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Original poster

Anyone got any experience with the Sharan? Or any other recomms for a 7 seater.

36 replies

Chooster · 19/02/2011 22:12

We are entering the world of a 7 seater car and we are looking at a Sharan. Does anyone have any experience or are there are any other recommendations fora 7 seater?

OP posts:
CherryPie3 · 01/04/2011 11:28

You see now I'm torn between the galaxy, s-max and sharan Confused

I like that the rear seats fold into the floor as storage in our house is already full of crap limited.

I like the sliding doors too...especially as they seem useful when its windy - my dc's like to watch the car door rattle it's hinges Hmm.

LinzerTorte · 01/04/2011 11:58

I love our Galaxy. I used to have a Polo so was a bit worried about driving (and parking) a much bigger car, but it handles really well and I actually find it easier to park than the Polo (the parking sensors definitely help!).

We have three car seats in the middle and usually keep one seat folded down in the back row so that there's plenty of room for shopping but it's also easy to take an extra child with us (a fairly frequent occurrence).

There's a huge amount of space in the boot when both seats are folded down - far more than in our old family car (a Passat).

The only thing I miss is not having sliding doors, although I think the newer models have them. I had a bad experience (with the Polo) with a door blowing wide open in the wind - and into the car parked next to us - so really wanted my next car to have sliding doors, but we still decided to go for the Galaxy as we loved everything else about it.

We also considered a Sharan, but were actually advised against buying one by our local VW dealer as he said that they were so unreliable that he'd stopped selling them. However, we're in Austria so this may well not apply in the UK - and this was a year ago; he said that the new Sharans (not then out) were bound to have been improved. We also preferred the fold-flat seats in the Galaxy, which the Sharan didn't have a year or so ago (we bought second hand).

kreecherlivesupstairs · 01/04/2011 12:23

We have an old Galaxy, I think it's 12 years old. We love it. Ours has two seats in the back which we tend to store in the cellar a there is only three of us.
I have had three boosters seats in the back.
My only complaint is the pillars or posts (dont' know which) at the front. They are quite thick so you have to really look if you are making a turn.

Debs75 · 01/04/2011 12:34

We have a KIA Sedona and you can fit 3 baby car seats and/or 3 toddler car seats in the back. The middle side seats are ther only ones with isofix but I think you can now have isofix fitted to more seats.
We regularly have 6 in our car, 3 adults and 3 kids, 2 in car seats. The car is easy to get in and out of, DD1's friends climb through the front seats to get in the middle if the babies are asleep and I can't be bothered to lift out the seat.
DS sits in the boot space and with the other seat down I can fit in the double pram and seats.
There is loads of head and legroom which a lot of other 7 seaters skimp on.
Not sure on fuel consumption
All the seats are proper seats, not fold out seats so the safety of the rear seats is as good as the middle.
If you get an older model you might have 2 middle and 3 rear seats which is abetter set out.
an added bonus for us is you can take out all 5 rear seats and can then go to IKEA and fit in cots, wardrobes and packages galore

CherryPie3 · 01/04/2011 13:36

Debs - How did you know the ikea trips would appeal to me Wink

Very good info tho thank you :)

Debs75 · 01/04/2011 14:07

Chooster Land Rover Discovery YUM! They are great, unfortunately the 2 rear seats we had were fold out seats and when you used them you had no boot left. That aside they are great for bombing around fields and look great when covered in mud. Even better is a Land Rover Defender long wheel base. You get 3 rows of seats and boot space. Fuel economy is low, about 20-25/gallon

Mum2Luke · 03/04/2011 13:57

SJisontheway - I would have loved the New Sharan but we just have not got the money for it, our budget was £11,000 tops and we have found a 1.8 TDCi 2009 reg Galaxy which is fab. I love the space and being able to fold the seats down instead of having to lift them out is a bonus.

I have banned my youngest ds (9) and the child-minded children (9 and 4) from eating in it too, how long that will last for I really don't know!

SoupDragon · 03/04/2011 14:04

I have a 6 month old SMax and love it to bits. However, it is 6 months old and is currently back with Ford for its second repair Hmm.

The manual does explicitly say that the rear seats shouldn't be used with carseats. I can't check the exact wording as the car isn't here [sulk]. I also can't check whether an adult can sit in them.

However, my children are older and the rear seats are only going to be used very occasionally when, say, bringing children home for tea and such like.

SoupDragon · 03/04/2011 14:05

I would say that if you need the 2 extra seats regularly, get a proper 7 seater rather than a 5+2.

SoupDragon · 03/04/2011 14:06

I think the middle 3 seats in the SMax have Isofix but, as another MNer pointed out, if you use all 3 of these you can't get into the back row!

bemybebe · 03/04/2011 14:07

we have a very old (N-reg) Sharan V6 and absolutely love it. drives very well, although various things popping up now that the car is so old. fuel economy is bad, especially in comparison to our other car

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