car or mpv needs space for 3 baby seats

tinner777

Hi,
i'm about to start looking for a new car. i need it to comfortably fit three baby seats in the back. Have any of you lot any suggestions?
cheers

useeme

e class merc

Fey!

A friend of mine is using a Honda FRV. Not too shabby.

gyppo

Fiat Multipla.
If you can come to terms with the looks, its actually a very good car.

Dilbert75

Citroen Picasso - 3 full size rear seats (all coated with Scotchguard to make cleaning much easier) with full size belts, big boot, plenty visibility, cheap to buy & run, reliable (in my experience), etc.

Much better car than popular opinion would have you believe (same popular opinion which tells you that BMW are the ultimate driving machine, VW are faultlessly reliable and Alfas never last more than 12.7 miles without breaking down).

If it had a prestige badge on it, it'd fly out of the showrooms. (but get the diesel rather than a petrol)

Fiat Multipla would be a close second, if on a budget.

Honda FRV is also a great car - but much darker inside than the other two and elbow room in the front is a bit restricted.

Fey!

Is there some fixing system required for modern child seats (isofix or something like that)? (Apologies if that sounds stupid, but I don't have kids so I'm not sure)

Seth Brundle

from wikipedia...
ISOFIX is an ISO-standard anchoring system for child safety seats. It defines standard attachment points to be manufactured into cars, enabling compliant child safety seats to be quickly and safely secured.

WUSBDesign

How about the Renault Scenic II? Looks wide enough, but this choice can be mad....

I know of a colleague, with 3 kids, driving a Hyundai Trajet.

cjt156

We're in the same position, currently squeezing 3 kids, 2 adults and a double buggy into a 156!
Come SSIA time we'll be changing her hatchback for a Mondeo estate (HUUUGE - bigger than an E Class and half the price; for a reason, obviously). Or maybe a Saab 9-5 estate, or a Volvo v70. She won't have a people-carrier thing.
Big estates are rare but damn cheap second hand.

colm_mcm

Corolla Verso can get 3 in a row. Zafira can't due to bench seat.

andyeire

Most of the 5+2 mpv's only have isofix points on the outside 2 second row seats.

The middle seat and two rear seats in a grand scenic coudnt take a full size child seat .

Might be worth bringing along your child seats and checking they fit before you make a purchase.

colm_mcm

Verso has ELR seatbelts in all middle row seats, but only ISOFIX on outer seats.

Dilbert75

andyeire wrote:

Most of the 5+2 mpv's only have isofix points on the outside 2 second row seats.

The middle seat and two rear seats in a grand scenic coudnt take a full size child seat .

Might be worth bringing along your child seats and checking they fit before you make a purchase.

This is a point worth remembering - most MPV's only have 2.5 seats in the rear - useless if you want to put in 3 child seats. The Picasso is one of the few smaller MPV-style cars with 3 full seats. However, like someone else said, most only have ISOFIX on the outer two seats (old Picasso included). I believe the new C4 Picasso (just launched) has ISOFIX on all three seats in the middle row.

Another point in favour of MPV-style cars - while you might fit all the seats into a large estate/saloon, the repeated bending down to reach in, especially when installing your child in the middle seat, will play havoc with your back. Higher vehicles, irrespective of type, make or model, will be much easier on you in that regard.

(Edit: Despite how it might sound, I'm not actually a Citroen, or any type of, salesman - I just appreciate the benefits derived from driving a less expensive family-friendly vehicle)

Fey!

Dilberts point about the bending down constantly to fix a child into the seat is why my friend went for the FRV.

The Picasso does sound good, whilst I agree with someone elses point about the Multipla being very good once you got past the looks (we test drove one a few years ago and nearly went for it).

WildWater

Same problem. I current have an Avensis Tourer which is a great car for our lifestyle 2 adults, 2 kids and 1 dog all into the outdoor life and summer motoring hols on cont. However, you cannot get 3 baby seats into it and all going well thats exactly what will need to do fairly soon so as much as I hate to do so its bye bye to the avensis Even worse though is that Toyota really dont have a satisfactory option IMO and I've always owned Toyota. The corolla verson wont take three baby seats in the middle and good luck trying to put one in the back. The massive Previa is withdrawn so what to do.

The picasso is a good option but for us with dog etc we need lots of room so we are thinking of one of the new Ford Galaxy's. Never thought I'd own a Ford but I've looked at all the full-size and mid-size MPV's out there at the moment and the Galaxy comes out the best in terms of design. 5 fold flat seats in the back all capable of taking an adult and not just a child. My only question is what is the drive and reliability like?

cjt156

Lifting is a fair point on MPV vs Estate, but - unless you have triplets - surely at least 1 child is big enough to climb into the middle unaided.
We've a 1, 2 and 5 yr old - the 2 yr old insists on doing everything herself and the 5 yr old reckons she's a better driver than me, prob'ly right!

WildWater

My 2 year old can climb in unaided but thats not the problem. Under the law high back booster seats are required until the child is 6 years old (approx). Believe me I've tried to fit a group 0 a group 1-2 and and a high back booster into the Tourer and they just wont go.