What car to buy.................. help................

[raindroprhyme]

So those of you with 3 or more how do you transport your brood.

DH on Auto trader now and asking for some MN wisdom.

Cheers.

ps (not even pregnant yet)
pps (proper planning prevents piss poor performance) apparently

[struwellpeter]

Our old galaxy was the 1.9 diesel which was an Audi engine and brilliant. It was the build quality of the cabin that let it down. The new one is good so far but I'll let you know in ten years' time how it compares.

[struwellpeter]

You'd have to look at the Galaxy specs for the models to work that out. My impression is that the old one was bigger without the seats in the back (huge in fact) but what a faff it was to move and store the seats. We used ours with 6 seats all the time then put one in for carrying an extra as otherwise the folded seat took up quite a lot of room.
Then we forgot to put it in the odd time we needed it and had all four dcs wanting to be the unrestrained one hiding from the police on the floor.

The new one has marginally more room with all the seats up and plenty of space with them down. DH slept in it the other night when on a camp.

[HeinzSight]

struwellpeter, I'm debating whether to get a new shape Galaxy or the shape before, ie an 06 reg. Is the boot in the new shape bigger than the previous one?

[struwellpeter]

We have 4 dcs and the big ones are bigger than me now. Thought about the s-max and touran, but really we have to have a least 6 adult sized seats, so after 11 years of a faithful galaxy we replaced it with ....another galaxy. Love the fold away seats and it's much quieter than the old one...and doesn't leak in the rain. Not sure about all the automated bits yet. Don't really need a silly bleep to tell me I'm reversing into a tree/car when the dcs are quite well trained. Am enjoying all the fuel consumtion guage; now I can prove to dh that I drive much more economically than he does.

[HeinzSight]

I've got a Renault Grand Scenic which is 'OK' it's a petrol and is a real fuel guzzler. I've had a fair few problems with it, but thankfully I bought an extended warranty for it. We're expecting baby No 4 so are going to have to get a bigger car!!

[raindroprhyme]

def egg when i win the lotto i will have 2 and DH will not be allowed to drive either.

[thisisyesterday]

I Nearly have 3 (due in 3.5 weeks)

have a volvo v70

[micromum]

I have 4 kids ages 8, 6, 2 and 8 months and we got a Honda Frv 3+3, the reason i love it is because i can park in tight spaces and its fun to drive.

[scoutandjem]

Audi Q7 - SIl has one - beautiful, nippy and v roomy (too pricey for us

[Egg]

Thank you Heated! I cornered a family with the identical model to the one we have ordered (we went for Titanium as I needed park assist and DH wanted tinted windows ) and they loved theirs. The dad said he chose it as it was the least like a bus .

Raindrop do you mean this one???? Slightly cooler than the 7-seaters .

[Heated]

Hi Egg, sorry it's taken me a while to see your post.

Have owned Fords very happily and the Galaxy is still in the running, but found the SMax a harsh ride, especially at slower speeds - the salesman described it as 'robust'. Maybe just the model we tried, but enough for us to favour the Touran.

[raindroprhyme]

thank you for your responses.
i fancy the peel your face of Audi, but doubt i would ever get to drive it.

[throckenholt]

we have a mazda mpv (big) and a volkswagen touran (not quite so big). 3 kids, 2 dogs, occasional grandparents or friends.

[Egg]

I have a friend with a Galaxy who doesn't like it (not sure what reasons though). For us it was a toss up between Touran and S-max and they were very similar on size / boot capacity / fuel consumption etc (so DH tells me) but chose s-max as prefer the look of it to Touran.

Heated dare I ask why you discounted the s-max (twice )?

[liahgen]

we had emina, also ancient. Lasted 2 years but just be warned, when they start going wrong, (big stuff) noone wants to touch em cos they're imported, and get expensive to fix. They do come in 8 seats too without losing space.

Got Nissan Serena now, same seat arrangement as emina. loads boot space. Looks a bit crap but goes well, and very reliable. (if a bit noisy, )

[catnipkitty]

Hi

We have 5 yr old and 4 yr old twins, so 3 booster seats in a row!! Had the Ford Galaxy which was fine but when it died we bought a Kia Sedona. Really roomy, and sliding doors fab in a car park, but drinks fuel (we have a diesel) and is very wide (tho I got used to driving it quite quickly)

C x

[Heated]

Obviously we really disliked the SMax to discount it twice!

[Heated]

Have discounted Zafira, Sharan, Picasso, SMax, Verso, SMax, Grand Scenic, HRV and probably a few I've forgotten, we've narrowed our choices down to the Ford Galaxy and the Volkswagen Touran for practicality.

[Egg]

We have just bought a Ford S-max (have three children aged 3.2 / 1.4 / 1.4). Not actually got it yet (waiting weeeeeeeeeeks grr) but it seemed the best for our situation as can fit three car seats on middle row of seats leaving the two extra seats free for friends / family / more luggage space.

[1973magpie]

Galaxy is great for our three (9 years, 2 years & 4.5 months), and you can get friends in too! It also does around 44 mpg, which is pretty good I think?

Can you tell I love my new car

[DorisIsAPinkDragon]

Have recently had this dilemma, could not get 3 car seats into our focus cmax, so have upgarded to a 7 seater kia sedona which although like a bus is absolutely FAB, also looked at galaxy/ alhambra/ touran/ c8 etc

You need to make sure that when seats are in they are not too close along the row otherwise there is a risk of "buckle crunch" from a side imapct ( seat hits buckle nxt to it and buckle flies open releasing seat)

Good luck and enjoy

[FigmentOfYourImagination]

I have 3 kids (17, 15.5 & 6) and have a Focus now. Much better. Still roomy enough (although admittedly only 1 car seat and that is a booster).

DH has an Audi RS6 saloon (510 bhp, total monster).

DH's car is massive and has loads of room. The A6 is the non peel your face off version and if you get the estate there is stacks of boot space too