HELP - Best car for 3 car seats

[smagee82]

I've recently found out I'm pregnant with my 3rd child. At time of birth I will have a 4yr old, 2yr9mnth and a new born. what are the best cars to fit rear facing isofix seat and 2 high back car seats?

I have a Skoda Yeti- 2 isofix and 1 high back fit so your setup would.

What sort of budget do you have?

Ideally 2nd hand around 7-7.5k. have a Volvo s40 at the minute but there is very little room and definitely wouldn't fit 3 car seats.

The middle child is very small for a high backed booster, surely?
I am looking at a Berlingo as it has three separate seats in the back. Haven't tested it out though.

I'm sorry I don't know. But definitely not a peugeot 3008. (as I realised, too late)

Look at the for C and S max, lots of room in these, big boots for a big pushchair

Ford c max or s max
Citroen Picasso

Both have 3 full sized seats in back. I would beg you though not to put an under 3 in a bog standard booster with back. Get a decent seat with a 5 point harness that is removable later like the britax evolva.

They are not booster seats they are both high back Britax car seats without isofix. That are suitable from 9months. The maxi cosi will baby seat will be isofix.

We have a Peugeot 5008 which is also a 7 seater.

We have 3 in the back - one Hbb one booster cushion and one baby seat. I think if you look carefully some HBBs are slimmer than others - our third DC was not planned so our HBB is quite wide.

If you get all the seats together and sit them side by side can you measure the total width and then do the same when looking at cars? Our rear seats are very flat which helps get everyone in although we can put one (or two!) in the back if we need to. We were worried about whether it was safe to have the older DCs next to the baby. But they are fine so we tend to sit them all together and the older ones sing to him.

Another vote for c-max or s-max.

Ours were just 5 and just 3 when no. 3 came along. If I recall, we had an infant carrier with isofix base, a stage 2 seat (the 9months to 4 yrs with 5 point harness type) and a High back booster. We've had various combinations since but now have 3 x high back boosters. Cars we looked at:

Vauxhall Zafira (didn't fit the seats)
Ford Galaxy
Ford S Max
Seat Alhambra
Renault Grand Scenic
Toyota Verso

We were looking at around 3-5 yrs old for about £8K. If money had been no object, we would have gone for the S-MAX but but for our budget, we got a much newer less milage Toyota Verso in the end.

If you can physically take the seats with you when you look it helps, as some seats are wider than others. Also it's not just the width of the seats but also consider whether you can get your hand down between the seats to do up/undo seatbelts if needed. Now all 3 of ours use the regular seatbelts, 2 are fine but 1 of them take a bit of getting used to to get it clipped in, just due to the way the seats sit.

We have a VW Touran.

Depending on the children/journey type, we have fitted:

Infant seat on isofix base plus two high backed boosters
Infant seat on isofix base plus ERF isofix seat plus ERF belt-fitted seat
ERF isofix seat plus two HBB
ERF belt-fitted seat plus two HBB

It does depend on your car seats though. You could try taking your seats to car dealerships to try, but then I personally think choosing a ££££££ car based on the car seats you have is daft - get the right car and then spend a few hundred on new seats rather than compromising on the car :)

Smagee are they seats with a five point harness or what most people refer to as a high backed seat, which only uses the adult belt?

I love my Peugeot 5008. My older two were 6 and 3 when our third child was born, and the car has fitted any combination of high backed booster/s, infant carrier, forward facing Group 1 seat and currently a rear facing seat for our youngest (who is now 3) and two high backed boosters. All Britax!

All three seats in the middle row are equal-width (in some of the other cars mentioned the middle seat is narrower) and all three have ISOFIX points.

When you go for a test drive in a car make sure you take 3 car seats and a pushchair with you! We did, I wasn't going to buy the car unless I knew that three seats would fit!

We had identical age gaps and went for the Ford Galaxy. I love it and it is the best car I have driven. The seats fit in very easily and we often take other family members as well so they get proper seats in the boot. My only gripe is the flat bit at the end of the boot which means shopping was always falling out until I got a sticky mat.

Same as Alicemum - we have a Peugeot 5008. Kids are 6, 3 and 3 months, and we have 3 Britax car seats across the middle row - Adventure (for he eldest), Evolva (in the middle for 3 year-old), rear-facing seat for the baby. We found that we couldn't fit two Evolvas in the back (as they're really quite wide seats ), so swapped the eldest's one for an Adventure.

I love it - it firs all three comfortably and the boot is huge

Yeah the Peugeot 5008 is a good choice considering it's great to drive and provides 3 isofix child-seat points.

Even if you're buying used, might be useful to know that the car does go for about £21,995 as a target price when buying new.

A much cheaper option would be the Peugeot 308 SW, market price for a new one is around £17,345 but as you're buying second hand it will be a lot cheaper.

It's also has 3 isofix points so getting the car seats in the back won't be a problem. It's rated 4/5 here and it's great for practicality bit.ly/1ZhRnwt

AmyBecker - do you know which version of the 308 SW can fit 3 car seats? We have a 308 estate (59 plate) and definitely cannot fit 3 car seats in. We currently have a 3 year old in a forward facing seat (5 point harness) and a baby in a rear facing 0-13kg seat and I can only just fit between the seats and I'm a size 8/10.

We are thinking about a third child and considering car options. We really like our 308 SW so would be keen to know if there is a different model that would fit all 3 in.

Thanks

The 308 SW had a refresh back in 2013 so it’s an all-new model compared against the older one, with a bigger chassis for a bigger car.

The older model is 1,815mm wide while the new generation one is 2,038mm wide – it’s not much but it is wider.

It also still has three Isofix points so you should be able to fit three child seats in with more room to spare than you’d have with your current 59-plate model.

Should probably still take it for a test and at the least dry-fit some seats to see what you think, seeing as bigger kids will need bigger seats.

Hope this helps!

Hi.. does anyone know if you can put 3 car seats in a VW Amarok, and if so which car seats to buy? Thanks

We have a maxi cosi Tobi and 2 x maxi cosi Rodi in our amarok