Which 7 seater is best?

[AllieBongo]

We currently have an '05 Scenic which we cannot fit our 3 car seats into the back with ease. We have £5k at the most to spend, what can you recommend?? Thanks in advance!

Hey I think you should get a VW T25 multivan fab!!!!! And retro, a little.

I really want a Citroen C8. 7/8 seats and sliding doors. I am CM, so am forever getting l/o's in and out the car.

6 seater, but the Multipla is FAB

I have a multi at the moment they are fab, but I really want the sliding doors now

I tried all the 7-seaters except the citroen C8 which was out of our price-range, and the only one where we could fit all three car seats with ease (i.e. without leaving a couple of fingers behind every time we tried to do the seat belts) was the Ford S-Max. Both the C8 and S-Max had brilliant reviews from Which? What car? and a few other places at the time - around a year ago.

How good are you at negotiating? I'm normally crap but I reckon I saved around £1300 by playing a couple of dealers against each other.

We've just bought a Ford Galaxy (2003 for just under £4k). It's the same as the VW Sharan and SEAT Alhambra. We've only had it for a week, but it seems great so far. LOADS of space. We also looked considered Toyota Previas and the Fiat Ulysse (which has slidey doors and lots of gadgets).

The C8 is also the same as the Fiat Ulysse and the Pergeot 807.

We have just changed out scenic for a C8 for the same reasons. Fits three car seats in great and huge boot, even if you use the boot seats there is still a reasonable boot.

Second hand Toyota Previa. LOVE IT!!!!

we had a Honda FRV which worked for us really well (another 6 seater)

we have just traded that in and now have a mercedes Viano - needed the extra space!

Viano is great - sliding doors, individual seats (or can have a bench seat) all on sliding tracks in the floor so you can set them wherever suits.

I think the Caravelle is similar.

another vote for the C8 (and variants) - love love love the slidey doors, and plenty big enough for three adults across the middle (no longer require car seats so tend to judge by adult bum sizes these days )

I had 3 seats in the back of my Picasso - which I loved, but changed it for a C8 in January when ds3 came along - FANTASTIC - love it and have with two in the back and two in the middle which works great for us and can still get double nipper etc in the boot!!

we've got an SMAX which is great and pisses all over the crappy zafira we had before.

Only have 2dc at moment though so not sure how it will perform when the back row comes into play.

One thing I wonder though is, only the middle outside 2 seats have isofix?. Is this usual for MPVs? Where should the third childseat go - in the middle without isofix or boot oldest into back row with a booster seat? How does he get in if the other 2 seats have carseats on them? Through the boot?

You can definitely fit a (non-isofix) seat in the middle easily though, unlike the zafira, and it has a proper 5 point setbelt as well.

you can have our R reg galaxy for a lot less than that, and then trade it in next year and get your £2000 off a new one
available July as we are moving o'seas and can't take it

so, obviously, i'd say galaxy

we have a citreon 805, 7 removeable seats, but the best bits are the automatic sliding doors, great when your hands are full

Mitsubishi Grandis. 7 proper seats, the back row isn't a pair of flimsy deckchairs like the Zafira

lol at deckchairs - so true.

The smax ones are pretty chunky seats too.

xfabba - the isofix issue has ensured we don't buy many cars.

I can't believe the number of 7 seaaters that only provide 2 isofix points.

it just excludes many cars for us beofre we even start looking seriously.

I would have loved an smax or a galaxy, but they were unworkable cars for us.

so we got the FRV (which at least had 3 sets of points) and now have the Viano, which has 4 sets of points.

dumb isn't it?

i guess by that time ds1 can go on a non-isofix booster seat in the back row.

You won't get an SMax for less than about £8K I'm afraid.

Previas are fab, have been around for years & they also have a rear sliding door (they had them first!) - possibly not remote controlled though. Only on the passenger side too, so the kids can't jump out into traffic. And Toyotas are very reliable. And you get lots of space behind the 3rd row of seats.

Quite a few around up to £5K - diesel best but scarcer, petrol ones cost a fortune to run. Also there are garages which specialise - look out for Estima & Lucida as well, same car but Japanese imports, like this one.

volkswagen touran - we have a newer one that takes 3 seats across the back. Friends have had that and a vauxhall zafirta but much prefer the touran.

volkswagen touran - we have a newer one that takes 3 seats across the back. Friends have had that and a vauxhall zafirta but much prefer the touran.

oops - wasn't there when I looked - and now it is there twice !

thank you all very much. we had considered the fiat but was unsure how reliable they are. as we aren't spending a huge amount holding their value isn't really a massive issue I suppose. you're all fab, thanks again!

My multipla is 9 years old and has needed bugger all doing to it...honesly it is FAB