Which Seven Seater?

dixierip

Okay I need advice. My other half is expecting our fourth child and I find myself in the market for a seven seater.
I'm looking for something reliable and efficient as we do alot of mileage.
I seem to get varying opinions on what to go for and would appreciate any guidance on the matter .
Budget 6000- 8000.

biko

What have you been looking at so far? Any preferences?

You can either go towards the likes of Volvo XC's or MPVs.

alias no.9

What ages are the rest? Are they in child seats, if so what stage? You can probably scratch out all the small 7 seaters, Zafira / Grand Scenic / Grand Picasso / Mazda 5 / Corolla Verso etc...

dixierip

Open to all suggestions. Children are 8, 4 and 18 months should have mentioned.

biko

Since money will probably be tight at some point go with something common that parts will be available for down the road.

Chuck Stone

Mazda5
€7,995
1.8 Petrol
2007
79,139 M
1 Owner

www.carzone.ie

alias no.9

dixierip wrote: »

Open to all suggestions. Children are 8, 4 and 18 months should have mentioned.

Is the 8yo still in a high back booster? Presume the 4yo is and the 18month old is in a stage 1 forward facing with 5 point harness.

alias no.9

Chuck Stone wrote: »

Mazda5
€7,995
1.8 Petrol
2007
79,139 M
1 Owner

www.carzone.ie

The middle seat in the middle row is very narrow, 3 child seats in there is awkward, the sliding doors are great though.

Big Nasty

Hard to see past the S-Max IMO.

carefull now!

Just went through this dilemma myself, ended up getting a ford galaxy, the full size individual seats are all removable so its very usable for most occasions. The captains seat is great for long drives and the ford extras are decent, heated windscreen, park sensors etc. If you go for pre 06 it should be the vw 1.9 engine with 6 speed box, is rather that than any ford engine.

KAGY

Grand Picasso fits brittax car seat, wide high backed booster and baby seat acriss middle row. Fiddly to get buckles in though that will be a prob with all. Mazda has a tiny middle seat.

Have you seen this as an alternative

carefull now!

I looked into those myself, there a great idea but there crazy money, 1200 upwards, plus they only fit there own brand child seat so that's more money. Great idea tho.

KAGY

Yeah, I agree that it's mad expensive for what it is, and I think that the car must have isofix points too.

I was on my phone for the last post, but some other points to consider

• You generally have to get in through the boot with most 7 seaters if you have childseats in the middle row
• You can get seatbelt buckle extenders to make it easier to clip but RSA don't recommend them
• the honda FRV is a six seater (an extra seat in the front) like this car http://www.cbg.ie/car_detail.aspx?ID=5312686. Bigish petrol engine tho so maybe not too cheap to run
• From my research scenics seem to have lots of trouble with electrics, esp ignition
  

MAJJ

I have a Touran and two young kids. Rarely use the back seats but if they were up ,like a lot of other 7 seaters,
you won't have much boot room at all.

A friend with 4 kids has a Citroen C8, a colleague also has 4 kids and she has a Ford Galaxy.

The C8 my friend has is big and has lots of room, individual seats and sliding doors.

The galaxy I don't know much about but there are a lot of them on the roads for large families but I believe they are expensive. As they are bigger than an a Ford SMAX and when buying the Touran the SMAX was the most expensive.

Seat alhambra I believe may be a cheaper but same version as the Ford Galaxy, but open to correction. Also, consider the VW Sharan same type of car too.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SEAT_Alhambra

I really would go with a larger one than Touran/SMAX/Zafira etc. Also, at the time Renaults reliablility was shocking from talking to owners.

If you are doing large mileage then a diesel may make sense but factor in DPF and DMF - these two can be costly problems and not the only things that go wrong. I suggest try and narrow the search down and post up engine models etc.

Good luck with your choice and pending new arrival.

ml100

Does anyone know which MPV's/car's will fit 3 child seats in the back (for a year and a half old and twins due this summer , i.e. group 0+ and 1, do the child car seats for old children take up more room?)

Would the smaller 7 seaters listed above fit 3 seats, i.e. VW touran etc.
What's the s-max like, is the 1.6 TDCI big enough engine for a car of that size?, probably looking at 1 - 3 year old car.

donegal.

i had a renault scenic, it fits 3 car seats in the back. but i wouldn't recomend this car to anyone, i was always forking out to fix it.
like the op i needed the 4th seat so got a galaxy. Loads of room to get kids in/out but v. little boot space. and it has enough power to overtake if need be .

dont forget to compare road tax and expected maintanance costs. both very high in the galaxy

MAJJ

Our Touran 08, had 3 seats in the back the other day. Two seats in the back one for 19mth old and one for a 3.5 year old and also put in a Maxi cosi base and seat for a baby of 6 months old. Can't recall the seat group codes at present but they did fit. The baby seat was on the outside for easier access.

ml100 wrote: »

Does anyone know which MPV's/car's will fit 3 child seats in the back (for a year and a half old and twins due this summer , i.e. group 0+ and 1, do the child car seats for old children take up more room?)

Would the smaller 7 seaters listed above fit 3 seats, i.e. VW touran etc.
What's the s-max like, is the 1.6 TDCI big enough engine for a car of that size?, probably looking at 1 - 3 year old car.

KAGY

ml100 wrote: »

Does anyone know which MPV's/car's will fit 3 child seats in the back (for a year and a half old and twins due this summer , i.e. group 0+ and 1, do the child car seats for old children take up more room?)

Would the smaller 7 seaters listed above fit 3 seats, i.e. VW touran etc.
What's the s-max like, is the 1.6 TDCI big enough engine for a car of that size?, probably looking at 1 - 3 year old car.

We (just) fit 3 car seats across in a C4 Grand Picasso, it was the only one we found in our price range (avensis, mazda 5, quashqai all too narrow). The 1.6TD is an okay engine, I don't have any trouble overtaking etc with it, yeah it's low powered but I'm not heavy footed. Getting about 5.8l/100k average, maybe 5 or lower on long trips

stanley 2

dixierip wrote: »

Okay I need advice. My other half is expecting our fourth child and I find myself in the market for a seven seater.
I'm looking for something reliable and efficient as we do alot of mileage.
I seem to get varying opinions on what to go for and would appreciate any guidance on the matter .
Budget 6000- 8000.

Your entering an expensive time in your life this car is going to have to last you a long time and most of the time you will be probably be driving alone in this car . Fuel economy i think should be highest on your agenda .I have a Zafira which im quite happy with except it has a blind spot ( front window colums ) . If you both have cars all ready question yourself do you need to change straight away paying for several taxis every now and again is an option
regards and congradulations

crosstownk

KAGY wrote: »

We (just) fit 3 car seats across in a C4 Grand Picasso, it was the only one we found in our price range (avensis, mazda 5, quashqai all too narrow). The 1.6TD is an okay engine, I don't have any trouble overtaking etc with it, yeah it's low powered but I'm not heavy footed. Getting about 5.8l/100k average, maybe 5 or lower on long trips

Yes, both C4 Picassos have 3 individual rear seats and I've often had 3 kids with boosters & seats in the back. It's tight but it works.

The 5 seater C4 Picasso will do the trick with 3 kids and has decent boot space and will be less expensive than the 7 seater model - unless you're planning number 4....!

zizou_

ml100 wrote: »

Does anyone know which MPV's/car's will fit 3 child seats in the back (for a year and a half old and twins due this summer , i.e. group 0+ and 1, do the child car seats for old children take up more room?)

Would the smaller 7 seaters listed above fit 3 seats, i.e. VW touran etc.
What's the s-max like, is the 1.6 TDCI big enough engine for a car of that size?, probably looking at 1 - 3 year old car.

We have a Honda FRV and it fits 3 car seats comfortably in the back. Currently have a 0+ with base, group 1 and a high back booster in it. The group 1 is the widest but the boosters can be a pain as you need to get at the seat buckle. Make sure you try your seats in any cars you're looking at

NIMAN

Anyone know if you can get 3 car seats in a Ford C-Max?