Twin Mums - what kind of car do you have?

[ConfusedBiscuit]

OK so I really need to start thinking about shopping as my twins are due in July/August

Top of the list we really need to change our car - currently have 3 door VW Polo which I really don't think will do the job with 2 babies!

Everyone I know with 2 small children seems to have some kind of people carrier type thing - is this the best idea?. Have been looking at Seat Altea, Renault Scenic, Mercedes A Class etc, but don't want it to be bigger than necessary.

The main issues I'm thinking about are...

1. A car that's reasonably high off the ground so that I can get two babies/car seats in and out easily without killing my back

1. Am thinking of getting a side by side buggy like the Mountain buggy so need a boot that's big enough for it to fit. Also needs to be big enough for us + twins to be able to go away with luggage/buggy/other baby stuff

1. We live in London with on-street parking in a busy area so needs to be easyish to park and not too enormous

What do you reckon?

We have Citroen Picasso which has been perfect. Before had Peugeot Estate which used to bang head on everytime I strapped the twins in and strain my back.

Picasso has loads of room and can fit third car seat in middle (twins nearly 3 and pregnant again).

It has spacious boot - we can fit our nipper double in, plus enormous ski bag we use for kids plus rucksacks for us and travel cots.

And if DH and I together in car and kids screaming, I can climb through and sit in the middle comfortably on long journeys to hold hands on both sides.

Spacious but not too big - I'd really recommend it. According to DH it is also excellent on safety, reliability, fuel economy etc.

Congrats on your twin pregnancy! My girls were August babies too.

.....prepare for whatever you buy to be wrecked!

When we discovered that the monozygotes were en route (in addition to two slightly larger urchins) we purchased a 3 year old diesel Galaxy for an obscene sum. This was January 2001. The venerable machine is still in my possession, minus a radio, many pieces plastic trim, some external trim (legacy of Longleat visit), but has gained much external, er, "distressing". The inside resembles a chicken shed, both visually and in fragrance.

The urchins refer to it lovingly as "Scratchy"

It is still going though. And is large enough without being unwieldy. I now see little point in buying expensive new cars to be christened by my unruly brood!

I second the car being wrecked!! No matter how hard I try there are usually a few items of footwear (not neccessarily matching),a selection of toys and varying amounts of rubbish. Added in to that I have horses so there is currently hay sprinkled through the boot and bags and baskets of associated paraphenalia . (Just to clarify,the horses don't go in the car )

That's such a relief - our car permanently looks like someone has emptied a bin into it.

I half heartedly pick the toys and random objects that the girls "had" to bring with them up every night and shove them in the boot. But the floor is still covered with bits of biscuit and hats and sandals and ripped out flaps from "lift the flap" books! It just gets messy again so quickly when I do try and clean it!

We have a work car too and at least that's relatively clean which is comforting at times.

We have a VW Touran which we love. Have 1yr old twins and only bought it 3 months ago. Before we were fighting with a BMW 3 series which boot was too small to fit buggy in... just a nightmare.

I love the Touran cos it is easy to park (also on street in London), the babies are quite high up so can see out and are much happier, I can sit in between them in the back on longer journeys and keep them amused (a screaming rear facing child is extremely stressful!!!), we can fit the Maclaren and the Nipper in the back, or one of them and all the stuff for a weekend away (travel cots, etc). It is also a nice comfy drive and good fuel economy etc. Based on a Golf so you'll be quite used to it having a Polo.

Although just reading how old this thread is (am new to mumsnet, only just surfacing after 12 mths of nappies and bottles) you might have bought a car by now!

On some makes of KIA you currently get £1000 off if you have twins under 6 months. (Infact you get £500 per child under 6 months... and if you have 5 children under 6 months they give you a free car... how likely is that to happen...!)

I've got an A-Class. My other half has a huge VW Passat and my car fits the babies' car seats more comfotably!