Cars and kids

onrail

Father of two (6mths and 24mths) here. We've a Skoda Octavia estate that has served us well over the last couple of years, but I just wonder whether it would be suitable should a 3rd Bambino ever arrive? Looking at the two carseats we have - there isn't much space to spare!

So wondering whether something like a Kodiaq or larger 7 seat SUV would be necessary with say 3 kids under 4 or 5?

For one reason or another, we need to think about trading pretty soon if we're going to take the plunge.

AMKC

Why not just get a Superb?

onrail

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119192533#Comment_119192533

Would the superb offer much more than the Octavia or Kodiaq in terms of space and versatility?

Shouldn't be a factor, but I'm not a massive fan of the Superb in terms of looks.

Wossack

As a superb owner, I think you’ll need something with a third row to be honest

only 2 isofix in the back

josip

Even if you could fit 3 of your own across the back now, with 3 kids in primary school you'll need a 7 seater for all the combinations of friends that comes with that.

AMKC

Sounds like it's time to look at a Ford S-Max if you want something classy, stylish and good to drive or a Galaxy if you do not care about most of that.

onrail

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119193150#Comment_119193150

The answer I was dreading, but you're probably right

Wossack

https://www.multimac.com/home

or similar potentially an option either

Flinty997

An MPV is brilliant even with 2 kids. No brainer with 3.

onrail

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119193565#Comment_119193565

Great idea, but oof the price 🤯

onrail

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119193599#Comment_119193599

For purely superficial reasons, I don't like MPVs, but looks as if it may be the only option

zg3409

Personally I would hold off or buy a car based on 2 kids. The third won't suddenly appear unless you are married to Mary, and it's relatively easy to trade in and upgrade when you need to. It could be 2+ years before you need the space. The 2 year old may be 4 and can use a forward facing high back "booster" type seat by then.

I would second the 7 seater extra room idea. With modern baby car seats being massive and buggies and gear you don't be long filling a car on a trip, however I would delay until its needed and keep the money for a rainy day or car repairs. Larger cars can be heavy on fuel, even when only half loaded and things like 4 X 4 tyres all add up. For similar performance you may be looking at a larger engine too.

Many families go for relatively older cars that can take the dents, food, spillages of family life and often they are just used for local trips 99% of the time anyway. If you go on the small side a roof box can be handy for long distance trips. Many "SUV" are actually quite small compared to estate cars.

onrail

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119194194#Comment_119194194

I'm probably 100% in agreement with you, and probably will stay with what we have for now.

The only complication is that we're moving back to Ireland from the UK by the end of the year, and if we buy something now, we can avail of the VRT and VAT exemption, which would mean a saving of around 8k on something like a Kodiaq, or even 20k on something more high end. It's maybe FOMO driving my decisions at the moment.

User1998

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119193606#Comment_119193606

A lot cheaper than buying a new car

pah

Kodiaq ^

Be aware that something like a Kodiaq while quite big doesn't have that full row of seats in the middle that you get with an Smax, Galaxy, Alhambra etc

SMAX ^

mikeecho

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119192533#Comment_119192533

Why not just get the snip .

AMKC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119201958#Comment_119201958

Sure your choice if that's what you want to do I say you should go for it.

Too many people in the World anyway.

Gregor Samsa

I've 3 kids (9,9 and 13). I've a Superb estate and an S-Max.

Purely from the point of view of seats for 3 younger kids, you're better off with a car that has 3 independent seats in the back. That usually means a proper 7 seater. It is possible to do it with a regular back seat, but it's less comfortable for everyone. When my twins were born, the eldest was 4. We had a Mazda 6 for a year. Twins went in the two outside seats, 4 year old was crammed in the middle in the smallest booster seat we could find. After a year of that, it was becoming untenable, so we went with the S-Max and didn't look back. In fairness, we also wanted the 7 seater to be able to bring their grandparents, etc on trips and not have to bring two cars.

Now that they're bigger (and situation with grandparents has changed), we don't need the 7 seater any more, and we do most of our family outings in the Superb. The S-Max will be replaced with a hatchback over the next couple of years (the only reason we're not changing now is that it's not a priority - the Max is running fine at 12 years old, and it's only used occasionally as the second car, and the massive load space it has can be handy from time to time).

The second point to consider is luggage space. With twins, we had to have a double buggy. We had both a side-by-side and a 2-in-a- row. Both were pretty big and wouldn't necessarily fit into every car boot. The side-by-side filled the Mazda 6 (saloon) boot - just enough room for the a couple of small bags with it. The S-Max's boot (with the 3rd row of seats folded away) is colossal. You could fit the double buggy and a whole week's shopping with space to spare. The Superb's boot is one of the biggest for a regular car, but it's still not as big as the S-Max, in width or height. With the 3rd row in use, the boot obviously gets much smaller.

As said above, I'd wait until you actually have the 3rd kid (or they're about to arrive) before doing anything. You might find that you don't actually need all the space when the time comes. And realistically, you'll only need the 7 seater for a set number of years until the older one (or ones) move on to more manageable seats (or none at all), so factor that into your decision.

As an aside, I knew a guy who drove a 2.0 TDI Passat - nothing special, but he did large mileage and he loved it. He had a kid - one kid - and he wasn't even with the mother, so he only had this kid with him a couple of days a week. Before the kid was even born, he changed his Passat for a Qashqai - a much smaller car, just because he thought that's what you should do when you have kids. The kid probably spent 30 minutes a week in the car, on its own in the back - nothing a Passat couldn't have handled with ease, and yer man was left driving a 112bhp Qashqai on his own the rest of the time. Moral of the story is: choose your car based on your actual needs when you know what they are.