Family car to fit two child seats and teen

Ranelite

Budget of around 10k.
Need spacious family car.
Looking at Passat, Mondeo, Avensis, E-Class Merc, 5 Series, Audi A6.
Any suggestion on models and engine sizes etc.

mkdon05

Ranelite wrote: »

Budget of around 10k.
Need spacious family car.
Looking at Passat, Mondeo, Avensis, E-Class Merc, 5 Series, Audi A6.
Any suggestion on models and engine sizes etc.

I don't think any you mentioned would comfortably fit 2 car seats and a teen. You need to look at something like a Ford C-max or Honda FRV.

Zubeneschamali

mkdon05 wrote: »

I don't think any you mentioned would comfortably fit 2 car seats and a teen. You need to look at something like a Ford C-max or Honda FRV.

C-Max is no good, only 2 1/2 back seats. The FRVs rears are not fullsize, either.

The S-Max is the business, I drive one myself. a Scenic or Picasso would do the job (blah blah French electrics), or if you hate yourself, a Verso.

LilMrsDahamsta

mkdon05 wrote: »

I don't think any you mentioned would comfortably fit 2 car seats and a teen. You need to look at something like a Ford C-max or Honda FRV.

5 series is a definite no anyway. We've two car seats in the back of mine and there's no way we can get a teen in there with them; we've tried!

Ranelite

Trying hard not to get a MPV! Are SUVs worth the money? I think the Mondeo hathback or E Class estate (7 seater) are biggest. I have a 2000 320d Touring but space is running out.

Peanut2011

Ranelite wrote: »

I think the Mondeo hathback or E Class estate (7 seater) are biggest.

Had one car seat and two adults in the back of the Mondeo (hatchback) recently and it was a tight fit but did it. Don't think it would be comfortable as a every day use.

Looking at the space the two car seats and another person would not work at all for Mondeo. I'd say MPV is your only choice for comfort. I would suggest S-Max.

mullingar

/prepares to be stoned/

A Fiat Multipla. 3 seat in the front, 3 in the back.

/runs

mkdon05

Zubeneschamali wrote: »

C-Max is no good, only 2 1/2 back seats. The FRVs rears are not fullsize, either.

The S-Max is the business, I drive one myself. a Scenic or Picasso would do the job (blah blah French electrics), or if you hate yourself, a Verso.

C-max comfortably fits 2 car seats and a teen. Granted not as nice as a S-max, but cheaper to run.

triple-M

skoda superb perhaps?

R.O.R

I have 2 full size child seats in the back of my 5 series (group 0 - 1 rear facing and group 1-3 front facing), and you could possibly squeeze a very skinny teen in between them. Whether there would be the room to be able to do the seatbelt up is another matter.

Biggest problem you'd have with a saloon car, is access. I haven't tried fitting a child seat in the centre seat, and doubt 2 seats would sit comfortably right next to each other. If you have the 2 child seats in the outer rear seats, then access to the centre seat is going to be very tricky, unless you load the teen in and then fit one of the outer child seats before putting the child in to it - and that sounds really impractical to me.

Take the 2 Child seats and the teen, and try to fit them all in one of these - http://www.carzone.ie/search/Volvo/V70/2.0-FLEX/22013414781002500/advert?channel=CARS. The wife has one, and it's probably the widest centre seat I've seen in a car. If you can get the 2 seats next to each other (one outside rear seat, one in the centre seat) then it may just be workable.

Otherwise, it's off to MPV territory you go, along with my condolences.

Ranelite

That's the kind of car I'm after! Pity about the mileage.

R.O.R wrote: »

I have 2 full size child seats in the back of my 5 series (group 0 - 1 rear facing and group 1-3 front facing), and you could possibly squeeze a very skinny teen in between them. Whether there would be the room to be able to do the seatbelt up is another matter.

Biggest problem you'd have with a saloon car, is access. I haven't tried fitting a child seat in the centre seat, and doubt 2 seats would sit comfortably right next to each other. If you have the 2 child seats in the outer rear seats, then access to the centre seat is going to be very tricky, unless you load the teen in and then fit one of the outer child seats before putting the child in to it - and that sounds really impractical to me.

Take the 2 Child seats and the teen, and try to fit them all in one of these - http://www.carzone.ie/search/Volvo/V70/2.0-FLEX/22013414781002500/advert?channel=CARS. The wife has one, and it's probably the widest centre seat I've seen in a car. If you can get the 2 seats next to each other (one outside rear seat, one in the centre seat) then it may just be workable.

Otherwise, it's off to MPV territory you go, along with my condolences.

Zubeneschamali

mkdon05 wrote: »

C-max comfortably fits 2 car seats and a teen. Granted not as nice as a S-max, but cheaper to run.

Niceness isn't the issue: you are a half-seat short. The older C-Max's trick with the rear seats is to fold the useless centre half-seat into the boot to give you a full four seater with no boot space.

Take a look at the backs of the seats here, you can see how tiny the middle one is:

R.O.R

Ranelite wrote: »

That's the kind of car I'm after! Pity about the mileage.

Yeah, the V70 may be ideal for you, but they do hold their value very well. Options in your budget are either massive mileage new models, or one of the older versions and I don't think they are quite as wide.

Might be worth having a good look at the S80, which is the saloon version of the V70, but from a quick look online, I don't think the centre seat is as wide in the S80.

mkdon05

Zubeneschamali wrote: »

Niceness isn't the issue: you are a half-seat short. The older C-Max's trick with the rear seats is to fold the useless centre half-seat into the boot to give you a full four seater with no boot space.

Take a look at the backs of the seats here, you can see how tiny the middle one is:

What part of "it fits 2 carseats and a teen comfortably" don't you understand.

Ranelite

I've read good things about the Opel Zafira and Citroen C4 Gran Picasso... What 7-seat SUV would people recommend?

Zubeneschamali

mkdon05 wrote: »

What part of "it fits 2 carseats and a teen comfortably" don't you understand.

The bit where I have 3 kids and hired a C-Max for a 2 week holiday based on advice like yours, and learned the hard way that you are wrong.

mkdon05

Zubeneschamali wrote: »

The bit where I have 3 kids and hired a C-Max for a 2 week holiday based on advice like yours, and learned the hard way that you are wrong.

Well I own one and can fit 2 carseats and a 15 year old fine. Can fit an adult in the back with the carseats too. Suppose it depends what shape your passengers are in.

oinkely

I have a multipla, and can easily fit two cars seats and an adult in the back. the three seats are all full sized individual seats. (and there's a bonus seat in the front for when both grandparents come along for a spin!)

down side is quite obvious, ugly as anything...... and possibly* not the most reliable car in the world

*definitely.

Wife has a megane scenic which also has three seats in the back. same kids seats and no room for a full size person in the middle. a skinny teenager can get in there alright but access is difficult, shimmying around the car seats.

Personally I think the multipla is a great car, would buy another one when this ones craps out completely as the space is just lovely. Nice high seats too which makes strapping the kids in very easy on the back.

unkel

OP, it is not 100% clear to me what child seats you are talking about and what size the teenager is. Is it 2 full size baby seats and a big teenager? Or 1 full size seat and 1 booster? If the former, you really need a very wide car with 3 full seats. Full size MPV or FIAT Multipla, I'm afraid

If the latter, any big saloon will do (A6, 5-series, E-class, Saab 9 5, Volvo S80, etc.) Be careful of buying full executive size cars (S-class, 7-series, etc. as they tend to only have a lapbelt in the middle in the back)

Ranelite

Bon point... It's a baby seat, a booster for 4 year old and skinny teen girl.

unkel wrote: »

OP, it is not 100% clear to me what child seats you are talking about and what size the teenager is. Is it 2 full size baby seats and a big teenager? Or 1 full size seat and 1 booster? If the former, you really need a very wide car with 3 full seats. Full size MPV or FIAT Multipla, I'm afraid

If the latter, any big saloon will do (A6, 5-series, E-class, Saab 9 5, Volvo S80, etc.) Be careful of buying full executive size cars (S-class, 7-series, etc. as they tend to only have a lapbelt in the middle in the back)

Yakuza

I seem to recall my brother-in-law's Honda Accord (06 or 07 model, not sure of the year as he bought it 2nd hand and it's a Spanish car) seemed to have acres of room in the back seats, comfortably fitting a rock-a-tot, booster and a 10-year old. As Unkel says, more info needed on the types of car seats you intend to use (rear-facing (rock-a-tot), full front-facing or a booster), but I do recall the Accord being very roomy across the middle row compared to my Qashqai+2, so it might be worth the OPs while to investigate.

Edit - OP added more info needed about sizes - would defo recommend looking at the Accord in that case.

Zubeneschamali

mkdon05 wrote: »

Well I own one and can fit 2 carseats and a 15 year old fine. Can fit an adult in the back with the carseats too. Suppose it depends what shape your passengers are in.

How? What do you put in the middle?

mkdon05

Zubeneschamali wrote: »

How? What do you put in the middle?

Front facing child seat behind the passenger seat, rear facing child seat can go in the middle or behind driver seat and teen can sit in either free space.
I have actually sat in the back with the rear facing seat in the middle and myself behind the driver seat and I'm 6 foot and over 16 stone.

unkel

Ranelite wrote: »

Bon point... It's a baby seat, a booster for 4 year old and skinny teen girl.

In that case most D-segment* cars would be fine

* That's a size smaller than an A6, 5-series, etc. so you're talking Passat, Mondeo, Avensis, Accord, 3-series, C-class, A4, etc. As others said, Skoda Octavia is a lot of space for your money, you might want to have a look at one

I've 3 small kids myself and I'd rather chop off my manly bits than drive an MPV