which 7 seater car should we get?

[lizzie9442]

My husband and I have 3 children and I am pregnant with our fourth. We are looking to purchase a car with 7 seats but have no idea where to begin. Does anyone have any recommendations?

I bought a galaxy 7 yes ago, still going, although I wouldn't buy another one tdi1.9 diesel. When it was 3 years old, gear box, clutch went. You go through tyres like clappers, furniture on inside brakes off! Drop links have gone 3 times and drive shaft twice. It's now done 90k and it's 54 plate. It's cost me a fortune in repairs. I've never had a ford before and only keep it as not worth anything now. Wish I'd bought a grand espace as boot space is better, but also fancy sliding doors when u have car seats. Tyres maybe coz it's so heavy and first people carrier I've ever had. I go through 6 tyres a year. Maybe I'll keep it for the kids to wreck forever and buy an old jag for me to drive on my own. Fuel consumption is quite good though!

Hi 5babyangels, we did get a Galaxy after looking- but they brought out a new model in 2006 so anything 56 or onwards should have better build quality and reliability (that's according to the Which! Review, I appreiate they aren't always 100%). Time will tell what happens with the tyres and stuff on our 2007 model....

The choice is vast, there are more the 50 cars with 7 seats.
Today, I would say the best 7 seater car is the SEAT Alhambra with the sliding doors.

To have a look to all 7 seater cars and their video reviews go to :

www.All7seaterCars.com

We've just gone from a disco which I loved but no longer necessary as we live ina town to a chrysler voyager grand which I also like but for different reasons. It is sooo spacious and practical

AVOID zafiras !!!!!! seat belt clasps are not built in so any car seat will land you with crunch issues in an accident , went into halfords to get a car seat for it they only have one suitable for a zafira - 140 quid later ! Had so many faults with it , cat conv blew , inlet manifold went some bolts came off ine xhuast - cost us about 800 quid in first year !
Small boot space with all seats up , middle seats is a bench seat - useless if you need 3 X car seats ! VERY small car ! not much room , drives terribly very standard cars despite price ! feel cheaply made & tinny ! Petrol ones GUZZLE fuel we had a 1.6 and sold it in teh end as we were only getting 26-30 mpg despite servicing it and making sure it has new exhaust system etc ! GRRR maybe better cars for older kids out of car seats !
GRAND scenic by far the best IMO - had it for years ! bulit in blinds , built in rear view mirror ! loads of space ! luxury cars with loads of extras 7 PROPER seats ! can be removed ( we removes middle back so our older child could walk through ! very comfy car again petrols are heavy on fuel had a few issues with sensors ( electrics) which can be problematic but if you research the faults and know someone who will sort it cheap its ok as larger garages do try and cash in on it ! Also coils are prone to go - can cost up to 300 to rectify !
Had galaxy - great car space wise but very heavy on fuel and we found unreliable at times ! down graded to a 5 seater as kiddies got a bit older but
Now ttc again we will be looking at the citeron C8 or a grand scenic again

Reliability record of Zafira is not great. There are quite a lot of complaints about Zafira specially Zafira's before 2005.

Luckily the market is full with 7 seaters check this website http7-seater.co.uk. Depends on you budget and your family needs you will find one.

Good luck.

So many of the 7 seater cars like the Zafira are not really big enough to use all seven seats all of the time. And many of the boot seats will only suit very small children. The other problem with the Zafira is that if you use all the seats you have virtually no boot space. I guess you could look at the new Zafira Tourer which is a bit bigger.

We've had a Ford S-MAX for 5 years now and I would recommend it to anyone. It has three full size seats on the middle row so you can easily fit three child seats and they are all independently adjustable so you can either have more legroom or more boot space or recline them a bit if the kids are having a sleep.

The boot seats are are not massive but are very comfortable for children. And you still have a bit of boot space. Certainly enough for a Maclaren buggy and some bags or small cases. And if you're not using all seven seats the boot is huge.

Although it's quite a big car its nice to drive.

We have the new model vw sharan and three dd under 3. I love it it fits all three wide car seats safely, the sliding doors mean I can get my kids out even in tight parking spaces and even when grandparents are in two rear seats we can still.get our out n about 360 double buggy in the boot. It doesn't have the best turning circle, but rear parking sensors were great, I think that is the case with all cars that size.

We went with vw because of the crash test results, and, due to Dh haggle fiend, got nearly 9k off list price, with trade in, with all of them we found room to negotiate, both New and second hand. We had also been looking at seat Alhambra, ford galaxy (smax doesnt have sliding doors and not as roomy in back). Citroen made me car sick on the test drive. I had a go in everything I could find that would fit me kids seats, suprised it wasn't that many, eg my sister has 3 boys and a Volvo xc90, but can't fit the three seats across the middle row, so eldest 8is in the boot.

This is a Zombie thread that will not die.

It was started in 2008 and has been resurrected a few times since :)

I drive a Citroen C8, well, "used to" as I was recently involved in an accident on the M2 and it has just been written off. I'd like to add that it was with a huge trailer, but I came out of it unscathed and my car could have been worse, so that's the "very strong and reliable" box ticked.

Firstly, on the positive side, the makers of this car thought about EVERYTHING a family car needs, from the buttons placed just above the rear view mirror that operates the rear passenger sliding doors and the remote system that operates it as well to the nice cute but very effective "I see you" mirror that is placed in almost the same place as the rear mirror that allows you to watch the little terrors as and when without having to turn around!!! The gimmicks in this car are so cool and very useful.

The negative which is a huge one is that it guzzles petrol. Highly un-economical as you may become a regular at your local petrol station.
I'll miss my car, but I'm now looking for a diesel engine as my courtesy car (a Mitsubishi shogun 7 seater) makes me realise that all the money I spent on petrol would have sorted my Christmas pressies nicely!!!

Sorry, M25

Lovely old v70 with seats in the back!9

Just bought a secondhand new style Seat Alhambra -so cited!!

Love it ! Love it! Love it!