of them primarily!

We’ve got 4, age 8 and under and have just bought a Ford Tourneo Connect. It’s not exactly sexy to look at but is great, comfy seats can fit loads in and will do us until the kids are adults I reckon. Weirdly it’s also cheaper to buy then an Smax, Galaxy etc

My NDN with four children swears by her Kia EV9. It replaced an XC90 and she much prefers it.

Read up about wet belt engines before you choose.

Don't use it and button is iffy. Have to press down really hard now to get it to work.

We’ve had a Seat Alhambra since my fourth was born in 2014. Annoyingly it’s a six-months-too-old-to-comply-with
-ULEZ diesel model, and we’re in London. Anyway, after years of h’mming and ha’ing and holding onto it because we just bloody love the car (despite having to pay £12.50 every time we drive it anywhere) we are picking up a 2021 petrol VW Sharan on Thursday. Basically exactly the same car, but ULEZ friendly. Although our kids are a fair bit older now, I can’t see how we could manage with a smaller car when we’re used to at least three full sized seats in the back and the kids aren’t exactly getting smaller. The massive boot is a huge advantage for our two dogs and big Ikea trips too! One hundred percent recommend!