MPV\Car Recommendations

Waynecarr

Looking for recommendations for a Family car/MPV that will seat 2 adults and 3 kids(2 years old and twins on the way).

Ideally like an option where we can get three car seats in the second row and have the space for luggage and buggies in the boot. I know some people will say get the seven seater and use the third row but the problem I see with that is that with the third row in use you lose a lot of the boot space and this will be needed for 2 buggies(1 double) and other luggage.

Looked at Honda FRV which is a 6 seater but not sure if all seats will fit in second row. Do not have all the car seats and buggys bought yet to take to garage and check out fittings.

Anyone else in this position, what did you do or buy
Thanks in advance

IsThatSo?

We got a Ford Galaxy and all three carseats fit in the second row as it has three individual seats rather than a 60/40 split seat. We have great boot space then for double buggy and the kitchen sink

Some MPVs have the 60/40 split back seat so would not be suitable. I have seen a few families with a Renault, think its a Scenic, and that seems to be good for three car seats too.

foxy06

I have been looking at these recently and here are a few you could have a look at on CBG or Carzone

Seat Alahambra
Ford Galaxy
Mitsubishi Spacewagan
Renault Espace (the scenic seems to be just a large five seater)
Hyundai Trajet
Opel Zafira

The last two seem to be good value at the moment and you can get a 1.6l Zafira which will cut down on your tax/petrol costs.

2sounds

Congrats on the twins. We were in the same position , our twins are now 3 months old and we have a 2 & 1/2 year old so I know what your talking about.
I researched and test drove several cars before making our decision. My missus was driving a focus so that would never work. We needed to be able to fit a childs car seat and two maxi cosi iso fix car seats in the back and an icandy twin plus existing quinny buggy in the boot.

Came down to the ford smax and vw touran. Both would do the job. My missus felt she was driving a bus in the smax plus it was a lot more expensive 2nd hand and it was a bit cheap inside , too much plastic.

Got a 7 seater (not all are) '07 touran diesel down the country for about 18k. Cant fault it. Fairly basic looking although ours has privacy glass , upgraded alloys etc so not too bad. Very versatile inside, fits the three car seats in the 2nd row no problem. Fits the two buggies and all the shopping in the boot , loads of space. Cheap to run and not short of power. All the seats can be moved, fold and removed etc. Did a trip to ikea in belfast in may , was able to remove all the seats so its like a van if you want

good luck with the twins. As I said ours are 3 months old now(boys), its been a blur and hard work but theyre just about sleeping through the night now thank god. The hardest thing was managing number 1 (girl), but it gets easier.

DaDa

For those who want an alternative to chaning vehicle, the following might help. I checked one out first hand and am still considering buying (8yr old, 6 yr old + 4 months old).

http://www.multimac.co.uk/car_seat_range

trad

Brother has 5 under 7. Has a Ford Smax 7 seater and a Ford Cmax 5 seater. Apparently they have an ISO mounting system for car seats and you can clip in 3 car seats in the second row.

Waynecarr

Thanks for those replies everyone. Great information there. Thanks again

BnA

We have an S-Max and it's the Mutts Nuts. Tonnes of room for 3 in the back. Huge boot with the back 2 seats down. But it is always handy to have them there for when you have an extra passanger (Granny, friends, cousins etc)

loyatemu

we have the Renault Grand Scenic and are very happy with it. Having the extra 2 seats in the boot is very useful, if you only have 5 seats then you can't pick up friends from school, bring grandparents on outings etc. We had originally bought a regular Scenic when our third child was born, but we quickly realised we needed more seats.

With the extra seats folded down the boot is huge and you can just fold one seat down if you still need to carry a buggy. We had a good look at most of the 7 seat options and the only other one that seemed as good was the S-Max, but its a fair bit more expensive.

RosieJoe

Just in case you are still looking, I have a Zafira and find it great.

Have 2 in boosters and 1 in a rear facing baby seat in the middle row. We could also fit in a booster, a forward facing seat and a rear facing seat in the middle row.

Never really use the last 2 seats as there is no need to, so the boot is huge. Can easily fit in a Phit & Ted and a full weeks shopping with room to spare.

If you have no car to trade in I would recommend looking at a Vauxhal up North as you can get newer better equipped cars there for less than you would pay here. Resale value is an issue but if you keep your car for a number of years the resale value is next to nothing anyway