Needing an Upgrade...beat 7 seater or car that can fit 3 car seats in back row.

[lovelsa]

Hello! Looking for some tips and advice.

We are expecting #3 in August. So when s/he arrives, we will have a 4.5 year old, a 3 year old, and a newborn.

Any recommendations on a good 7 seater that will fit the 4.5 year old in a third row OR a SUV sized car that will fit three iso-fix car seats in the same row?

Currently, we have two Cybex Pallas for the boys and the newborn seat we have is the Cybex CloudQ - but can change those seats if needed. :)

Volvo XC90 - but they are enormous and can be troublesome so be careful! It all depends on budget obviously.

SEAT Alhambra / VW Sharan (same car, different badge). Three isofix seats across the back no problem, massive boot, two spare seats in the boot if needed for friends/family, and most importantly of all sliding doors.

To have three seats along the back you generally need a fairly big car. Big car, small parking spaces and kids raised my blood pressure every time I parked. Sliding doors have made parking a whole lot less stressful as the kids have got bigger!

Citroen c5 aircross

Just want to agree with HappyAsASandboy re sliding doors - so much easier with them.

My 7-seater was a Citroen C8 (this was ages ago) but I would’ve gone with a Seat Alhambra if my budget had allowed.

Volvo XC90 is my lottery win car

If you don’t really want to get a new car you could look into narrow car seats. We had three across in a Honda Civic for five years with sunshine kids radian seats. Think they might be called Diono now. At the time one could be reversed for the baby to be flat.

Have a look at Multimac seats. Pricey, but cheaper than changing your car? I've not used them myself, so do your own research.

Peugeot 5008 we are very happy with ours and have 3 car seats across the back (but it’s also a 7 seater)

Generous boot for bikes etc but doesn’t feel big at all to drive.

@mm40 Love the look of the XC90, but think it's a bit out of our budget at the moment! x

@HappyAsASandboy I was reading about the Alahambra, but looks like they don't make it anymore?! But I'll have a look at used and see what I can find! Thanks for the tip on sliding doors!

@threeitchyfeet I'll have a look. We sold our "family car" last February with the intention of buying a new one...then all the lockdown craziness happened so we didn't see a point in buy a new car right away. We've been getting by with the two little ones in a three door Fiesta for the last year..definitely a squeeze! But probably a good thing we didn't get a car straight away as I don't think it would have been big enough now! 😂

@Insertfunnyname I've seen that a lot of people who have the 5008 seem to like them a lot! I'll have more of a look at them! Thank you!

We had a xsara Picasso (I know that's an old model now...) but still found we needed to be picky with the choice of seats...not all fitted and it was still a chore to belt the one in next to the baby seat- needed a small hand to fit in the gap. So definitely take your seats with you when you go to buy. Lift adjustable head rests fully so you can see if they hit the car side posts. And don't believe anything the car salesmen tell you. They would swear 3 seats fitted in a car with 2.5 rear seats!!

....I now have a 7 seater, prius plus. We don't use 3 seats anymore but they would fit. It's a good small big car. I don't feel like I'm driving a tank.

@lovelsa there are available from £2k up

@lovelsa I think you're right, the Alhambra has been replaced with the Terracco, which doesn't have sliding doors.

The VW Sharan is the same car (exactly) as the Alhambra. It looks like VW have a 2020 Sharan model with sliding doors.

I love the BMW Gran Tourer.. it fits 3 across or can put a kid or two in the third row.

@HappyAsASandboy I'll take a look at the Sharan! Thank you! :)

@BlueDay22 We've looked at the BMW 2Gran Tour. I didn't realize it could fit 3 across the middle row! I'm not opposed to using one of the third row, just very aware that there won't be much boot space (in any 7 seater) with the back seats up. And kids come with a lot of crap 😂 Thank you for that! Really helpful! x

I got a discovery. Looked at the 2 series but personally felt it would be quite cramped. Cheaper options for 3 in a row is the s max which is very popular.

[quote lovelsa]@BlueDay22 We've looked at the BMW 2Gran Tour. I didn't realize it could fit 3 across the middle row! I'm not opposed to using one of the third row, just very aware that there won't be much boot space (in any 7 seater) with the back seats up. And kids come with a lot of crap 😂 Thank you for that! Really helpful! x[/quote]
No problem! I liked it because it was smaller than the big SUV's but still spacious enough for the 5 of us. We usually put the younger two in the middle row with the middle seat folded down and then our oldest child sits in the back. That way we will have room in the back with the other seat folded down. We bought a used 2015 model and it still runs amazing. Best of luck!

@toughluck

I got a discovery. Looked at the 2 series but personally felt it would be quite cramped. Cheaper options for 3 in a row is the s max which is very popular.

I really want this!! I'm just not comfortable driving it on these narrow roads or many wrong parking garages (we are new to U.K. from Canada).

Discovery 3/4 is a great option, really comfy to drive too :)

My Ford SMAX has been brilliant for 3 DC plus friends, grandparents, IKEA trips and holidays. Mine are well beyond car seat stage and into university drop offs now, and I wouldn't change it.

@firsttimedad79 I love love the older Discovery body! I was looking online yesterday actually, but what I read suffered that it only had two isofix points in the middle row. Could you confirm if that was true as far as you know?

@BlueDay22 I'm from the States, so totally know how you feel! Roads are so narrow! I've been here for 8 years and I'm still not entirely used to it lol