Family cars - what's the latest

[Caty85]

Hi, I have a 3 year old and 6 month old and they are both rear facing isofix mounted car seats. We currently have a VW Golf. We are needing to upgrade our car and are thinking of having another baby in a year or two so really want to get a suitable car. I imagine our eldest will be in a high back booster at 4/4.5? (Planning to rear for 4 years). Please help, so much conflicting advice about and I can't work out which cars and actual options for us. Our budget is around 12k. Thank you

Obviously how many people you need to fit in the car is one factor, but you haven't told us what sort of driving you do. Will it be a car for school runs and/or commuting?

Will you need a lot of luggage space for holidays or carrying prams and baby gear?

Would you be comfortable driving a large(ish) vehicle and would you have ample space to park one?

Hi, thanks for your reply. Yes, we are looking for a large family car - that can accommodate the pram and baby gear whilst needed, we do go away a lot so a decent boot space would be great, we have a huge driveway and neither of us have a problem with driving a large car. I can find large family cars but really struggling to work out which cars can actually take 3 car seats - 2 rear facing 0-4 and one high back booster. Many say they can but then reviews from parents say different - very confusing!

It sounds like a Ford galaxy or similar would suit you. I can't advise on the exact vehicle. I would suggest checking the suitability for car seats with the Britax fit finder www.britax-roemer.co.uk/fitfinder or the equivalent for another brand, if you prefer.

We have got 3 car seats across the back in a Citroen c4 Picasso and a Land Rover discovery. We’ve also managed to do it in a Nissan pulsar but that was only 1 rear facing.

The Facebook group 'car seat advice uk' has a file with family car recommendations. In addition this question gets frequently asked so would be an easy search.

Ford smax - slightly less “mum bus” than a galaxy but has three full size seats in the back so easy to get three car seats across. Also comes with two seats in the boot which work well for bringing home kids for play dates when they’re older and in hbb. I’ve had three in hbb AND two in rear facing seats after school some days and still not had to stick any kids in the front.

I would advise you to invest in slim line car seats I have and now I have three going across the back of a vw golf dd5 in the middle straps herself in easily other two are rear facing. Then you can get any car you want.

Thanks everyone that's really good advice, the smax is looking like a winner at the moment and that's a good suggestion re kids for playdates as I'd never thought about that before so thank you. We could invest in the slim line car seats, it's a definite thought but just a pain when forked out hundreds for these and our car needs updating anyway 😀

What about a seat al hambra or vw sharan, they are similar cars and have sliding doors which could be handy.