lozgti

Have twins under the age of one.Another child now on the way.Need a big car.

Not a fan of MPV's but might be a necessity.They seem more about seats than space for other stuff.Not sure if you get more space in a big 4x4 though.Don't think an estate car will be big enough though would be my preference(Skoda Octavia estate/volvo estate).

Only MPV I like look of is Chrysler voyager.Unsure about reliability though.

Looking to spend about £15k so second hand probably.Will be a sad day ditching the wife's Fabia vRS

Andy M3

I have a Fiat Multipla forsale :http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/77044.htm

We used to have a Volvo T5 estate, but when number 3 was on the way we felt we needed a better seating arrangement. And i have to say the Fiat was the best car for the job for the money. We looked at the usual Scenic, Toran, Honda FRV etc etc but the Multipla was by far the best, and is about 3" longer than a Fabia !.

So we have the forward facing baby seat in the middle at the front, and our 2 boys [aged 1 and 2] seat either side at the back. It is very easy to get in and out, and plus mum can attend to the baby on the go if need be.

However, our baby is old enough for a forward facing seat, and my oldest son who is 3 this week can go on a booster seat, so we are heading back to Volvo estates.

Dracoro

Surely an estate will be fine. If your kids are that young, they won't need the headroom or legroom. Or something like a Honda Jazz, cheaper and VERY practical, perfect for those with kids although I'm not sure if it'll take 3 kid seats across. Vaux Zafira, VW Toucan(whatever it's called) etc. are all designed with kids in mind.

Andy M3

lozgti has 2 children at 1 [by the time the baby is born] plus a new born. These are babies, not kids. They need to be carried and placed in a car seat, as they can't exactly do it themselves before they are 2-2.5. When you talk about leg room, a forward facing baby seat [that all new borns have to be in] happen to be quite broad and long:



A Jazz is too small, and rear leg room as a major consideration. As for forward facing seats [from about 9 months] again you need reasonable legroom for a seat that has head support, and the ability to tilt back:



In addition i imagine lozgti will require a double push chair plus another one to play host to the forward facing baby seat,

http://baby2travel.co.uk/Britax_Exce...%20Gingham.jpg

so i would say a large boot is pretty important too. It isn't that easy to buy a car when you are in a situation when you have 3 children that young, you need really to think with your head, and not your heart !

Mangel

Have you thought about a forrester?!

Used to have one and the space, performance and stealth plus everythin else was great!!

Only bad thing is they don't do a diesel!!!!

The Snug Rhino

MPV has to be the way to go. I have 4 kids but when we had 3 we went up to an MPV and it was a superb choice.

Fitting 3 of anything accross the middle of any car is hard work....be it 3 kids, 3 baby seats or a commbo of both, its so much easier with a 3rd row of seats.

If you agree on that you have the few 4x4's with a 3rd row or the MPVs. I found MPV had far more room inside, more practical (dump seats for big loads) and more boot space - easy to fit a pushchair plus shopping behind the 3rd row despite what you hear. They are also a better drive and better of gas.

I like the Voyager but its just so vast and yank.

I went for a Galaxy 2.8V6 with 6 capatins chairs, black leather, sat nav, double roof mounted climate, etc, etc......find it very hard to get in a "normal" car now....feels like getting in a sleeping bag after a king size!

Rhino

Andy M3

Thank goodness, a fellow father [i assume] with a multiple of children to give first hand advice !

Mark A

iTrader: (1)

I'm pleased with our Grand Scenic and the wife loves it.

Plus points

1.Massive boot (fits 2 pushchairs across the boot easily).
2.Nice touches, automatic handbrake, auto wipers, headlamps.
3.Handles well for a MPV, C-Max is better but only 5 seater

Negatives

1.Usual Renault build (so it will last for 3 years no doubt, but its leased)
2.Not as economical as I expected, only 40 mpg around town from a 1.5dci diesel.

Mark

Bartop

Easy..

Need 7 seats most of the time ? - Galaxy or the like
Occasional 7 seats ? - Zafira (Gsi / VXR if you want some fun too)
Don't need 7 seats but want more space ? Picasso / Scenic
Don't need 7 seats but want more space and a lot of fun - Forester

The Snug Rhino

the think that convince me was when i had 3 in the back of my 540....i was mucking about on a gravel carpark which they thought was great fun...until the back swung out and caught suddenly - i thought nothing of it up front but the "flick" caused two of the kids to crack heads in the back. No big deal but i do wonder how 3 little skulls all lined up next to each other would cope in a nasty RTA.

I like having my kids spaced out around the "truck" as we call it.....it also keeps them apart which is handy as well!

(and if my son is on his own with me he can sit in the 3rd row and man the rear minigun to shoot baddies.....which is a great help)

The Snug Rhino

"As for forward facing seats [from about 9 months] again you need reasonable legroom for a seat"

often overlooked....my youngest learnt by 6 months that when dad got in the seat in front of him amd yells "LEGGGGS" he better hook his chubby little toes up out the way as i recline the seat after my smaller wife has used it.....if he doesnt he gets squashed feet!

KiwiGTI

Picasso is a cracking car for the money. I rented one in Avignon once (my heart sank when I saw it) but after 6 days of driving it through twisty roads and across mountains I absolutely loved it.

Smiler

You didn't like the Voyager so you bought a Galaxy that will be almost impossible to sell when you want rid....

Smiler

When carrying young children you also have buggies and bags to go with them.

We have a Ulysse and we are now hooked on MPVs, so much space and the kids love it. We can carry so much and they still have space to stretch their legs.

When we change we will probably go for a Voyager. Good quality, bit more luxery and electric side doors

Dave Thornton

I'm just about to go from 1 to 2 children (any hour now) and have already sold the Impreza.

My advice is to go and look at several cars but take a tape measure with you. Measure the boot H x W x D, the interior width front and back and the distance from steering wheel to headrest and headrest to headrest in the back.

Sounds tedious? Well that's how I can tell you that a 3 series Touring has as much usuable room as my series 1 Discovery and that the boot of a classic Impreza is bigger than an X5. And cars with black carpetted boots look deceptively small.

The most surprisingly big car was the M5 (so a late E39 530d Touring has to be a suggestion - not sure if they come with a diagonal middle rear seat belt). Personally I don't like MPVs and I'm going off 4x4s (relatively slow, thirsty, expensive to maintain and not necessarily any safer). Otherwise, push the boat out and look at the new Ford S-Max.

Andy M3

I think a lot of people commenting don't realise the impact of having 3 children all in baby seats at the same time. To go through some of your suggestions. The Renault Scenic is too small to sit 3 across all in seats, as the the ****roen and the Ford C-Max. To have 3 seats in comfort you need a Voyager, Galaxy [and Seat / VW versions] and [as I discovered] the best value of them all the Multipla. The 3+3 design [also found in the Honda FRV although it is smaller] is perfect as per my first post. It makes the best use of space and as Dave Thornton said, you need to basically take 3 seats and 2 push chairs to every showroom to make your decision.

Good luck with it lozgit

Jay m A

iTrader: (2)

Our Audi A6 Avant coped with 2 forward facing baby seats each side and a booster seat in the middle, when looking after our friends 2 kids (as well as our daughter). Car managed it well (has proper middle seat belt) and can easily swallow the buggies too.

But in our case the ages are 4, 2.5 and 18months. If 3 baby seats were required the A6 wouldn't have got them across the rear seats, especially the size these super safe seats come in these days. Not only that but there's the impracticality of putting the child in the middle seat.

Regarding the 7 seaters I always wonder about the safety of the ones in the rear, the seat about 6 inchs from a rear end collision.

Multipla sounds ideal

lozgti

Thanks all.

Spot on with the problems Andy.Even using my Octavia,2 baby seats in the rear eats all the space up.No chance of a third one in the back of it and 2 adults take the front.

Will take the above on board and have a look at the Multipla first

wheelwright

Got twins myself and went the 4x4 route and bought a colorado landcruiser with the 7 seats, fab car but no good for the family.

Problem is when the baby seats are put in the middle row anyone wanting to use the 3rd row has to get in through the tailgate!! so i ditched it!

Bought a seat alhambra 1.9TDi SE and all i can say did the job fantastic, mine even had baby seats built into the seats! A great alround vehicle i would recomend it to anyone with a large family(6 in the WW clan )

You can always remove seats to give more double pushchair room.