Thinking of buying a saloon based car for 2 kids...

Andrewf20

Hey folks,

We will have a newborn plus a 2.5 year old by Xmas. I was seriously thinking of getting a saloon over a cross over / MPV type vehicle. The petrol saloons are going for nothing. We will do a lot of short drives so I want to avoid turbo diesels.

Do many parent have them and if so, how do you find them? Is the lack of height a pain?

I was thinking of a Mazda 6, mondeo (2.0l if I can) or insignia.

Cheers.

drunkmonkey

It'll be easier for the 2.5yr old to climb in and out of. Saloon is ok but is it the main car? It's nice to have a load lugger if it's the only car for days away.

Andrewf20

Yes, this would be the main car. I think the mondeo etc would be big enough and worst case I could buy a roof box. The mpvs are mostly diesel which I'm wary of.

The child seat we have (be safe Izi kid 2) is quite big/high up so she's not climbing into it yet but I think you are right. She will hopefully start climbing in soon.

shesty

I seem to remember you from before...:D
We have had a volvo estate with two kids. Very handy for ...stuff. Double buggies take up loads of space, be they side by side or one on top of the other. Currently we have a Ford SMax, which honestly I love. We have three kids now, and it's surprisingly higher than I had expected. Which is proving to be a godsend, particularly when I was heavily pregnant earlier in the year.Our first is 4 and she has been climbing into her seat for a good year now which is great. Both kids can clamber up and down into it. It's a nice drive (I had a golf previously, so it felt a bit like driving a bus initially!) and has lots of bells and whistles. Relatively speaking it's a neat looking 7 seater though.


Anyway, point being that yes, it's extremely handy to have a big car especially as the kids grow a bit. Quite often we have a double buggy and two scooters and a buggy board in the back of the car. Prior to the arrival of no.3, we had the same, as we still needed a second seat on the buggy for tired legs. We are a fairly outdoors family, and the extra space is handy for a bag that permanently holds wellies and raingear for kids, a seating space to suit and boot them (:)) and random other items as necessary.



All of ours have been diesel, but we drive a good bit. It looks like many of the newer ones are petrol. Be wary of buying something like a Volvo estate with an "efficient" 1.6L engine - it often translates into an engine that doesn't have the power for the weight of the car it's propelling. I'm not a massive car expert, but that bugs me a bit.You will need the extra boot space, so a saloon would be ideal really, each child can be put in from a separate side, so it's not that big an issue

Tabnabs

Mazda 6 petrol engine, a great choice. Just sold one after 6 years of trouble free use. The boot is massive and could haul around a serious amount of junk. Reliable car, not too thirsty and plenty of space for family and gear.

Anne_cordelia

Do not underestimate the amount of space you will need! Do you go away for weekends much? Roof box is grand but you can’t do over 100km p/h in them so if you are on a long drive and can’t get the benefit of the motorways, it’s a balls. Also they have a weight restriction. Just things to bear in mind. We travel a lot with kids and it’s crazy the amount of stuff we bring between buggies, highchair, scooter, bike, travel cot etc

Dravokivich

I've only owned Saloons. Height isn't an issue. Just work on a proper swing motion to get them into the car. I never ducked in, when putting my son into the car seat.

One thing to consider is the boot and how much the boot lid opens. The doorway may not give you enough room to put a buggy in. Some saloons come in a lift back format. Easiest way to identify them is, if they have a rear wiper.

drunkmonkey

With Anne on this if it's the only car forget about a saloon, you want something with loads of space.
We had a X3 as a second car and a saloon as the main car. Saloon is now the second car and the main one is a 7 seater with loads of space. Didn't think we'd use 7 seats but probably couldn't live without it now.
You should probably look at an estate, I like the Volvos with the built in booster seats but if I was buying one it would probably be an mercedes e class as it's a 7 seater and a huge boot.

Andrewf20

Great info, thanks a mil for that. We have another car (ancient e36 bmw) but it's only a 2 door.

Drove the 1.6 petrol mondeo today. Nippier than I expected and huge inside. No 6th gear so it will be revving like 90 on the motorway.

1.8 petrol insignia was a good drive also. Took one for a spin earlier.

drunkmonkey

The coupe needs to go, swap it for a 3 series estate, will be more fun that the Mondeo and Opel.

cornflake1

I have a 181 Toyota Corolla saloon and two children, 24 and 4 months. The newer Corollas have a little more room and so far we have managed fine. It's a squash alright though and we just about fit two buggies in the boot, a quinny buzz and a lightweight britax one. The 2 year old is rear facing in a minikid so will be in that until 25kg so years yet. 4 month old in a cabriofix but will move to another minikid when outgrown. This means limited room in the front seats which isn't an issue for me but will be for my partner who is over 6 foot, once we have two minikids. It's usually just me in the car though and he will put up with it for the few journeys together. We will probably move the older girl behind him as she will need less of a recline. I had my last car for 10 years so have no plans to get a bigger car anytime soon. I do hear the Skoda Octavia saloon has lots of room.

circadian

Get an estate if available, the more space you can get with young kids, the better.

Big Bag of Chips

drunkmonkey wrote: »

With Anne on this if it's the only car forget about a saloon, you want something with loads of space.

I had 3 very small children in saloons. How much space do people think they need? Especially if it'll be mainly short trips? Once a buggy fits in the boot, then you're fine. You can carry around as much or as little as you need. But this thing of big cars with loads of space being a necessity is wrong.

It's personal preference.

pwurple

We ditched the fossil fuels once we had kids. The cost, exhaust fumes and petrol stations are things of the past, wahoo! Delighted with both vehicles. We've an outlander phev (filled once every 6 months or so for 40 quid) and a nissan leaf. Tax is a pittance on them. The EV's are designed for short drives. Get one with the heat pack.. heated front and rear seats, and steering wheel. You can switch it on to pre-heat from your phone over brekkie. It's the business on cold mornings. No brainer for us.

Two adults, two kids and a medium sized dog, all grand. Occasional extra child and/or dog thrown in.

Larbre34

pwurple wrote: »

We ditched the fossil fuels once we had kids. The cost, exhaust fumes and petrol stations are things of the past, wahoo! Delighted with both vehicles. We've an outlander phev (filled once every 6 months or so for 40 quid) and a nissan leaf. Tax is a pittance on them.

The tax you say? Should it not be mentioned that's €90-100,000 worth of a solution??

To the OP, Skoda Octavia 1.5TSI in liftback or estate is one you should try. Great value on 1/2 year old models in the UK, spec tends to be very high.

Andrewf20

drunkmonkey wrote: »

The coupe needs to go, swap it for a 3 series estate, will be more fun that the Mondeo and Opel.

That's the 2nd car and its worth almost nothing (1996, 250k miles) at this stage but I love it so I hope to keep it and have the family car also. Current family car is a Toyota auris which we plan to replace.

Petrol saloons are amazing value. An example: 2010 1.8 insignia with 71k miles, in good condition, nct and service history. 4500euro.

Andrewf20

Larbre34 wrote: »

The tax you say? Should it not be mentioned that's €90-100,000 worth of a solution??

To the OP, Skoda Octavia 1.5TSI in liftback or estate is one you should try. Great value on 1/2 year old models in the UK, spec tends to be very high.

Octavia a contender for sure. But trying to avoid turbos. Short trips are not good for them which we will be doing a lot of unfortunetly.

Larbre34

Andrewf20 wrote: »

Octavia a contender for sure. But trying to avoid turbos. Short trips are not good for them which we will be doing a lot of unfortunetly.

By all means do your own research, but I've heard from mechanic friends that this second generation of twin-charged engines is not handicapped by that flaw, the concern for which dates back to the early turbo cars where intercooling was not good.

In fact very many of the cars on your potential list will have forced induction on their downsized petrol options, such as the Mondeo 1.5 Ecoboost

pwurple

Larbre34 wrote: »

The tax you say? Should it not be mentioned that's €90-100,000 worth of a solution??

:pac::pac::pac:
Wow. That's some jump. Wish I was that loaded!

Neither a Nissan Leaf, nor an outlander are anywhere near that money.

10k will get you a secondhand Leaf.

Shower Doctor

You need a suv, Kuga, sportage. The likes of a Duster would be a runner but you would be showing your class.

mirrorwall14

Skoda Octavia is the main car here for us (now two) and there’s buckets of room. We do have access to a roofbox for heading abroad to France. We had four adults, one three year old plus all luggage etc over on the ferry with roofbox this summer before the new lad arrived

10-10-20

Anne_cordelia wrote: »

Roof box is grand but you can’t do over 100km p/h in them so if you are on a long drive and can’t get the benefit of the motorways, it’s a balls.

Not so true.
https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056971524
As long as these things are securely attached and the products are within their ratings (loading on the bars and box), there is no need to avoid the motorways and keep it to less than 100!

Anne_cordelia

10-10-20 wrote: »

Not so true.
https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056971524
As long as these things are securely attached and the products are within their ratings (loading on the bars and box), there is no need to avoid the motorways and keep it to less than 100!

I’ll rephrase. Ours is tested to 100 km p/h. In fairness that thread is hardly the best source as most replies say check the manual.

circadian

Shower Doctor wrote: »

You need a suv, Kuga, sportage. The likes of a Duster would be a runner but you would be showing your class.

I would not recommend an SUV. Head to a Skoda or Kia dealership and compare the boot size of an SUV Vs an Octavia/Superb or Cee'd/Optima. The estates of these cars all have healthy sized boots.

A few friends of ours are on round 2 of kids, some with SUVs and admit that while they have the appearance of being big, they are spacious in the cabin but the boot is often lacking as it's tall rather than deep. They're now looking at saloon/estates for two buggies or double buggies.

fits

We have twins. Own a saloon and an suv. We rarely use the saloon for family travel it’s just too cramped. ( Mercedes c200). I wouldn’t mind an estate though. The Mazda 6 estates are lovely.

mordeith

Went from a Fiesta to an A4 saloon when we had the second (7 years ago) and still have it. Loads of boots space. Main thing is get a buggy that folds easily.

Andrewf20

Yes, the double buggies eat space alright. Hatchback or estate might be needed at a minimum.

Frustratingly there are very few large (1.8 - 2.0) normally aspirated petrols with 130-140bhp. Most are weedy 1.6l engines with barely 100-110 bhp. Why is there no 2.0 mondeo petrols around. I thought they would be fairly common. Might have to go with a 1.8 - 2.0 diesel to have decent performance.

Might be worth the risk with a diesel as we do do some long journeys which will give the turbos a decent run and allow decent oil temperatures to be reached. For the shorter trips the aim will be to stay off the boost on the 2km creche runs x 4 days a week.

mordeith

If it's mostly short journeys then why would power be such an issue.

appledrop

We have Mazda 6 with one child + it's brilliant. He climbs into his own seat + then we just buckle him up. Big boot + lovely dash board not plastic.

Some of those so called SUV cross overs have very small boots.

Andrewf20

mordeith wrote: »

If it's mostly short journeys then why would power be such an issue.

It's not a major issue but on the longer journeys with the car full up it's painful with a low bhp car. Our auris 1.4 petrol is hopeless at overtaking in these situations and it's a bit strangled at 120km/h with no 6th gear. I'm just surprised how few na cars have a decent sized engine. There's literally zero 2.0 petrols mondeo on donedeal but it was an option.

Drove a 1.6 petrol zafira yesterday. Loads of space but it felt slow and a little unstable vs other mpvs I've driven in the past. Mondeo 1.6 diesel and 2.2 diesel Mazda 6 both lovely drives. Mondeo slightly bigger/taller but saloon boot entry felt narrow vs the hatchback. Mazda make great gearboxes and controls. Felt a little like an mx5 strangely.

shesty

As I said not a car expert, but our volvo estate was a 1.6L diesel....gutless.Especially when loaded with everyone and everything.Have also driven a 1.6L diesel golf for long distances and yes, I noticed the 1.6l difference compared to the 1.9L of my own golf at the time.Currently have a 2.0L golf that's speedy and a 2.0L Smax which is fine.If you are thinking of a diesel for the long distances, that's when the power/weight ratio will be really noticeable to you as you know (and the more annoying for it!!).All the same a big diesel engine for short hops is probably a bit much....
Be wary of hatchbacks and double buggies.They often don't fit.If you can have the buggy when buying the car it's the ideal.