Calling owners of Toyota Rav4 and Honda CRV/FRV's!

[Pinkleina]

We are looking to up-size from my teeny Yaris to a larger 'family' car. I have 2 DS's and there is the possibility of 1 more DC in the future so need a vehicle that could fit 3 DC's in car seats (full backed/boosters) in the rear...Also need sufficient bootspace for family of (possibly!) 5 but definitely 4!! Phew!

I love the look of the 4x4's but not sure if you can fit 3 in the back and also if the FRV has good bootspace for a 6-seater?...

If anyone drives these cars your opinions would help as DH and I have been debating for SO long and want to buy something as the Yaris is not a comfortable ride!!Thanks x

My SIL has an FRV. It has 2 rows of 3 seats. She has 4 dcs, 2 on booster seats and 2 in big car seats. The boot isn't great and it is very wide which makes parking a bit tricky in anything other than mother & baby spaces.

def you can fit 3 car seats in back of toyota corolla verso and the honda frv

we love the verso! great boot space if you don't use the extra 2 seats in the boot (whci we never do)

Hi we have a FRV ( have 4 children) and you can fit 3 cars seats in the back. Boot space is pretty good too. Has more space than if all 6 of us are in our Touran. I have not found parking a problem but I'm not one for squeezing into small spaces anyway!!

I have a Fiat Multipla, (two rows of three seats like the FRV), my three DS's fitted comfortably in the back when they were all in seats and there is plenty of boot space too.

Our Multipla has done nearly 100 000 miles so we are thinking about replacing it soon, we test drove an FRV but it was much less spacious inside so we are planning to buy another Multipla next year. It has been much more reliable than a friend's Touran too!

CRV too small imho

Ooo thanks so much for all these answers! Reading them to DH now so hopefully soon I will be driving a car where my head no longer rubs on the ceiling

Absolutely love my FRV.

Boot space better than a lot of people carriers, hated the ones with seats right at the back, main reason for purchasing the FRV. Managed to get my double pram in it so it must be ok. Fits my four kids in fine. Our fifteen year old usually has to go in the middle back seat which can be a bit cramped as the middle front seat has to be pushed right back if accomodating kids, but otherwise great. Plenty of cupholders which gets my vote!

Have gt a cr-v which we love. Great to drive and comfy as a passenger and good safety marks for passengers and pedestrians.

Can get three carseat into the back - but it is much easier to do if you don't use the ISO fixings for the car seats (there are two sets, there isn't one for the centre seat).

Also it depends what combo of car seats you use - not sure we would get three big ones all together, it is squeeze for the middle seat. Definitely one to try before you buy with what you will need if you are able! But you can get two high backs and a booster in there OK.

Boot is pretty spacious; my sis has a freelander and her boot is much smaller, car length is the same but more of it is engine. She needs to go offroad much more than I do so it is a compromise she is happy with as she wants the extra offroad capability. I do mostly road miles with a bit of tame offroading so cr-v is much the best option for me.

Other one to look out for is the new hyundai santa fe. Haven't tried to test drive it myself but have seen good reviews of it and it is supposed to be one of the very few cars that is designed to have three carseats in the back and has 3 iso points for them.

Not sure why there is such a dearth of cars that can easily fit three kids across the back; the car seat laws have been around for a while now and it is hardly an unusual requirement to want three kids in the back - even if you don't have three of your own you may well need space for friend, school run etc! Maybe this should be another MN campaign (sorry for sidetrack thought there)

Thanks zipzap and toomuchmum! I KNOW we have been having such a problem looking for cars where 3 seats can fit across the back..and as you say - not a particulary extraordainary requirement! I am glad you (zipzap)have the CRV as that helps us a lot as is my preffered option tho the cupholders are almost swinging it for me toomuchmum ...loving the cubbyholes!!

forgot to say - we have the automatic and I now dread having to drive our other non-automatic car . It really does make driving so much more enjoyable than having to mess around changing gears.

And in the cr-v it also has the benefit of freeing up the space between the two front seats as the gear stick is on the front dashboard. Sounds odd but you get used to it very very quickly. There is a tray between the front seats that has cup holes and other shaped sections and there is a space underneath it for putting more stuff in/hiding handbag etc. Or you can fold the tray thing down and just have space with no 'lid' on between the front seats which can also be pretty useful at times.

I to have a CRV and love it. Boot is enourmous. you can get three high back car seats across the back but it is tight and you need particularly slim ones to make it work. I often use one isofix, one high back booster and one seat only booster and this is a bit easier that three full seats.

It can be a bit tricky getting the seatbelt on for the child in the middle as the catch is behind the booster seat rather than to the side of it.

If you have 2 Isofix seats then you would not get another seat in the middle.

I think what im trying to say is its possible but you need to check the seats you will be using.

Vote for FRV here, loads of room and great for parking IMO. I squeeze it into small spaces no bother at all. It is easy to drive, plenty of storage and boot is a good size. Hope you get your new car soon.

Thanks everyone - very helpful

RAV too small for 3 car seats in the back - we are getting a bigger car later in the year