Parents of 3 or more. What car do you drive?

[girlsyearapart]

Hi I am due in august with dc3. The dds will be 2 and 3 in September.Anyway we will struggle to fit into the car we have now so are looking to buy a new one.

I am not the world's most confident driver so I don't want a bus but would like a 7 seater so if dc4 ever makes an appearance we wouldn't have to change again.

Budget 5-7 grand.

Thanks.

Hi DC 3 arrived in June last year and we ended up xchanging our c-max (tiny middle seat) for a Kia Sedona.

It is a bus but the slide-y doors are great when holding onto 3 under 5s, I can zap the doors from a distance and they are open by the time I get to the car and then can bundle the children in. The space in the back also means that I can physically get in and make sure the middle child in secure in her seat.

On the down side it is not desperately fuel efficent (we have an aygo for child free journeys).

Good luck

lovemynano - XC60 was voted What Car of the Year I think, so has to be pretty good. Meant to be great to drive. I was keen to get one but DH insisted on the XC90 because it's bigger We do have a dog, canoes, hopefully a little tow along boat next year etc though!

We already have a garden strimmer, leaf vacuum (and loads of other crap superfluous garden paraphernalia) so a Volvo didn't seem to grown up

too grown up

Thanks amazonian, it's the safety stuff I like the look of - collision avoidance etc. Luckily no canoes (yet)!

lol a bit at legalwannabe - the Q7 would be a rather enormous hike in price wouldn't it?!

I have a Mercedes R Class and am about to swap our other car for a Landrover Discovery, but we really do need 4 wheel drive where we live, which both of these have.

I don't think that either of these will be within your budget girlsyearsapart (unless you had a fairly old Disco), but adding to thread in case it helps others who are looking.

Our 2nd choice after the Disco would have been a Volvo XC90.

Oh yes, you can't go wrong with a Volvo on the safety front. I love the look (superficial!) of the XC60.

Sorry, hijack over...

SIL has Citroin Grand C4 - loves it.

Friend has Vauxhall Zafira - loves it!

Another friend has an S-Max - loves that too, although think they might not have been around long enough to get one for under £10,000? Could be completely wrong though. I think they're great to drive, we almost got one last year.

ford galaxy
v.comfortable,v.reliable
mine are out of baby seats now but i think you'll appreciate the space esp.on long car journeys when you can separate them lol

We have an Audi A6 (the big estate) which can have seats fitted in the boot. GREAT car, brilliant MPG and very roomy.

Toyotta corolla verso - bought it second hand and it had high mileage but i really like it. came out very high in the which safety guides as well. we have 3 DC as well.

we're getting an S-max. test drove the renault and it was like driving a tank it was so slow off the mark and was struggling at 70. SIL has Touran and I'm pretty sure you couldn't get 3 car seats in it as I struggled to squeeze in between 2 car seats.

thanks everyone for all the replies.

looked on auto trader, couldn't get a mitsubishi grandis for my budget anywhere near here so that's out for now.

think the shortlist atm is ford galaxy, renault grand scenic, citreon c8 (though bit bus-esque)

canoe.. now that is Grown Up

We have had a scenic which we liked a lot, a Zafira which we didn't like at all and now have a corolla verso which we LOVE.

another vote for the zafira!

very mixed reviews on the zafira..

not so keen on getting one, my sister has a black one. my dad has said whatever I get don't get a black zafira as he needs to know who is coming..

Touran quite comfortably fits in two high backed boosters and a baby seat. Have you looked at estates? We liked the mercedes c class but not quite big enough - I don't like skinning my knuckles every time you try and do up the buckles. E class is also lovely but much more pricey.

girls - I really got put off Renault's by about 6 people telling me about all the problems they have had with theirs.

The Galaxy is nice too but it was the doors that swung it for me to the Citreon, I have resigned myself to driving a bus. You could get a good spec 04-05 plate for under 7K.

Or a Honda FRV? We test drove one and loved it, but found the boot wasn't quite the right shape and size for our needs.

i have a citroen xsara picasso c4 which has 7 seats (2 in the boot flip up/down really easily- but not a lot of boot space when 7 seats are up). They are very good value. I really like it and doesnt feel like too much of a bus! Looks nice too.
3 full seats across back seat so no probs with car seats.

Loving this thread, thanks Girlsyearapart - was going to post something similar.

For those who put 3 kids across the back seat, is it a pain to get a kid into the middle seat? I have DC3 on way in August when twins will be 2.3. It is a struggle enough getting them in the car at the mo when they are both by a window, but if one of them was in the middle and the baby on the end I can see it being a nightmare.

So is it better to just have one of the kids in the back row (if you had a 7-seater)?

poypourri - sorry for delayed response. you can sit an adult on the multimac but it's not v comfortable as the seat is a couple of inches higher up than the car's own seat, so you end up with head on ceiling and you can't put the seatbelt on - so ok for occasional 5-10 mins but not for longer journeys.

Good question, we put baby seat in the middle - it's fixed so just a question of putting him in the seat and doing up the front buckle. Then the other two climb in either side and do up their own seatbelts (only really do-able from age about 4 - before then I used to lean across and do it myself).

cantsleepwontsleep - we have xc90 and love it, it is quite a bit smaller than the discovery (which was preferable for us, having to drive and park in London!). It also has a built in booster seat in the middle of the back seat, great if you have 3rd child old enough to go in one (no back to it, so no good for our 4yo).

To answer the second point - I don't like the back row of our car and tend not to use it - if I needed the seats regularly I'd go for a full-sized 7 seater like a Galaxy or similar, preferably with sliding doors.

Probably the oldest car on here....

Volvo 850 - '95 plate.
Absolutley mint, well maintained, uber reliable, dream to drive.

2 child seats in the back, Volvo integrated booster in centre armrest, awaiting rear seat conversion to turn her into a 7 seater in time for DC4 arriving in April.

i have been driving a fiat Multipla for the last 4 years and love it

its a 6 seater, 3 in front an 3 in back

back takes two child seats and high backed booster

boots takes Jane double buggy plus lots of shopping

beware that lots of cars with 3 rows require you to access the third row by flipping down the seat in front. which you cant do it you have a car seat fitted

of course you COULD fit the car seat to the middle seat instead. but you will injure your back lifting a baby / toddler into the middle seat and strapping him in half a dozen times a day. especially when they are having a tantrum and you have to put your knee on their chest

if your 2 and 3 yo are like mine you will find that car related tantrums are very common