Set challenges for Mumsnet SEAT test drivers and see what they think of the car- £200 Love2Shop voucher to be won! NOW CLOSED

[MichelleMumsnet]

This is the feedback thread for the three Mumsnetters who are test driving the SEAT Alhambra.

Here's what SEAT say, "SEAT's seven-seat New Alhambra is ready to reaffirm its pre-eminence in the large MPV market with a UK range that majors on more powerful and efficient new engines, a wealth of new equipment features and extra flashes of contemporary styling. The all-round improvements are set to consolidate Alhambra's enduring popularity, reflected in more than a dozen "best MPV" awards since the current generation model entered the market five years ago. Versatility remains a designed-in quality for the New Alhambra; true to the easy-to-live-with character that has made it such an enduringly popular choice."

Non-testers: we'd like you to set the test drivers challenges to put the SEAT Alhambra to the test! Perhaps you'd like to know how many suitcases they're able to fit into the boot? Or how easy the car is to clean after testers have picked up children who have been at a muddy football practice? However you'd like the Mumsnet testers to put the cars to the test, let us know!

We'll choose 3 of the best or most popular challenges and ask the testers to complete them and feedback about them on this thread. Everyone who posts their ideas on this thread will be entered into a prize draw to win a £200 Love2Shop voucher!

Testers: Please answer the questions below.

Q1. What was your overall impression of the car?
Q2. What did you use the car for? Did you feel like the SEAT Alhambra was up to the task?
Q3. What was your and your DCs favourite aspect of the car?
Q4. How well suited do you think the SEAT Alhambra is to catering for a hectic family lifestyle?
Q5. If it came up in conversation, would you recommend the SEAT Alhambra to friends/family who are in the market for a new family car? Why?

All testers who complete all forms of feedback will be sent a £100 Love2Shop voucher!

Thanks
MNHQ

[BathshebaDarkstone]

Could you comfortably fit a guide dog and a similarly-sized dog into the back?

[purplepandas]

What storage is there inside the car? I mean for books, toys etc? We seem to accumulate a lot in the back of the car for DC and it needs a home. I try to declutter but there is always stuff and I hate it loose in the bottom of my car.

[ISeeIt]

Non tester - leave a sippy cup of milk leaking into one of the seats for the duration then mop up with wipes and give it a 'proper clean' when you get home. How well does it clean up?!

[idleweiss]

Can you fit a folded double buggy & a scooter in the boot easily..and still have room for shopping too! Can you do this in a rush..imagining your late to pick one of your DCs up from an after school club enroute from the supermarket..how quickly can you fit it all in!?

[HannahLI]

Non tester -
Can you get three big car seats across the back at the same time?
Can you fit a child's bike (or two) in the boot as well as other luggage easily?
How long does it take it get the seats down flat? and is it easy to do?

[OnMyShoulders]

We've been looking at 7 seaters recently to accommodate our 5 DC and I wish I'd signed up for this.

I would like to know if the back seats comfortably fit big teens and whether you can still fit a couple of large cases in the back when using all 7 seats?

[SuzCG]

NON TESTER - If two car seats are fitted in the back can you fit a normal passenger in as well - or is it like every car I've ever had, only designed to fit two car seats and a matchstalk person!? Also, how easy is it to manoeuvre the vehicle around a multi storey car park?

[theshooglypeg]

How responsive are the brakes when you need to do an emergency stop? Useful to know as there are so many kamikaze pedestrians who like to hurl themselves into the road!

[CheeseAtFourpence]

Non-tester: can you fit a large Labrador in the back seat with a child seat?

[ottothedog]

Do all mumsnetters own labradors?? :)

Yes, you can definitely fit a large labrador either on the rear seat (esp if the seat is flat as part of the boot - ideal lab size) or on the back seat with a child seat on the other seat
You can also fit a medium dog cage in on one of the flattened rear seats, altho it might be a squeeze to fit a lab in a medium dog cage :)

[Anononooo]

Do the windows open only from the driver's controls or from the back too? Always a battleground in my family.

[ottothedog]

The windows open from the front drivers seat and also from the back. The doors and boot can also be opened from the front drivers seat, or can be locked from the front drivers seat as well, if you prefer, or for safety

[ottothedog]

I've been driving this car for a couple of weeks now so this is my overall review . . .
Q1. What was your overall impression of the car?

I love this car. At first I was quite nervous of driving it, as it is so much bigger even than my current 7 seater, but in fact it has so much tech (cameras, park assist, fab power steering) that it is actually much easier to drive than my smaller 7 seater. The cameras and sensors let me see how close I am to everything around me, so no chance of bumping into something by mistake. The sliding doors mean it is easy to park in supermarket car parks and still get the kids in and out. It accelerates very very well, very powerful engine, so not like driving a minibus or truck (which I thought it might be like). The 3 seats across the back are all full size seats, so suitable for children or adults, and I like that they slide forward and backwards for more leg room as well

Q2. What did you use the car for? Did you feel like the SEAT Alhambra was up to the task?

We used it on school runs, motorway drives to the seaside and to visit family, to go to footie training with extra kids in the back, shopping, and commuting. It is great for any and every type of driving. The only thing I would be unsure of is its fuel efficiency on short journeys eg school run

Q3. What was your and your DCs favourite aspect of the car?

My kids loved the electric sliding doors - just press a button and they open and close - the panoramic roof (again, slides back easily at the push of a button), the heaters in the back and also the heaters in the rear two seats, and the space.

I loved the park assist function once I got the hang of it. I also found the power steering to be v responsive and have really enjoyed the automatic with auto stop. It's very very relaxing to drive which is great when you have kids fighting in the back!


Q4. How well suited do you think the SEAT Alhambra is to catering for a hectic family lifestyle?

Excellent. Lots of space, lots of room, fair few places to store things, drinks holders etc. Easy to clean (we have the leather seats) as most things wipe clean and the seats slide out of the way easily.

Q5. If it came up in conversation, would you recommend the SEAT Alhambra to friends/family who are in the market for a new family car? Why?

yes. It is one of the few 7 seaters with sliding doors, plus 3 full seats across the back, excellent safety with the side air bags right through the car, easy fold rear seats that fold flat, and handles well on the road.

[Crazybit]

Oooh I have the 2011 Alhambra, so this is really interesting. I'd like to know how it did on fuel efficiency.

[Crazybit]

Although mine is a few years older, I spent a lot of time choosing my car, it did well on safety, it has sliding doors which are ace, the back seats slightly recline and are comfortable for adults which was a big issue for me as I have a teenager that usually goes in the back.

The best things that I love are parking assist, auto hand break, auto windscreen wipers and even auto full beam.

I can get my sola city in the boot, even with the seats up plus a baby bag and various other bags. We went away abroad for a week with 2 adults, a teenager, 2 kids and an infant and all the luggage, and it was easy to get it all in.

It is the ultimate family car imo.

[MisForMumNotMaid]

Non tester:

Can you put up the rear seats and get dc in without waking the asleep in car seat baby/ toddler/ child in the middle row?

(My zafirra has this annoying thing with having to slide the middle seats right forwards to setup the boot seats. You have to undo all the seatbelts as well or you can't slide the middle row of seats back)

[RueDeWakening]

You can put the rear seats up from the boot, so setting them up wouldn't be a problem.

So long as you can tip one of the side middle row seats forward to access the back row, you'd be fine to get people in and out without waking a sleeper (have done it with noisy 5 year old climbing out of the back, so definitely do-able!). We've had the toddler in the middle of the middle seats (group 1 car seat).

Am gutted I'm going to have to give the car back :o

[Cintacmrs123]

sticky finger test- how easy is it to wipe down when sticky apple juice fingers grab the handles and inside of the door panels?

[AnonyMusty]

The Alhambra is amazing.

[mummytime]

Non tester:
Another for an adult sitting in the middle of three seat, and ideally being driven for 1hr+. Is it comfortable?

[AnonyMusty]

Yes!

[Wjjkl]

Non tester
Can you fit an adult between two child's car seats in the back? And is the adult comfortable? Or just squashed?

[confusedofengland]

Right, we've had the car for just over 2 weeks now, so I feel ready & qualified to answer these questions

Q1. What was your overall impression of the car? We (me, DH, DSes aged 6,4,1) love the car. It has all the benefits of a bigger car - such as lots of boot space, little pockets, ability to carry 7 people - but drives like a smaller car i.e. it didn't feel clunky to drive or feel like you were driving a van. There are also some extras which we love - Park Assist parking sensors, built-in sun visors on the middle row windows, ability to use mobile phone via steering wheel, excellent cruise control, electric handbrake, touch-screen stereo & start-stop engine.

Q2. What did you use the car for? Did you feel like the SEAT Alhambra was up to the task? We used the car for our day-to-day life as a family of 5 - trips to the supermarket, swimming lessons, outings to the park, a 250-mile round trip to visit family, a day out with grandparents. It was definitely up to the task. The sheer amount of space in the car made it very easy to do these things - you can fit plenty of shopping/bikes/pushchairs in the boot, when 7 people are in the car the middle seats can move forward for a bit more leg room at the back. There are also little extras like individual heat/air for the front & back, ditto radio, that make things a bit easier when travelling with young DC like ours.

Q3. What was your and your DCs favourite aspect of the car? DH & I had different favourite aspects of the car. DH liked the fact that the very back seats are so easy to fold up & down. I like the fact that the rear doors are sliding doors, which makes it easy to get the DC in & out of the car, even in regular parking spaces.

Q4. How well suited do you think the SEAT Alhambra is to catering for a hectic family lifestyle? I think it is very well suited to a hectic family life because of the features I have mentioned above.

Q5. If it came up in conversation, would you recommend the SEAT Alhambra to friends/family who are in the market for a new family car? Why? I would (and have) definitely recommend the Alhambra to families looking for a new car, because it is, quite simply, the best 7-seater car that I have ever been in - more spacious than our former Zafira, less clunky than my parents' Citroen C8. It fits 3 car seats (a stage 1 & 2 high-backed boosters) across the middle row very comfortably & leaves plenty of room in the boot for all the equipment we need for a week/long weekend away. It also doesn't seem too thirsty on diesel (1 tank lasted roughly 500 miles). The little extras make it feel luxurious to drive.

Thanks to MN & SEAT for giving us the opportunity to drive this car

[confusedofengland]

Missed a bit on Q3 - the DC liked having their own temperature/radio control & DS1 was fascinated by the touch-screen stereo!

[RueDeWakening]

We have waved off our Alhambra, with a tear in our eyes this afternoon

I'll be back this evening to do proper feedback on the whole experience, but in summary it's been very positive. And we might be in the market for an Alhambra now...