Car for family of 5

[lawnseed]

myles there are still a few toyota previas knocking around brilliant yoke or lower in the money the jap import versions that are automatic and positively cavernous and bullet proof. heaps of them on donedeal. they are worth about thousand euro for export so expect to pay a little more than that... just a new radiator and timing belt and a waterpump and i promise you you'll be so sick of driving them. 300 thousand kms no problem. in around 30mpg but no spanners required. some have tellys sat nav etc.. and captain seats very handy for the infant that needs fed during a long journey

[cornerback]

Will be in a similar situation soon enough 

In the market for a new car & will need 3 child seats in the back - it'll probably be two baby/child seats & one high-back booster seat.

Not keen on the 7-seaters but if its the only option we'll obviously have to go that way.

Visited a few dealers & tried a few saloon/hatchbacks but they aren't wide enough to accommodate 3 child seats.

Now thinking along the lines of a crossover like:
Kia Sportage
Ford Kuga
Hyundai ix35

Firstly, anyone any experience of these cars?  And more importantly are they even suitable for 3 child seats?

[laoislad]

Was gonna buy a Kuga a few months back but ended up buying a Audi A4 estate.
Loads of boot room and plenty of room in back but not sure if it would take 3 baby seats though it might at a squeeze. The boot space is great though.

[lawnseed]

just heard some very alarming news about the ford s max. steering rack done with 38000 miles! no second hand ones about, they give trouble £1200 quid for a new one. at the back the two struts that support the back of the car.. done with 38000miles! new ones are £500 a side. the mot centre guy told the owner he could have failed the car on loads of suspension stuff but gave him the cert because he was ready to cry.. the car is for sale now it looks and drives great but its junk.. expensive junk

[mylestheslasher]

I did a lot of research into this. I have three kids, one was using the ISOfix base. To get three child seats including one (or two) ISOfix bases in you are looking for a car with three full back seats (vast majority have 2.5 which isnt good enough). Now I am assuming, like me, you want don't want to use the back two seats in a 7 seater as they will take away almost all your boot space. So if this sounds like your problem then you can forget about Ford Kuga or Mitsubishi Outlanders or any crossovers & jeeps (at least any that are reasonable price.) You are left with The Ford Galaxy (or C Max), the Renault Scenic and the Peugeot 5008 (possibily the Opel/Vauxhall yoke too but I didnt look at it). I went for the Peugeot and I had concerns as I never heard much good about them in the past. However, recently they were getting good reviews in car magazines and websites. I was pleasantly suprised, its a great drive seat fold down easy, decent on fuel and low emmissions. You can pick them up quite keenly priced in England. The Fords are nice cars too but on average 3-4k more expensive (Galaxy is 2 litre and bigger, the C Max 1.6 but a bit smaller). I wouldnt touch a renault with a barge pole myself, electrically shite build. So thats what I did and motoring well ever since. You should test drive a few of them and make sure you are happy. Hope that helps.

[tbrick18]

I was in a similar scenario myself, had 3 kids under 3 and eventually went for a Volvo XC90. There's a built in booster seat in the middle of the back and the seats are all full size seats so can accommodate 3 car seats. Also a good size boot as the rear 2 seats fold into the floor. So it gives you the option to use the boot seats too.

We then went on to have twins....so had to rethink again. Finished up with a Galaxy, can cant complain. Reasonable easy on fuel, nice to drive and plenty of space. With 7 seats up we still get a  double buggy in the boot.

Those cross-over yokes are just glorified cars with about 5K added on. I wouldnt entertain one and you'll have no more room than you do in a large saloon.

Really you're looking at a 7-seater or a Jeep. If you dont need the full 7 seats go for one where the boot seats fold into the floor. The new Seat Alhambra and VW Sharan have this along with sliding doors, but by god they're pricey. £28K new.
You can pick up an decent XC90 for under 10K and with those engines you dont need to worry too much about miles on the clock. It would be my pick of jeep for the safety features and build in booster plus reliability. For people carriers, avoid the Renault Espace like the plague. VW Sharans, Seat Alhambras, Ford Galaxys are the pick of the bunch with the Galaxy probably the closest you'll get to a car.

[lawnseed]

anyone for avensis verso? Toyota reliability? I'd say the vultures are never far away when either of you set off in those cars I wouldn't stray too far from civilisation. bring food and water just in case

[lawnseed]

got talking to a lad recently heres what he does when he want to hear about how good or bad a car is. he rings traynors car dismantlers eg he rang to enquire about a Peugeot 307 they have no bits for them this indicates that the car is shite since all the second hand parts are gone. might be worth a phone call.

[mylestheslasher]

got talking to a lad recently heres what he does when he want to hear about how good or bad a car is. he rings traynors car dismantlers eg he rang to enquire about a Peugeot 307 they have no bits for them this indicates that the car is shite since all the second hand parts are gone. might be worth a phone call.

Thats about as stupid a suggestion as I've heard in a long time. There are different models of the 307 coming out in different years, the age of the car is a factor, the popularity of the car is a factor and there are certain components in every make that is a weakness in the design. If you go on that premise you'll probably end up buying one of those electrical cars that only 20 people bought last year!

[cornerback]

Cheers for the feedback... we currently have 2 isofix bases & when No.3 comes along we intend to move the eldest into a high-back booster.  We had thought that replacing the 2 isofix seats with slimmer childseats may have created enough room in the back of a standard family car - but obviously not!?

Looks like the 7-seaters are our only option, so I'll concentrate my search here.

Probably looking in the region of £10-12k.

The car will be doing approx. 90miles round trip on the daily commute so obviously want something that is reasonable easy on fuel.

[mylestheslasher]

Cheers for the feedback... we currently have 2 isofix bases & when No.3 comes along we intend to move the eldest into a high-back booster.  We had thought that replacing the 2 isofix seats with slimmer childseats may have created enough room in the back of a standard family car - but obviously not!?

Looks like the 7-seaters are our only option, so I'll concentrate my search here.

Probably looking in the region of £10-12k.

The car will be doing approx. 90miles round trip on the daily commute so obviously want something that is reasonable easy on fuel.

You want what I've suggested above a Peugeot 5008 or Ford C Max in 1.6l Diesel. At that money you are probably looking at 09 or 2010.

[Jim_Murphy_74]

Avoid the Renault Espace like the plague. 

Yours in harsh lessons learnt,
/Jim.

[GJL]

Avoid anything French, they are all pans of dung. Electrics are a nightmare and they can't take high miles. We even try to avoid working on them. General rule is stick to the Japs or Germans when it come to cars. I have 3 kids and have a BMW X5 which takes the 3 boosters across the back no bother. The fuel economy is the only downfall (28MPG). I know that this will not suit everyone but they are a great car to drive. If I were thinking of something more economical I would look at the Toyota Verso.

Remember there is no such thing as a car that gives no bother, the trick is to buy one of the models that gives the least.

[The Iceman]

Cheers for the feedback... we currently have 2 isofix bases & when No.3 comes along we intend to move the eldest into a high-back booster.  We had thought that replacing the 2 isofix seats with slimmer childseats may have created enough room in the back of a standard family car - but obviously not!?

Looks like the 7-seaters are our only option, so I'll concentrate my search here.

Probably looking in the region of £10-12k.

The car will be doing approx. 90miles round trip on the daily commute so obviously want something that is reasonable easy on fuel.

Would you not consider a second wee economical runaround car for your 90 mile daily commute?

The 3rd row seats and losing boot space hasn't been a problem for us. We have 1 in the 3rd row now and there'll be two in the 3rd row in December. In the Pathfinder we have enough room to get a double pram in and any shopping thats done isn't done with all the kids in tow so boot space isn't a problem. Long journeys might be difficult but there's roof racks and great bars on top of the pathfinder.

[mylestheslasher]

Avoid anything French, they are all pans of dung. Electrics are a nightmare and they can't take high miles. We even try to avoid working on them. General rule is stick to the Japs or Germans when it come to cars. I have 3 kids and have a BMW X5 which takes the 3 boosters across the back no bother. The fuel economy is the only downfall (28MPG). I know that this will not suit everyone but they are a great car to drive. If I were thinking of something more economical I would look at the Toyota Verso.

Remember there is no such thing as a car that gives no bother, the trick is to buy one of the models that gives the least.

Peugeot design and build is much improved on newer models but in general you are right about French cars. As for your X5, there are some problems. They are ridiculously priced, poor on fuel, poor on emissions, expensive tyres and general maintenance and will soon be taxed off the road . Most importantly they wont take the two ISO fixes and booster seat - not a hope.