4 kids and a boot!!

[Milkmachine15]

Pregnant with number 4 and need a new car!! All 4 will be 5 and under so all still in big car seats and will need to fit a double pushchair in the boot aswell and I’m just not sure the regular 7 seaters are going to be anywhere near big enough!! Husband wants a Mazda 5 or ford smax but I think they’re far too tiny to fit us all comfortably aswell as all the stuff we’d need to fit in but does anyone on here manage it? Buying used with a budget of around 5k any advice would be amazing!!

Your problem is that most people carriers have the seats arranged in 3 rows, so none child is potentially alone in the third row (quite far away and out of sight)
Not sure if they are still about but the Fiat multiplayer was great. 6 seats and a decent sized boot. It is a unusual arrangement of seats buy having three seats in two rows means none of the children is too far away. I had one years ago and it was great to drive.
Otherwiseo get a Alhambra/Galaxy/sharan at that price and take one of the rear seats out or maybe a Renault scenic, but I am unsure if you can get a full car seat in the fold out seat in the back.
In my experience (5 kids) none of the small 7seaters will take 3 full seats accross the middle row. They are not as practical as they appear
There is also the VW Caddy (pricey and rare). Or you could look at a small minibus.
The last option is to go for a large estate and instead of regular carseats get a specialist attachment that allows you to fit four children in the second row. I can't recall the next but will try to find out.

Found it.
multimac.co.uk/home

We have a Mazda CX-9. It’s great.

VW Touran- you could take one seat out of the boot so there’s space for the pram. Or you could put one child in the front? It would certainly carry 3 seats in the middle row.

I did suggest the Multimac but got a funny look when I told him how much it was 😂 minidoofa how do you have your seats arranged? If we have a galaxy or similar and take a seat out I’m just not sure how to organise the seats/access to the rear seat?

I have 4 and needed a boot. Chrysoprase grand voyager was only decent space option.

Yes the multimac is expensive BUT you will not need to get any extra seats (high backed boosters etc) and you can drive normal cars which are significantly cheaper to buy and run than seven seaters. Also it can be moved from one car to the next whenever you replace a car.
For 5k you will realistically just about get an 7 or 8 year old people carrier. That will need to be replaced after can 5 years in all likelyhood. You will still need another couple of seven seaters after that until your children are independent plus various high backed boosters etc.
With the multimac (assuming your kids grow into reasonably slim teens you can use normal cars for the next 10 years or so, possibly keep your existing car so taking all this into account it will work out significantly cheaper.
My advice would be multimac or minibus.

As mentioned on another post, Ford Expedition EL. A SUV that Seats 9 and has space in the boot for 3 dogs and luggage. The 5.4L gets good MPG

Sorry to jump on this but my question may help others. We have an Alhambra. We are about to have #4, so one child will have to permanently go in the back row. If we take the other rear seat out, how do we ensure that the child in the back row is safe sitting next to boot contents? I've tried to look for barrier type things but they go across the entire car rather than splitting the boot down the middle.

(Btw OP, the Alhmabra is bigger than an Smax. The Mazda 5 doesn't even look like it has 3 full seats in the back?)

@MauisLeftNipple have you look at a divider meant for a dog? Travall are really good.

Thanks Bluebell9, will look into that option.

Unfortunately the Mazda CX9 and the Ford Expedition aren't sold in the UK.