car for three young kids

positivenote

HI All,
we have a seat leon 2002 that's giving us a load of peripheral trouble so we are looking at trading it off a newer car. We are looking for something to last as a family vehicle but our budget is very tight. can anyone recommend where/what i could start looking for that would easily fit 3 kids seats in the back. Hearing a lot about Sante Fe, VW Touran etc... but anything around 9-10k is still out of our price range. So we are open to any recommendations. Ideally diesel would be preferable also..
thanks in advance

jayok

Honda Stream or FRV, Toyota Corolla Verso, Opel Zafira, Focus C-Max. Pretty generic cars but will easily handle 3 kiddies. Year will depend on budget.

monkeypants

Surely any car will seat three in the back unless they're butterballs.

wexie

http://www.carzone.ie/search/KIA/Carens/**6-SEAT/6613374355603870/advert?channel=CARS ???

BostonB

monkeypants wrote: »

Surely any car will seat three in the back unless they're butterballs.

You can get 5 people in a Micra, but do you want to... Apart from that, then theres luggage for trips, some kids/baby seats are very wide and awkward if space is tight, then what about bringing scooters, bikes buggies, the odd grand parent, or other kids on trips.

bazz26

monkeypants wrote: »

Surely any car will seat three in the back unless they're butterballs.

The OP needs to fit 3 booster seats in the rear. You will not fit 3 booster seats in your average saloon/hatchback.

Marcusm

I know 2 families which run Versos and they seem to be more complimentary than those with Tourans and Zafiras (or my sister in law with the awkward Grand Voyager).

Tea 1000

bazz26 wrote: »

The OP needs to fit 3 booster seats in the rear. You will not fit 3 booster seats in your average saloon/hatchback.

If they can fit three kids into their current Leon, then I'm sure they'll be fine with any D-Segment Saloon to be fair.
One of these might work: http://www.carzone.ie/search/Toyota/Avensis/D4D/201224208650621/advert?channel=CARS

monkeypants

BostonB wrote: »

...bringing scooters, bikes buggies, the odd grand parent, or other kids on trips.

Buy a minibus with a trailer if you're planning to haul all that ****e around with you.

Personally, I blame Jimmy Nesbit.

useless

monkeypants wrote: »

Buy a minibus with a trailer if you're planning to haul all that ****e around with you.

LOL at the thought of a granny in a trailer:) Though I remember seeing a chap in Carlow about 25 years ago who used to haul his elderly mother to Mass on Sunday morning in an armchair mounted in a calf trailer hitched to a Massey 135...

OP- what ages are your kids and do they need booster seats or group 0/1/2 child seats? Did they not all fit in the Leon?

positivenote

kids are currently 1,2 and one on the way...

does this seem like a good deal?
http://carsireland.ie/detail.php?ad_id=814926&r=s.php%3Fl[]%3D10%26b%3D9%26g%3D3

useless

OK, 3 child seats of various sizes, plus a double buggy, so you're in MPV territory...
Doesnt seem a lot wrong with that Zafira, but i dont know much about them-only ever drove one as a hire car and it was alright. The Citroen C4 Picasso should be in budget too.
Congrats on the impending new arrival btw

miller50841

Try your best to get a diesel will cost less to run unless only doing little mileage. Octavia would fit 3 seats in back plus huge boot or go for an estate volvo or something like that with 7 seats. Zafira would be ok

January

Citroen Xsara Picasso! Big boot, three separate seats in the back for the three car seats. I have a 3 year old, a 2 year old and a ten month old and that's what we use. We did have a Zafira for a while but the 1.6 was a guzzler on the petrol. The 1.6 Xsara Picasso is a lot better on the juice.

unkel

bazz26 wrote: »

The OP needs to fit 3 booster seats in the rear. You will not fit 3 booster seats in your average saloon/hatchback.

3 boosters will fit fine in any small family hatch like a Golf / Focus

OP needs 3 big baby seats though!

I'm usually the first to state that a large saloon will be fine, but not in this case. If I were the OP, my first options would be a FIAT Multipla / Honda FRV

The former is available even on a very low budget, which is a bonus

And don't buy anything until you've properly tested all your seats in it!

christmas2012

volvos are supposed to have great family cars

zizou_

Was in the same boat and ended up getting a 2008 1.8 Honda FRV. It's a very good family car with plenty of room inside (3 full size rear seats) but with quite compact dimensions.

We needed to fit a high back booster, fwd facing seat and infant seat across the back seat.

The zafira has a bench rear seat so not as flexible as the MPVs with 3 individual seats (FRV, Verso, Multipla).

unkel

Zafira is an awful car. Not quite as bad a place to be in as some of the Korean offerings like the Hyundai Trajet

Just had a quick look on donedeal and the cheapest FRV is over €8k



Just over a grand and NCT till next year. Happy bangernomics MPV motoring

Chuck Stone

Those Multiplas are really popular with blind drivers so it's very rare to have one that old in such good shape.

The_Honeybadger

OP I was in the same boat as you recently and reluctantly went for a Xsara Picasso 1.6 petrol. It easily fits three seats in the back, big boot and easy on juice (40 mpg). Its not the best looking car out there but its very practical, I'd recommend it, especially if budget is tight as you can pick them up for very reasonable money. There are lots off 00 and 01 reg on the roads so they seem to be lasting the test of time too, I've had no issues whatsoever with mine. The only fault really is the cheapness of the interior and the all round plasticky feeling of it. If you can get over that and just want an a to b car its perfect.
Bought mine in a main dealers with warrenty and it's the better spec, tinted windows, alloys, air con etc, the poverty spec model might not have grown on me as much . The best thing about these cars is headroom when strapping the kids in etc. Can't see myself in a standard saloon again until they are a bit older.

unkel

mickeyk wrote: »

went for a Xsara Picasso 1.6 petrol. It easily fits three seats in the back.

Aye the 3 individual seats on very small mpvs like the xsara picasso (renault scenic and equivalents) would just about cut it for the OP, but personally I would go for something bigger.

Merch

unkel wrote: »

Just over a grand and NCT till next year. Happy bangernomics MPV motoring

When I saw these first I thought, oh dear and while I thought they were ugly initially, they are quite unique looking, cars I may have initially disliked tend to grow on me.
That aside when I sat in one the interior seemed massive, (maybe thats me coming from a supermini car though?) I recal there was loads of space and storage for stuff, all the more surprising to me as it is based on the brava chassis which I could compare to as a family member had a brava, another great car.
I wouldn't be as convinced about a renault (based on experiences) but I am sure they have their good and bad points.
Despite most peoples opinions to the contrary about FIAT, I wouldn't rule out one of these or another FIAT in the future as my own/a family car option based on personal and others good experiences.

Zubeneschamali

The Zafira has a bench seat, not three individual seats like most MPVs. I ran a Multipla diesel for 7 years, brilliant car if you can get past the looks.

The FRV has a similar layout, but smaller seats. Here's one for €6K (a lot of miles up, and they are nearly all petrol).

slave1

I disagree with earlier posts that you can fit three full booster seats into some of those named cars.
I was in the same boat and my advice is to make sure you have access to reach between your three boosters to gain access to the seat belt buckle clip.
The seat belt clip IS NOT easily accessible in the majority of saloons.

We had a Renault Scenic when the kids were younger (like yours are now) and for accessibility it was great but as a car it was a piece of crap so I would not recommend it.
We changed to a C-Max and there was a world of difference in build quality however when the kids migrated into those tall booster seats then access to the buckle points became more difficult (and when they reach this age you are a glorified taxi with all the school/sporting/shopping activites etc) and cumbersome on a daily basis.

We now have an S-Max and the space increase is much better, each of my 3 kids have an individual seat and we can (and have) had any combination of full booster/"bum" booster without any difficulty.

In summary, take your seats and try them yourself but most importantly have three of them in a row and try and reach the buckle points (been able to fit three boosters is not the same as been able to fit three boosters and having ready access to buckle points), you'll find a lot of cars will fail!!

Best of luck with your up coming arrival.

Zubeneschamali

slave1 wrote: »

most importantly have three of them in a row and try and reach the buckle points

Well, one of the advantages of having 3 individual seats is that you can usually stagger them a bit, push the middle one forwards for instance, lessening the congestion down at belt buckle level.

slave1

Zubeneschamali wrote: »

Well, one of the advantages of having 3 individual seats is that you can usually stagger them a bit, push the middle one forwards for instance, lessening the congestion down at belt buckle level.

Exactly, great point

check_six

Buy any car.
Buy multimac seat. http://www.multimac.co.uk/home

Don't know why they are not more widely known. Maybe people really like those big boxy people wagon cars.

wendell borton

How about a berlingo, kangoo etc. car.

unkel

check_six wrote: »

Buy multimac seat. http://www.multimac.co.uk/home

Don't know why they are not more widely known.

Yeah I don't know either. I've linked to them myself on this forum several times. They are expensive, but a lot cheaper than changing cars.

Damien360

check_six wrote: »

Buy any car.
Buy multimac seat. http://www.multimac.co.uk/home

Don't know why they are not more widely known. Maybe people really like those big boxy people wagon cars.

Never seen those before but both myself and herself just had a look at your link and really liked that idea. Price unfortunately kills them off but as unkel said, they are a hell of a lot cheaper than changing car.

The_Honeybadger

I looked at those multimacs but some of the reviews said they are not the best for long journeys as they can be uncomfortable with poor head support if the child falls asleep. We regularly do 2-3 hour journeys so was afraid to chance it. For school runs etc they are ideal however. I know somebody who put the four seater into a regular saloon and is thrilled with it, saved her a packet as the only other option was a 7 seater mpv. The multimac is very expensive but definitely worth looking at if you have three little ones or even four, and I'd imagine they would have good residual value when the kids grow out of it. Much cheaper than changing the car all things considered.

the bolt

unkel wrote: »

Zafira is an awful car. Not quite as bad a place to be in as some of the Korean offerings like the Hyundai Trajet

Just had a quick look on donedeal and the cheapest FRV is over €8k



Just over a grand and NCT till next year. Happy bangernomics MPV motoring

each to their own but i hate the look of them,could still be ideal for what porposed here though

transvestite

positivenote wrote: »

car for three young kids

unkel

the bolt wrote: »

each to their own but i hate the look of them,could still be ideal for what porposed here though

All MPVs are ugly. This one is even uglier than most. It's good and cheap though, something that can not be said of all, not even most, MPVs

Zubeneschamali

unkel wrote: »

All MPVs are ugly. This one is even uglier than most.

The advantage when you're driving it is that everyone else has to look at it, not you

check_six

mickeyk wrote: »

I know somebody who put the four seater into a regular saloon and is thrilled with it, saved her a packet as the only other option was a 7 seater mpv. The multimac is very expensive but definitely worth looking at if you have three little ones or even four, and I'd imagine they would have good residual value when the kids grow out of it. Much cheaper than changing the car all things considered.

I suggested the multimac to someone and they said it was much too expensive. They then went out and purchased a brand new 4x4.

Do you think they ever checked if the separate child seats fitted into the new tractor?
They did not.

Did the seats fit in the new car?
They did not.