Estate cars we could fit 3 car seats in (£3000 budget!)?

[redclover79]

DC3 is due April next year and we went to look at a galaxy today, I don't think I like MPV's!!
We have a limited budget of up to £3000, so we can't buy a shiny new car, but are there any estate cars out there that we could fit 3 car seats across the back of (will have 3 under the age of 4!)?
tia!

jamila - it's N reg!! I asked dp about that, he said something about sunroof's and modules in footwells ...
ds1 reckons we should get a trailer to put the shopping in

Peugeot 406 estate is a very big car and pretty wide, although when we had ours we didn't have child seats any more so I can't vouch for fitting them in.

Ours was a diesel, with 2 rear-facing child seats in the boot that folded flat into the floor. There are loads of them about, not too expensive, and I think they are fairly reliable.

Redclover - the Galaxy has all sort of niggling electrical problems that occur on a pretty regular basis so I'm told. The Seat Alhambra is pretty much the same car, same body shell, same engine but you get a better spec for your money as your not paying for the Ford badge.

I tried an Escort and it was way too small for my three car seats. I measured up the rear seat on a Mondeo (which looked a lot wider than my focus) and they were the same length as the Focus. That said, I'm going to have a look at one tomorrow - if it doesn't have the moulded 'buckety' type seats three child seats might fit.

You will have more cabin space in the Galaxy than you ever will in an estate but two things that put me off them are that the middle seat (second row) has only a lap belt and I would only get one with a load cover to help stop things in the boot flying around the cabin if I had an accident (a common cause of injury in accidents apparently).

cbcb - Had a sneaky look in the back of a picasso today on the school run, might be in with a chance as dp had the galaxy we were looking at up on the ramp and said it was a mess underneath!!
Wendyweber - thanks for the link, I will take a look at the link and get the tape measure out!
coby - we're hopefully going to avoid a lot of the inherent problems on the galaxy as we are avoiding getting one with loads of extras!

redclover79 you mentioned that you were maybe thinking of a volvo estate. Well they are pretty easy from a maintenance point of view (the 850's are very nice, and you should find something in budget).

A very nice additional feature is that many of the Volvo's have a built in booster seat in the centre of the back seat, meaing that you only need to fit in the other 2 seats. We never had a problem fitting a full sized child seat in when using the booster, so should be able to fit one on each side no problem.

Hope that helps

We have a Scenic. We will be using it for three and don't think there will be a problem getting three seats in as we can have two high back boosters and an adult sitting in the back. Using the same boosters in a Ford focus eastate it's too much of a squeeze for another adult.

MrMiaou - what age child is the volvo fitted booster seat designed for?

I've had volvos before and loved them (didn't love the fuel consumpion as much but such nice cars - esp the 850)