Which 7 seater car to buy?

[defuse]

Hi,

I need to purchase a 7 seater car. Dont have a clue whats out there. Any ideas which 7 seaters are spacious and economical as well as not too expensive to buy? I have heard good things about skoda yeti but dont know if that comes in a 7 seater size.

Any knowledgeable mnetters out there? :)

We have a Kia Sedona and I love it. for everything fledtoscotland said.

I know Kia aren't popular but it's great. Take the rear seats out to go camping and get 3 dd's across the middle in fixed seats.

Try the toyota corolla verso it has 2 seats in front, 3 individual seats in the middle and 2 pull out seats in the boot. It's a great family car and good on fuel too.

Seems I am going against the grain here but I would say not the kia sedona. We have only had ours for 3 years and I have lost count with the number of times it been in the garage. Had loads of problems with doors especially-latest problem cost us £300!

Saying that it is a comfortable car-plenty of space for 3 car seats and enough boot room for shopping/luggage.

I know a couple of people who have them who love them so maybe we have just been unlucky?

VW Caravelle? I love ours.

Seconding the Toyota (Corolla) Verso. Good sized 5 seater with an extra two when you need it, though you lose most of the boot when you do. Turning circle like a battleship but I think that's true of all long-wheelbase, front wheel drive cars. It doesn't look like a bus which is a bonus as well.

Rear seats all quite flexible so if you need a huge carrying space they can all be folded flat.

Marking my place as we're considering the same

I'm on my second VW Touran. Obviously I like them! We only use the 2 rear seats occasionally, so the boot is very useful to us. I love the driving position & the solid build quality. Also as its on a golf chassis, it's not terribly long, so easy for parking etc.

I tried lots of 7-seaters when we changed the last time, and the Touran was my favourite. The others all felt tinny to me, or had an uncomfortable driving position.

We have a Grande Espace and I love and hate it in equal measure. Plus points are that all 7 seats have an NCAP 5 rating, but the minus is that they are SO heavy to get in and out of the car. It's really good for long journeys, but it is very thirsty around town. DH is 6ft 6 and all of the children are tall, so there is plenty of legroom, and as we have the Grande, there is a boot even though we have all 7 seats in most of the time.

In terms of running it it's terrible - it's cost us £1000s - everyone I know who has had one for any length of time wouldn't own them again. We've had recurring electrical problems, have had two engine failures (Renault have a slush fund because this is a known problem!), and from a maintenance POV they just seem to guzzle money as fast as they guzzle gas.

I have no idea what we'll get next - DH thinks a Disco because everyone I know with one loves it - but I can't imagine that they are any cheaper on diesel or maintenance!

had a head on collision on the motorway in an Espace (other driver going the wrong was)
we all survived
I was extensively injured, front seat passenger has seatbelt bruising and child in carseat had a broken arm
the other driver died instantly.
My vote for Espace

7to25, what an amazing story. I'm not sure if my opinion should sway the argument, given your outcome, but here it is for what it's worth ?

We have a Peugeot 5008 and it gets a big five stars from us.

The three seats in the middle are a good size (the middle seat is a proper seat, unlike the Zafira we test drove) and the two at the back are fine for an adult. (I am 5' 6" and have travelled over 300 miles in the back seat. Not the most comfortable ride but absolutely fine. I don't think my husband would manage a long journey right at the back, but he has also done short trips.) I also regularly travel in the middle of the 'middle' row (DD gets travel sick and so often rides in the front, two DSs tend to fight on long journeys - so I get to sit in between them and amuse them) and that's very comfortable.

With three children (age 2, 6 and a very short 8) and a granny living locally when we bought the car, we wanted something that could take three proper stage 2/high-back booster car seats in the middle row, and still leave space for adults in the back. Combined with the Peugeot's fuel economy (we got the diesel version) oh, and the fact that Top Gear seemed to like it, the decision was relatively easy.

My only two complaints are a slight lack of headroom for me when I am driving. There again, as my husband likes to say, I do have a ridiculously upright driving posture. For me, the Touran won in this respect. Also, if you regularly need the 6th and 7th seats, then you will have a ridiculously small boot space so for holidays you would need a top-box. Having said that, the Peugeot does have rather dinky under-floor storage boxes which are brilliant for raincoats/wellies/lunches on a day-trip.

We also liked the Ford S-max but it was a bit more expensive.

For a smaller car - Touran, Cmax, Mazda 5 Venture but they are more 6 seaters.
For a bigger people carrier - Sharan, Alhambra, Kia Sedona (big!), Smax/Glaxay

great discussion - just wanted to let you all know that Mumsnet Cars has a Top 10 MPVs feature here and if you have bought a 7 seater you really rate (or hate), we'd love you to review it here.

We are on our second Ford S-Max (not because the first one went wrong, I hasten to add, but because we have it under DH's company car scheme).

It is an ideal compromise between MPV and estate - ie. not as big as most MPVs but still pretty powerful/pleasant to drive, without feeling like a tank.

Before that we had a Volvo with fold up extra seats in the boot, but the DC (and their legs) have out grown that.

You could get a few year old one for a good price.

We bought a second hand VW Touran a few months ago. Got great deal, 3year old car with less than 10,000 miles on clock!

We were torn between Touran or S-Max.

Really pleased with our choice. Very economical on diesel (1.9 ltd) and loads of space. I have 2 dd in big car seats and we often have 3 adults in car too as well as double buggy and dog in the boot. On odd occasion that we need all seven seats we can fit a single buggy on the floor in front of middle row of seats and still have legroom for an adult!

Just returned from week's hol in Aviemore. Excellent fuel economy, lovely to drive, good acceleration even fully laden. We got loads of luggage and double buggy in boot by creating extra space by sliding middle row seats forward abit. Still had room for dog and more luggage on foot wells in mid row. Love all storage areas. Easy to park.

If you want to regularly carry 7 people prob need bigger car though.

I have a Hyundai Santa Fe, which is the best car I've ever owned. 2 fold down seats in the boot but big enough for an average female adult to sit with legs straight, my 6ft DH does struggle but at 5'6'' I have room to spare. Makes for an ENORMOUS boot!! Such a nice car to drive too and the clincher for me was 4 wheel drive for the snow. Nt the most economical, about 35mpg diesel, with mainly town driving. 5year warrantee not to be sniffed at and after sales has been excellent.
I also test drove the Skoda yeti, which does have 7 seats and more options in that they can be taken out and it used as a van. I thought it was a great drive but DH didn't like the looks and I must say compared to the Santa Fe the interior does look cheap. Gets v good reviews though.

We've just bought a Citroen Berlingo. It's amazing. But we only have the 5 seater version so I don't know how much boot space you'd get in the 7 seater.

We're thinking about a Toyota Previa. Anyone have any ideas about that one?

7to25 wow that must have been truly horrific

Our voyager got crashed into from behind by a van and the bumper is dented but all four kids barely noticed even though we were stationary and the vans brakes had failed so it was going pretty fast.

We have an S-max which is fab in terms of comfortably fitting 3 car seats across the middle (dd can still do her buckle in the middle seat easily), nice driving position, still has reasonable boot space with all 7 seats up, electric front windscreen for quick defrosting in winter, and fairly manoeuvrable. New ones have sliding doors too.

Don't get the 1.8 diesel though, as we did. Low gears are like treacle.

I love my Ford Galaxy TDci, we bought it for my childminding as the seats are normal sized and can fit car seats on all. It has ISOFIX on 2 outer car seats too if you need which are safer than normal seatbelt fitting seats.

It is very spacious, I haven't got children to mind at the mo so its the family car as we have 4 adults and a 10 year old. The only disdvantage is the lack of spare wheel, it has that stuff you inject into the wheel for temporary use but I won't use that, we bought an extra wheel and keep it in the boot while I only need the 5 seats but ever since buying that I have had one puncture and I did that on the drive .

I was going to get a Zafira but my friend said don't bother, its not big enough for adults in the very back and am very glad I bought the Galaxy.

We got a VW Touran 2.0l in August and I absolutely love it! We have 2 DC on boosters and I'm pregnant with DC3 so am expecting to get 3 seats in the back.

Love everything about it. We have had Grand Scenic (under powered) and Espace (seats too heavy to move) before and this tops them!

Starlight didn't know you could still get the Previa.I thought they stopped making it in 06. We drove one in Australia (called Tourago over there) and absolutely loved it. It had sliding doors which was a plus. We have ended up with a Galaxy as the next best thing. It is one of the ones where the seats fold flat. My friend has an older model where you have to remove the rear seats if you want the extra space.We really only use the two rear seats for occasional lifts and wanted the space for camping. The Galaxy is more roomy than the Zafira and you can get two adults in the rear seats, whereas the head room at the back of the SMax means you can only have children in there.

I see them on the road all the time. Presumably people sell them at some point?

Perhaps there is a Toyota dealer near you. Round here there are loads of Galaxies and several Ford garages. Perhaps that makes a difference. I would say the Previa is worth a look.

Love our Galaxy. We have been known to insert people through the boot into the back two seats when can't be bothered to rearrange the middle 3 for access that way. Has good leg room in rear two seats, more space back there than almost any other 7 seater on the market. Good build quality, feels sturdy to drive but not in a stodgy way.