5 or 7 seater car

[Edinburgh86]

Hello
I'm after some advice please.
We have 2 children aged 6 & 4 with a 3rd due in August, we need to upgrade our car as its very old and on its last legs.

However I can't decide over a 5 or 7 seater. I've spent hours researching and then keep changing my mind so after some opinions please.

From a 5 seater perspective, I've found the c4 picasso which has 3 full rear seats in the back so feels like plenty of space for when the kids grow as likely we will have the car for 5+ years. I've not managed to find any other 5 seater cars with 3 full rear seats that are within budget (11k)

I started looking at 7 seaters and things like Zafira tourer, vw Touran, C4 grand picasso and the Ford C maxs etc. Whilst the extra space of a 7 seater is appealing, it comes at a cost of both the car, road tax, additional fuel cost and I assume repair bills when something needs fixing which is why I'm struggling to choose between the 5 or 7 seater.

For context, the car would be used mainly on the school run in the morning where there would just be me and the 2 kids, However we like to go out at the weekends to different parks and national trusts etc which can involve about a 50-60 mile round trip, although we don't do this every weekend as sometimes we stay local.

We also plan on doing some stacations in and around Scotland which would involve a 3 hour drive.

It would be great to hear from people who have gone through the same i.e. considering 5 or 7 seater and what they went with etc. Also any other advice would be appreciated!

Our smax was the best choice ever. My dc are older now so we’re about to downsize a bit but I’d definitely recommend the smax for anyone with 3 young dc.

I got a 7 seater (but the back two pop up and down so mostly it's a 5) 3 years ago and have actually used it as a 7 seater three times.
So, not worth it for me!

As a family of 5 we found we didn't need a 7 seater until the eldest was about 12.

In terms of extra cost, some versions of the Grand C4 have £20 Road tax with an MPG of 60-70 (allegedly!) so not necessarily more expensive.

I have friends who have a 7 seater because their kids are very sporty and they do loads of liftshares where it’s useful to be able to get extra kids in. Are you likely to be in a regular liftshare to clubs or schools?

I have another friend who has a 7 seater because grandparents come to stay often but they don’t drive .

I don’t think these are good enough reasons on their own to get a 7 seater but just factors to bear in mind

(Although I slightly suspect these friends are trying to justify their decision to get a massive 4x4 in London to be honest)

We have a 7 seater nissan Xtrail. Before that we had a zafira. Before that we had a mondeo as it was wide enough to fit 3 car seats.

the back 2 seats of the X trail fold down into the boot so easy to pop up when needed. The normal back 3 seats fit our 3 adult sized teenagers fine. The 7 seaters hace been so useful for when kids have friends over or family staying eg my niece and nephew used to come some school holidays and DH mjm comes to stay but doesn’t drive.

7 seater all the way if you can afford one, mine had fold away seats so became a 5 seater with large boot, enough to fit two adult wheelchairs and a medium sized dog (kids were teens by then thankfully couldn't fit them plus aged grandparents and wheelchairs, you need a bus for that!) unfortunately the model I had is out of production for too long now, it's 15 years old and still going strong with now exh.

I had a 7 seater. It was just me going to work and school but I could let all my 3 kids have a friend home on a play date at the same time. It was also good if the whole family went out and a grandparent or two came with us. It wasn't too big and parked easily. Each seat was the same size. I had a Toyota versa.
My DH has a Ford S max. The best car for 3 kids. 3 separate seats so they could recline them as preferred. The pop up seats in the back were acceptable enough for even me to manage a several hour ride (I'm 5f7) when we were travelling with my parents. The boot is vast and with all the seats down can fit a 3 person Ikea sofa flat pack. It's our workhorse car. Not pretty but has been so good.

Thanks everyone, I think that's the help I needed and now leaning towards a seven seater as just nice to have that extra space especially with a baby on the way.

Another question if I may, what are peoples thoughts on the zafira tourer, grand c4 picasson and the ford S Max, the S Max seens to be a bit more expensive so be good to hear if the extra money is worth it.

Thanks again 😀

I’m not sure you could fit three car seats in the back of the zafira? The middle seat is narrower than the other seats. The seats in the boot are a long way from the front, I wouldn’t have a younger child in the boot seat for a long journey, you can’t reach to open snacks, pass tissues etc.