Twins on the way with 2 older kids - need help deciding on a 7 seater

[feelinginthedark]

DDs are 5 and 3, and twins due September. Currently have a Volvo XC60 which I love. We are debating between two affordable options which are the new Tiguan Allspace or the Skoda Kodiac (DH's preferred options), or a less affordable option which is the XC90 (my preferred option). Boot space with the 7 seats up is around 240L in the smaller cars and about 450L in the XC90.

I'm not concerned about day to day driving with the smaller cars, but we go away on holidays to the seaside and long weekends away frequently, and I'm worried about managing with the boot size - double buggy, scooters, suitcases, tennis rackets, food etc etc etc.

DH thinks the smaller cars would be fine but he's not the one who will be trying to pack and squeeze everything in when we head away.

Any thoughts or experiences? Don't want to make a potentially very expensive mistake....

Have you considered the new Peugeot 5008? It’s a 7 seater and looks gorgeous! We are getting the slightly smaller 3008 for our next car as we don’t need the extra seats

Does it need to be an SUV or are you open to considering MPVs, like the Toyota Verso, BMW 2 Grand Tourer, Volkswagen Touran, etc?

This website lets you compare dimensions easily: www.automobiledimension.com/mpv-cars.php

Do double check how many isofix anchor points each car has; the Touran is not a beautiful car but it's practical and is, AFAIK, one of the few with 5 isofix points; don't know about your Volvo, to be honest.

Ignore the official boot capacity: in my experience it's often meaningless (the shape of the boot is more important than the theoretical capacity, as you'll be carrying rigid items, not liquids); you need to go to a dealer with a suitcase and pram and try for yourself.

All the reviews say the Golf hatchback is more spacious than the Focus hatchback, but, after loading the pram, we manage to put more stuff in the Focus than in the Golf (we rent both as zipcars).

Chevrolet Captiva is the nicest 7 seater I have had (also had Synergie, Serena, Shogun, Espace, Zafira - have a Grand Scenic now).

I have a toyota verso and while it's brilliant for 3 kids, I wouldn't recommend it for 4.

When the back seats are up, you have no boots space. With 2 adults and 4 children I don't think you'd fit a double buggy in it let alone any shopping or luggage.

The ford galaxy is very spacious and the s-max might be worth looking at but I'm not certain about that one.

My friend with 4 children (3 of them under 4) recently got a Seat Alhambra and gets on well with that.