Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Shopping

From everyday essentials to big purchases, swap tips and recommendations. For the best deals without the hassle, sign up for Mumsnet Moneysaver emails.

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:
twelveyeargap · 20/10/2009 14:01

Try out a Volvo XC90 D5. Get a 5 year old for about 12K.

Leave the 3rd row of seats down, push back the middle row as far as they go and you should have enough room behind the driver's seat for any child seat plus child.

Inghouls2 · 20/10/2009 14:02

no it's a petrol, and yes it does have loads of leg room to fill up with crap bags.
But unless she has monster legs it won't be an issue. My 10 yr old can sit behind my dh with the seat right back in the micra... They tend to move them less as they get older

stealthsquiggle · 20/10/2009 14:02

sowhatis - given that the Touareg is the same car underneath as the Q7, does yours go through tyres faster than DC go through shoes, or is that down to something which Audi did differently?

GhoulsAreLoud · 20/10/2009 14:03

I've got a very tall DH (6ft5) but only one DC.

I sit behind DH on long journeys though, and there is TONS of legroom in the car. Tis an Audi A6 estate. Massive.

Original poster
Pinkjenny · 20/10/2009 14:04

GhoulsAreLoud - Dh loves his Audis, so we will check that out too. An adult cannot physically fit behind dh at the moment.

OP posts:
whyme2 · 20/10/2009 14:05

I would reccomend the vectra, my dh 8s 6'8 and we managed well with it. Sadly had to say goodbye when dc4 was born, we moved on to a ford galaxy which we loved. All my children are on the tall side but it is the rear facing car seat which caused the problem so it always had to be behind me.

Would definately try and try again before you buy though.

GhoulsAreLoud · 20/10/2009 14:06

Ah, it is a v v roomy car.

We go on long trips with DD in the car seat, dog in the crate in the boot, buggy, travel cot, loads of luggage and there is still room for me to spread out loads in the back and read the paper.

Ours is v reliable too - has done nearly 120k miles now and still runs perfectly.

Original poster
Pinkjenny · 20/10/2009 14:07

I had a Vectra for a very short period, whyme2, the indicators drove me nuts.

We are going to try our level best to actually take our time, we can be quite impulsive when it comes to new cars.

OP posts:
1of4 · 20/10/2009 14:12

We have a Volvo V70, two children and a DH who is 6'5" and we all fit great - you can even fit a rear facing car seat with adaptor base (which takes up more space but is much quicker and safer to fit the seat!) behind my DH when he is driving! there is loads of space in the boot too, even with the spare wheel in there (we have an LPG conversion which takes up the spare wheel space!)

has the turning circle of the QE2 though! Although I believe this has been sorted in a newer version!

wilbur · 20/10/2009 14:16

Was just coming on to suggest a Volvo V70 but 1of4 beat me to it. My dh is 6ft 1" my dad was 6ft 5 and both v comfortable in it. We have 3 kids and all fit across the back seat, or we can use the flip down seats in the back. I think these can only be fitted in the older models though, you would need to check.

sowhatis · 20/10/2009 16:04

stealthsquiggle, no, it seems fine on tyres...........so far!!!! (just very juicy on petrol!)

stealthsquiggle · 20/10/2009 20:06

Just Audi then [sigh] - I was getting paranoid about it being because of my driving that I am on first name terms with the nice man from Kwik Fit Mobile but he (and, reluctantly, the Audi dealership) say it is normal - it is the single thing that makes me think I won't buy it at the end of the lease.

thehairybabysmum · 21/10/2009 09:04

Agree with GhoulsAloud that the A6 estate has a massive boot, you wouldnt beleive the amount of stuff we mange to pile in it, plus 2 dc's plus us!

Ours has done 170k miles and still going strong.

Fizzylemonade · 21/10/2009 14:51

My dh is 6'3" and we have a citroen C4 Picasso but the sportier one like this

we have 2 children 6 and 3 and there is loads of leg room in the back plus the middle seat in the back is a full sized adult seat.

We have the semi-automatic which means that if you need to over-take someone you can drop the gears down with the paddle gear lever to the side of the steering wheel.

This means there is no central column where you would normally find your gear stick and handbrake. Handbrake is a button on the dashboard. It means dh doesn't get his leg trapped between central column and steering wheel as he does in other cars.

Tis all singing all dancing, puts lights on automatically and at night if you put your hand into the door storage compartment it lights up so you can see in

Decent boot, cannot fault it really.

izzybiz · 21/10/2009 15:36

We found the Renault Scenic nice and spacious.

nicm · 21/10/2009 18:51

i wouldn't recommend the scenic. am finally getting rid of mine this week (2 dealers wouldn't even take it as a trade in )is really spacious inside but the courtesy car you get every time it needs fixed might not be lol

izzybiz · 22/10/2009 07:51

Really? We had no problems with ours, the only reason we no longer have it is it was written off in an accident (Bloody van drivers!)

nicm · 22/10/2009 10:17

hope you're ok izzybiz? yes bought it from new 5 years ago(and was a huge amount of money for me) and have had loads done to it, there was always something!! had 1 car dealer refuse to take it as a trade in and another 2 who said they don't keep the renaults anymore as too much of a headache for them so could only give me a really low price as they sell them on immediately in the trade. anyhow it's going tomorrow and i'll miss the space but won't miss the fixing.

MaryBS · 22/10/2009 10:21

I have a friend who is 6'7" and has a Renault Modus. He also has tall children (one nearly as tall as him!), and they fit in very well.

MaryBS · 22/10/2009 10:22

Sorry, Scenic, not Modus - just checked

ellasmum1 · 28/10/2009 20:32

Try Nissan Note-loads of legroom,or we have a new Seat altea XL which is very spacious,lovely to drive, and better value than volkswagens despite having same engines!

runnyhabbit · 28/10/2009 20:36

Have only read the op, but dh is 6'4, I'm 5'8, and we have the Seat Altea XL. Fab to drive, very comfy for all of us, great economy (have 2.0 diesel) as sad as this might sound, it is very nearly my perfect car

runnyhabbit · 28/10/2009 20:38

Btw, ds1 is 4.6yrs, and ds2 is 2.6 yrs and we used to have a megane, so know exactly where you're coming from. We bought the Seat last year, and don't know how we actually fitted in the Megane

runnyhabbit · 28/10/2009 20:44

x-post ellasmum1 - We obv have excellent tasteXmas Grin

We didn't take the car seat with us when we went looking. Just pushed the drivers seat back as far as it could go, and if dh could fit in the passenger seat behind it, then we were onto a winnerXmas Grin

Really suprised at how many were too small for us.

New posts on this thread. Refresh page