What car can take 3 baby seats?

SachaJ

Have #3 on the way so will need to upgrade the wife's car to something that can take 3 baby seats.... Well one booster and two baby seats. The kids will be aged 4, 1.5 and a new born.

Currently she's driving a Seat Leon which is perfect when there's just the two kids but when the 3rd comes we'll need that extra space. Preferably I'd like something with ISOFIX across all 3 children's seats. I have an X-Trail but unfortunately cannot fit a 3rd seat in the back.

So what is out there and good? I guess the replacement for the Leon will become the family car. Older model Galaxy looks like it will go the job as does the Zafira (although might not be as much boot space in the Opel).

Thinking the budget is around €4000 + the Leon which we might get €4k for.

goodlad

I had this exact dilemma a few months ago.
I ended up buying a 2009 Citroen Picasso c5.
It has 3 full size seats in the back and we fit the 3 child seats in with no issues.

I also cant fault the car at all. It drives well and its really comfortable.

dgt

Stretch the budget?

6250

Al Capwned

My brother bought a Ssangyong Kyron for this exact problem. He loves it. Had two baby seats and a booster in it when he got it first - Currently has 3 booster seats. All with loads of room.
He had a mondeo before this and couldn't get the three in together.

I used to have a Seat Alhambra way back when, and had changed the seating configuration to 3 rows of 2 to accomodate my 3, but he wasn't pushed on the people carrier thing.

YouThere

(congrats on news!)

if you want to stay in the 5-seater class - then renault scenic will easily take booster using car's own 3-point, forward child seat with own harness, and rear-facing baby seat with own harness.

and enough storage boxes for all the trumpery associated with the family!

SachaJ

goodlad wrote: »

I had this exact dilemma a few months ago.
I ended up buying a 2009 Citroen Picasso c5.
It has 3 full size seats in the back and we fit the 3 child seats in with no issues.

I also cant fault the car at all. It drives well and its really comfortable.

Can't see a C5 Picasso but a fair few C4's. Quite reasonable up north too on usedcarsni

SachaJ

YouThere wrote: »

(congrats on news!)

if you want to stay in the 5-seater class - then renault scenic will easily take booster using car's own 3-point, forward child seat with own harness, and rear-facing baby seat with own harness.

and enough storage boxes for all the trumpery associated with the family!

Cheers, herself is allergic to Reno's......

SachaJ

dgt wrote: »

Stretch the budget?

6250

Mmmm.... never thought of that. Maybe an FRV for her to run about in town and I might change the X-Trail for a C4 Picasso or the like. A 1.6 diesel C4 should also be cheaper to run than the 2.0 X-Trail.

Sesshoumaru

A Nissan Leaf can fit 3 across.



Maybe you could just look at getting slimmer seats?

dgt

SachaJ wrote: »

Mmmm.... never thought of that. Maybe an FRV for her to run about in town and I might change the X-Trail for a C4 Picasso or the like. A 1.6 diesel C4 should also be cheaper to run than the 2.0 X-Trail.

Well if it's for mainly town driving then you won't go too far wrong with this considering it's petrol ie no modern diesel tat to worry about

As for a 1.6HDi, see this thread on that particular engine

SachaJ

Any opinions on the Xsara Picasso as a city run about for the wife?

http://www.carzone.ie/search/Citroen/Xsara-Picasso/PICASSO-/34413639563730100/advert?channel=CARS

Jesus Christ

Al Capwned wrote: »

My brother bought a Ssangyong Kyron for this exact problem. He loves it.

Plenty of space for the guide dog.

searay

SachaJ wrote: »

Can't see a C5 Picasso but a fair few C4's. Quite reasonable up north too on usedcarsni

Pretty sure he means the C4 Picasso or C4 Grand Picasso. We have the later. Has 3 separate seats, all with isofix. This was very useful with twins and a 2 year old.

Bought a 2008 model in 2010 and v happy with it. Huge boot which you'll need.

Ginny

We have a 307 sw and it will fit 3 seats across, only the outside 2 have isofix though.

zinzan

Might be cheaper to have a look at the multimac option? http://www.multimac.co.uk/home
Dont know much about the though so can't say if they are any good or not.

The_Honeybadger

SachaJ wrote: »

Any opinions on the Xsara Picasso as a city run about for the wife?

http://www.carzone.ie/search/Citroen/Xsara-Picasso/PICASSO-/34413639563730100/advert?channel=CARS

I have one and its pretty good, it'll be thirsty around town though. Then again so will any of the others you are considering. They are good value used and mine has been reliable, try to get one with the extras like air con, alloys and privacy glass. They are a little plasticky anf feel cheap but for a cheap runabout it would be perfect. With your budget you could probably get the c4 Picasso 07 for the wife which will be a better car.

searay

zinzan wrote: »

Might be cheaper to have a look at the multimac option? http://www.multimac.co.uk/home
Dont know much about the though so can't say if they are any good or not.

We looked at this (back in 2010) and the Multimac was about €1200 if memory serves me right. We decided to spend the money on the car instead.

OP have you looked at whether you could fit a smaller booster seat for the 4 year old into your current car?

mr.correct

ford focus c max is the ideal car for you
04-05 with your price range.they are really well equipped and their design is modern I have sold dozens to people in the same situation as you and they all love their c max. spacious boot spacious head room and child friendly comes in 1.6 petrol and diesel and are considerably fuel efficient in both engines

Zubeneschamali

mr.correct wrote: »

ford focus c max is the ideal car for you

Don't buy without testing that you can actually fit your 3 seats across the back. This generation C-Max has only two and a half seats in the rear.

Its brilliant versatility trick is that you can fold the half seat into the boot, and turn it into a strict 4 seater with no boot. Good one, Ford!

siralan

Im looking to buy a small van which has 3 front seats either a berlingo or a peugeot partner. The reason I need 3 seats is that I have 2 babies to drop off at creche in the morning(about a 4 mile drive) on way to work. My wife collects them on way home. Is there a small van suitable for this ?? I want something economical and want to avoid the cost of running a navara jeep or similar crewcab which would probably only do 30mpg instead of a small van 55mpg +. Any advice guys ??

donegal.

i had a scenic to fit 3 kids in the back, but you're looking at this problem back to front . You should be asking which car seats to get, which are small enough. Some seats are excessively bulky.
I used Britax (evo ?) They have their own seat belts so you don't have to reach the cars belts, and i could fit 3 in the back of the scenic.

siralan

Yes, good point about the car seats. Thanks for that!

Al Capwned

The Fiat Scudo and Citroen Dispatch are essentially the same as the Peugeot Expert, which is the next size up from the Berlingo/Partner... All have three seats (I think)

I had a 06 berlingo, and it had only two seats, but there may be an option to get the newer ones with 3 seats though iirc.

donegal.

i had a scudo a few years back, it was a great van. I don't know if you'd fit a car seat in the middle though. the distance from the back of the seat to the gear stick is not huge.