Family car to fit car seat behind 5'11'' driver

[hobnob57]

I'd appreciate your thoughts on this. We currently have a Skoda Fabia estate which we absolutely love. However, DD currently sits behind me in the passenger seat and she is already a wee bit short of legroom at 2.5. We are expecting #2, and the rear-facing car seat won't fit behind DH comfortably for him, and so DD will have even less leg room.

Any suggestions/recommendations for cars with roomier rears?

Our stipulations are that it needs to have a zippy diesel engine and great bootspace for transporting everyone (preferably with a set of golf clubs included) over to Ireland for trips to Granny. The Fabia currently does this comfortably with 2 back seats down, but with 2 kids this won't be possible either. Do saloons' cavernous boots have this potential? Obvious choice is the Octavia estate, but wondered what you all thought.

we had a saab 93, and the 'inside' space of the seating is abysmal!!

unfortunately, bigger car doesn't seem to equal bigger inside seating space, it seems to get lost in the boot!
however, my brother has a zafira which is huge inside, poss you might end up having to look at people carriers?

its the same with us, dh drives sort of scrunched up to avoid squashing the car seat behind him!

I have a Mazda 6 estate 2.2D. Goes like stink, pretty economical, and as DH is 6'3 and I am 5'10, leg room was a priority. Plenty for all of us, and the boot is enormous.

Got a great deal on it too

Good to know about the Saab legroom yousaidit - DH was starting to think about them.

CMOT we hadn't considered a Mazda up 'till now. Do you have a notion as to whether the older 2.0 diesel model is remotely useful? We'd be looking for a 3-4 year old car I think.

Thanks for your ideas. Most useful.

My current car would meet all your needs. Mercedes E-Class (E320) diesel esate.
The fuel economy is fantastic (I was used to a car that barely did double digits but was fast!) and it is truly spacious. I have it for one child but it would accommodate a larger family easily.

I hadn't considered a Mazda until we looked at them - but you get an awful lot of bang for your buck. The 2.0D drives fine - I just wanted the toys with the 2.2 new version. I test drove the Audi A6 Avant, BMW 3 series estate, Merc E class estate, and had a Merc B class, and the 2.0 competed well with the non base models of those.

The Mark 1 Octavia isn't great for rear leg room. The Mk 2 is supposed to be better.

We've got a 2007 Octavia Estate - dh is 6' and I am 5'8" and can sit behind him (one of the things we did in lots of showrooms - can't do this in the equivalent VWs as (at least the ones we tried) had hard backs to the seats). Boot is cavernous - we now put all our packing for a week s/c in the boot with the boot cover closed. Very efficient too - holidays etc where we're doing a long journey then pootleing the other end (not urban) average about 50 - 55mpg...

Back seat is wide enough for two adults with one child seat, with two 6' plus in the front....

That's really useful, thanks! Is the mk2 octavia from 2005? Will definitely keep a look out for those and the mazda.

But as DH pointed out today, given the choice between spending thousands on a new car and putting it towards an extension, the extension seems to be the more sensible option at the moment. We'll just have to squash up....

The Octavia mk2 started production in 2004. The Mk1 is still in production as the Octavia Tour, mainly sold as a taxi. The most obvious external difference, if you're not sure is that the Mk2 has indicator lights in the mirrors.

www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/index.htm?md=926

If you're considering an extension, keep your current car and get a roofbox

As they get older (kids, not roofboxes) their legs dangle down more rather than stick out, so you might still have enough room for DD's legs.