Grand Scenic - 3 kids - does it feel very long, parking wise etc

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have seen recent discussion comparing Touran and Grand Scenic. can anyone who currently drives a grand Scenic tell me its benefits. Will have 3 kids. thinking of changing our zafira - planning to test drive possibly touran and grand scenic. Has anyone moved up to (in terms of it being a long car) a Grand Scenic. Did you find it impossible to park. Why is a Grand Scenic better than a Touran . Is the back seat wider ie for 3 car seats? and do the very back seats fold flat in the Touran?

anyone?

anyone?

we have 3 kids and are about to buy a regular scenic, its fine for parking

bigger than is sensible imo but visibility very good, so ok.

would be freaked out at size of grand scenic though, must admit.

Hi tab. We are currently looking into buying a 7 seater and am interested in opinions on several models. May I ask why you are looking to change from a Zafira (as this is currently my fave - due to it's smaller size)? DH would rather have a Touran or a Grand scenic or even a Peugeot 807 or something like that.

We are going to have four kids in August and have been looking at the Grand Scenic/Zafira - will be watching this thread with interest - hope someone around has one

oh Fio - you are my hero! I can't parallel park to save my life - even in my Golf! Perhaps the Grand scenic will give me special powers and allow me to parallel park with ease

I have a grand scenic and I love it. It's very easy to drive and does not seem big to park. I am short but love the high seat position which gives you a great view for parking etc.

The only thing to bear in mind is that the rear seats are small so only suitable for children up to about 12yrs I think.

hmmm - good plan that. I really should get a short course (or even - heaven forbid - get the lord of parallel parking (dh) to give me a couple of lessons).

Also - why are Tourans that bit more expensive (say than Zafiras or Grand scenics)is it simply because they are VW's or do they have a wonderfully exciting feature that I am missing?

Sorry I hadnt looked at the computer today. so thankyou for all your replies. The reason we want to switch from a Zafira is really to do with the width of the car generally .. sorry "THe Masked Poster" .. this long explanation is helping me to justify my reasoning!! I know people have said that they have managed to get three (whatever variation of size etc) child car seats accross the second row of the Zafira, but I have spent two afternoons in different Halfords, and one at Mothercare world. It is true it is just about possible but not without a lot of taking one out to put clip the other in etc and even then they are virtually overlapping. (We have 5 1/2 in high back booster, 2 1/2 who is almost heavy enough to change to a similar booster but currently in a stage two seat and a baby on the way. I dont really want to have to use the rear seats except for lift for after school friend or for the kids when we have the grandparents staying etc. I just dont think that if I use the rear seats for one of the children I'll have room to sling pushchair, carrycot for a newborn (due end April) or for slinging bikes and god knows what in the back. Our airbags on a 2004 model cannot be disabled and I feel unhappy about a child in the front. I just want a wider car that has 3 proper seats in the back.

I love the Zafira in terms of its general practicality, its length -in that you do have just about enough room for some shopping or a pushchair even with 7 seats up, but its just not wide enough. Ive been looking at brochures (just to look at dimensions) of S Max or Ford Galaxy but I think they might be too long. I want something where the seats fold completely flat (which is great about the Zafira). Its so impossible to compare/research!! End of rant. Thanks for all the comments about the grand scenic Im hoping we can test drive one over the weekend.
Yes why are Tourans sooooo expensive??? Are they really that great?
I think someone should open an MPV garage (preferably in South East london!!) so that you could go and see them all lined up!!
Or offer a home visit/try out service so that you could have a practice trying to fill said car with contents of shed/children etc!!
Sorry - I will stop now.

Thanks again for all your comments on the Grand Scenic and reassurance about parking!. Its definitely my favourite on paper but dh seems to prefer a Touran which I think is even shorter than a Zafira. However, I think the Grand Scenics are cheaper second hand than the Tourans.

ah tab - thank you for the overview, was rather enlightening for me. We are getting a 7 seater for the fact that we will need the space every so often when all of us are going to be in the car (DH, me, dd, newborn due beginning of April, and 2 DSS's - 13 and 15). It is interesting about the width and hadn't really considered that aspect.

Let us know how the test drive goes etc and CONGRATULATIONS for the birth of your new baby at end of April.

We went from a Scenic to Grand Scenic last August (Scenic was written off in accident). We could get 3 seats in the back of a scenic comfortably - 2 x high back booster and one Britax Eclipse. Went for the Grand Scenic because of the flexibility if we needed to take Grandparents etc out with us. The extra seats are useful if the boys are fighting so we can put one or two in the back seats! Have been more than pleased with it, boot space is amazing but I have found the extra length is noticeable when parking - not enough to put me off the car though, we love it!

We went from a Clio to a grand scenic and parking is fine. My rear parking sensor helps!

Thanks for your reassurances about a grand scenic. We test drove one at the weekend. my only qualm really is that I didnt think the rear visibility was great. WE had our 5 year old in the middle back seat and he really seemed to block the view. Other than that it seemed to tick all the boxes. Of course I didnt try parking in a multistorey, or tight space!!
But then we went to test drive the Touran which also ticked all the boxes (including this width issue) and both of us preferred it despite smaller space. However not the difference in price. What to do? What to do? There dont seem to be many second hand tourans. The Scenics seem remarkably cheap in comparison so thats probably the answer. And then there's the colour. All the second hand ones seem to be GREY!!!!!