2 car seats in a car - 3rd adult?

[Tangle]

Given DC2 is on the way we're looking at larger cars so that we have a chance of fitting the 4 of us and luggage for a weekend away in without using a roof box. There's masses of vehicles that would enable that with ease, but in very few of them would it be possible for a 3rd adult to travel in comfort - and for those where there is space to put the adult in, getting into the centre back seat would be a challenge. We're trying to decide whether to shorten our list to mini-MPVs so that we have more flexibility on seats, or whether its just unnecessary.

So - if you have a family of 2 adults & 2 DC, how easy do you find it put a 3rd adult into your car and/or do you just not want to?

we have an A3 and it is far too tight
if the car seats are not isofix you can get more space in the middle

the other option is you put one child in the front and 2 adults, 1 child in the back
(for this you need no airbag in the front)

X Reg Megane Scenie - one kid in car seat on each side, me driving, DH passenger seat and Great Granny in the middle!

Scenic is ok as it has three proper seat belts in back so DCs seats can go next to each other. much comfier than sitting in between two child seats.

we have a kia sedona which has three individual seats in the middle row and two in the back. we have taken the two back seats out so there is plenty of room for the dogs, pram plus bags etc. we had a citroen c5 estate before but even in such a big car, the person in the middle in the back was squashed between two car seats

Same as us - EldonAve. The A3 has been great (before DC I drove a Peugeot 106 and then an MR2 - I did NOT want a big car!), but its going to be just too small with 2 DC.

I should have added that DD is still RF and we plan on keeping her that way for as long as possible. So for a while at least we'll need to be able to use 2 RF car seats, both with support legs.

HinnyPet - how easy is it for Great Granny to get into the middle? We've seen a number of cars that look as though the centre rear seat would have space for an adult, but just can't see how the adult would get in without taking the car seat out (other than climbing through from the front).

Thanks for the ideas, ladies - keep them coming

Great Granny is only 5ft so she can get in fine

Ah - our most likely 3rd adult is my sister, who's 5'11...

Reault scenic is good for sittng in the middle seat between 2 car seats. Even my mum is happy to sit there.

My little sis, who is 6ft 1 has also been known to squeeze in. However you need to be careful of unlocking the seatbelts on either side when you strap the middle person in, it's so easy to do accidentally! Little sis was squashed mind, but Great Granny was not..

I would have thought width was more important than the height

We've got a VW Passatt estate and a Skoda Fabia. It's not possible in either.

I have a VW touran - it has 3 seats in the back - all the same size - you can get an adult and 2 seats in.

It also has two fold down seats in the back - which you probably won't need. But it does have a big boot when the seats are down so you would not need to use a roofbox (although it does have rails built on to the roof).

We have a VW Passat estate and my parents have a Vauxhall Astra, we can fit an adult between the two child seats in both but probably wouldn't want to do it for long journeys as its a bit of a squash. I suppose it depends on how often you might need to take a third adult? The VW estate has a lovely big boot though and will fit everything in our house in it (seems like anyway!)

EldonAve - I was thinking flexibility might be more critical (in which case DS fine, but MIL, about 5'5, might have more problems...)

That is the dilema - do we need to take more than 2 adults often enough to make this an issue? But then in a way it would make it easier by removing all the estates from the list and leaving MPVs...

DH's currently quite taken with the Peugeot 5008 - only problem is it doesn't come out till Jan and DC2 is due at the end of Jan. I'd really rather have it sorted this side of Xmas if I can.

Does the 308SW come with extra seats as standard now?

We have just accepted that we don't drive anyone else about without hiring an extra car

We have had a BMW 3 series, Renault Megane, Skoda Octavia and Nissan Note.

Possible in all cars, but very uncomfortable in the BMW.

Megane and Octavia better but not for long journeys.

Note was the best of them. You can push the whole back seat back a bit so that you have more space to get in and out.

The width of the car is not so important, it is whether the back seat is moulded, ie. BMW had two distinct seats so the car seats cannot be pushed to the edge of the car making more space in the middle.

We thought about an MPV but decided for the couple of times a year that we actually need to take someone with us, it was not worth driving a huge car the rest of the year.

How often do you have an extra passenger?

Had an Audi A6 - enormous in every way but still couldn't fit ANYONE between the back seats. We now have an alhambra - butt ugly but extremely useful, reliable etc, etc - I quite like the old bird now!! (well, middle aged bird)

We have a subaru impreza and I can get inbetween the kids' isofix seats in the back, so we can take 5.

We have a skoda octavia estate and a skoda fabia.

Can fit slimmish adult between 2 car seats in the back of the octavia. Is uncomfortable and very difficult to get in.

No chance in fabia.

i have a clio, and have traveled in between the 2 car seats in the back many times (with dh driving, his mum in passenger seat), it's a tight squeeze, but is do-able. dh's car is a mercedes estate, so much more space in his to do the same.