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Original poster

Do you have a very tall DH/P and more than one dc? If so, HELP...

49 replies

Pinkjenny · 20/10/2009 12:24

What car do you drive? Dh is 6'5'', and we drive a Renault Megane and an Audi A3. In both cars, dh has to have the seat right back, to it's furthest position, touching the back seat. This means that no one can sit behind him. Dd is 2.5yo, and has always either sat in the front or behind me, so it's not proved a problem until now.

We are expecting dc2 in December, and at the weekend, we drove a fair distance with dd sitting behind dh. Her feet were touching dh's seat, which struck me as both very uncomfortable and dangerous. When ds arrives, he cannot go behind dh as the rear facing car seat will not physically fit behind dh as the seat is too far back.

This is a roundabout way of saying we need a new car. We liked the look of the Honda CRV, but have read dodgy reviews about leg room.

I am not generally a people carrier fan. Any recommendations??

TIA

OP posts:

crokky · 20/10/2009 12:31

I think you should try some out (with the car seats). My DH is 6'8" and I am 6' and we have a 3yo and a 1yo.

DH drives a skoda fabia which is very roomy in the front for him, but no good for carseats behind - he doesn't drive the DCs around ever and he just uses it for work/places he is going alone.

I drive a skoda octavia estate - I drive it and I have a large rear facing child seat (for 1yo) behind me. DH sits in passenger seat and has a group 2 (belt over child and seat) carseat behind him. It's not massively roomy, but we just get away with it. My DH, although very tall, is very slight.

We looked at the audi A4 - when the front seats were pushed back, the back seats were useless. Not sure if your A3 is similar.

Car interiors are quite variable IME.

Original poster

Pinkjenny · 20/10/2009 12:33

Yes, we used to have the A4 and we did go back for another look, also at the estate. Useless. No different to the A3.

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CMOTdibbler · 20/10/2009 12:35

I only have one child, but a tall, long legged DH (and I'm not short).

I currently have a Mazda 6 estate, and it is very roomy in the back, and previously had a Mercedes B class, and that had loads of leg room in the back

sazm · 20/10/2009 12:42

have a look at lots of different types of car,our huge estate car had much less legroom inside than our small hatchback we bought after it!

Haylstones · 20/10/2009 13:23

Probably not what you're looking for but Chevrolets are huuuuge inside. My 6'4 dh fits in perfectly with loads of space for our dc in the back. We have a Tacuma.

Original poster

Pinkjenny · 20/10/2009 13:25

Yes, I really like the Captiva, actually.

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throckenholt · 20/10/2009 13:30

we have a volkswagen touran. DH is not particularly tall, and rarely drives it (so I don't qaulify there). However, the back seat (actually middle row because there are two fold down seats in the boot) has 3 full seats that can all be individually moved backwards and forwards - so you would have 2 options - use the middle seat or put the one behind the driver's seat back a bit.

Original poster

Pinkjenny · 20/10/2009 13:32

Ooh, that's interesting throckenholt.

Have just conducted a human experiment using a very tall young man that works in my company and making him sit inside a colleague's SUV. Bless him, he was mortified. It totally looked like I was marching him off the premises.

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MadHairDay · 20/10/2009 13:36

dh is 6'4" and we have two children. We have an astra, he has the seat right back when he drives but still room for ds (6) without his knees touching the seat. We quite like it as it also has good boot space but not the bulk of a people carrier.

MrsJohnDeere · 20/10/2009 13:39

Have you looked at Saabs? I have a couple of friends with very tall husbands (rugby player builds too) and they drive Saab estates.

My BIL, who is 6'8", drives a Honda Civic, but he doesn't have children (I can't imagine there'd be much leg room in the back of one of those).

ByThePowerOfGreyskull · 20/10/2009 13:39

we have a skoda Superb, it is a stretch vw passat chassis, with my DH's seat at his normal driving level there is LOADS of room in the back.

I would really recommend it for taller people.
Our neighbours were thinking of getting one and they are all over 6ft2 (even the teenage girls) because they had leg room in the back with the parents in the front.

Original poster

Pinkjenny · 20/10/2009 13:42

All great suggestions.

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Lancelottie · 20/10/2009 13:44

We have a Suzuki Wagon R+ (DH 6 ft 8).

Two disadvantages:
--it looks like Postman Pat's van
--and it isn't made any more

We are trying and failing to find something else that will physically fit all of us, preferably before the wheels fall off this one. Bit gutted to hear that there won't be room in a Skoda Fabia, as that was on the list to try next.

How much do you think it would cost to get a few inches trimmed off DH instead?

Original poster

Pinkjenny · 20/10/2009 13:47

I was thinking the same thing myself, Lancelottie. Aren't they a pain?

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stealthsquiggle · 20/10/2009 13:47

Depends on budget, really. DH is 6ft 4, DC are 6 & 3 and v. tall for their ages. DH's E class Merc (you can get some very good deals on 2nd hand ones) is OK-ish - my (company car) Audi Q7 is fine but huge to drive/park/feed and has a serious appetite for tyres (which fortunately I don't directly pay for). Stage 2 carseats are the worst IME - the Stage 1 would just fit behind the front sear when right back - in her Stage 2 seat DD(3) kicks the back of the seat in front constantly but in a booster seat DS(6) is absolutely fine.

thehairybabysmum · 20/10/2009 13:50

We have an Audi A6 estate, the A4 version had no legroom with seats back but the A6 does.

Original poster

Pinkjenny · 20/10/2009 13:51

Audi Q7 is way out of our price range, but I plan to buy a white one when we win the lottery . Although can you imagine the car dealer's face if we walked in and said we'd like to trade our A3 for a Q7? I rue the day we got the bloody Audi, the range is sheer crap.

I think sazm is right, we are going to need to take the Stage 2 carseat with us, and try it in the back of the cars. She just looked so bloody uncomfortable, and I was totally freaking out, thinking, "if we crash, she will break her back". Not that I'm a dramatist, or anything

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thehairybabysmum · 20/10/2009 13:51

PS...we bought a 2001 model 2 years ago, for 6k so not mega dosh in car terms; figured audis go forever and so far so good.

Original poster

Pinkjenny · 20/10/2009 13:53

This is true thehairybabysmum - we have had three Audis now, and they've all been brilliant.

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MadreInglese · 20/10/2009 13:54

We have a Vauxhall Vectra, DP is 6'4" with loooong legs and he sits really far back, but there is still enough space behind him to sit an adult comfortably.

fridayschild · 20/10/2009 13:56

DH is 6 ft 4. We have always had VW for the family car, and the DSs manage to fit behind him - Golf, Passat, and now a Touran in an entirely predictable stage. DS1 is 6 and tall, DS2 is 5 and average height. We do put the shorter child behind the driver though...

I wouldn't use the rear-most seats in a Touran on a motorway unless I really really had to - I think they are a bit close to the boot, and we drove past a rear-end collision two days after we bought the Touran. Had anyone been in the third row of that particular accident they would not have done well.

Inghouls2 · 20/10/2009 13:56

well my dh is 6'5, I'm 5'8 and I have 2 sons one of which is 10 and 160cm.
We have a CRV and a nissan Micra. We've never had any problems with leg room in either, but always use the micra if we can because the CRV guzzles fuel.
I'm imagine you only have a temporary problem unless your 2.5 yr old is a giant and it's more to do with with his seat and the fact his legs don't bend over the edge yet.
I wouldn't buy a new car based on that... unless you're just hankering for a new car of course

stealthsquiggle · 20/10/2009 13:57

Don't buy a secondhand Q7 - unless you want to spend a small fortune on tyres.

On the plus side, 2 not-so-small boys can get out of wetsuits and into clothes in the boot so if you think of it as a mobile home it's not such bad value

sowhatis · 20/10/2009 13:59

We have a vw touareg, loads of room and a vw golf, loads of room. dh is 6'5 and im 5'10 and our children are v tall and both cars are fine (wouldnt take golf for long journeys as not as roomy, but still fine)

Original poster

Pinkjenny · 20/10/2009 13:59

Inghouls - there is possibly an element of that...

However, the drivers seat is right up against the back seat, so even if she could dangle her legs down, she'd still be short of room. She's definitely average, not a giant.

Is your CRV a diesel?

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