Family Car - 2 kids

gjrc

gjrc

gjrc

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
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London
hi all,

thought i would come in here and get some expert help.

wife and i currently drive an Audi Q5. we live in London.

we have one son with another child arriving in Feb.

the Q5 i dont like. its too small. however we cant get an estate car as the wife has a bad back problem and the bending required with putting children and clobber in and out of a lower car makes things worse.

currently we have one car seat (behind the passenger) with the second car seat going in behind the driver. once in this will force me to have the drivers seat too far forward to be able to drive comfortably / if at all.

so my question is, what are our options if we were to get a new car. i really want to avoid an MPV if possible. things like the Q7 are probably too big for london. i would like a Range Rover, but again in London its probably too big and the wife doesn't like them anyway.

any ideas or advice would be welcome.

thanks
 
If you can't have an estate and the larger 4x4's are going to be too big then I can't see you having much choice other than a relatively high mpv

Having said that I've never been in the back of a Q5 so perhaps the likes of the Toureg is a bit better for legroom (always assumed they were much the same)

Alternative could be one of the jacked up estates like an a6 allroad, but they potentially don't help the back problem a great deal tbh
 
Skillmister said:
So you need a car bigger than a Q5 which can't be an estate but a Q7/RR is too big :confused:

Good luck with that!
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Does seem a bit odd :(

Wish I was in the position where choosing a car "for the kids", actually included Q7/RR as options... how anyone could possibly manage with 2 kids in a smaller car I have no idea :p
 
This is a bit of a Mr Mann from Little Britain effort.

But I would suggest the Mazda CX-5.

However, if not Mercedes/Audi/BMW/RR badge enough then you are pretty much stuffed:D
 
To be honest, as a family car, I can't fault out Alhambra. When it does go, it'll just be replaced with a newer one. Either Alhambra, Sharan or Galaxy. All much of a muchness.

The S-Max or Touran etc... are a bit smaller, and more "car" like, if that's what you want. But personally, I went for size, and don't regret it one bit.

Today I'll have both kids in the car, and a set of 18's, which are getting the rubber taken off. I have no fear that I'll easily manage the 4 wheels and 4 tyres (seperated) in the back without issue, or without having to remove seats, fold seats whatever. No way you could do that in a Q5 or the like. Or even my range rover (well, maybe just about in that).

Your requirements basically take you to something that doesn't really exist. You could maybe look at the Volvo XC60? That might be about the closest. But I don't really know how much bigger than a Q5 they might be?
 
you're asking for more space but don't want a bigger car.

It's not going to work :)

as I'm sure you're aware many drive big fat RR's and Q7's in London without any issues.
 
grudas said:
you're asking for more space but don't want a bigger car.

It's not going to work :)

as I'm sure you're aware many drive big fat RR's and Q7's in London without any issues.
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i guess i need to persuade her that an estate car will work.

i will take a look at the other suggestions. not tied to any badge at all. i only dream of the RR. any purchase we make will be very second hand too.

re the size its more the leg room available in the rear seats that i need to work out. I suppose all of the smaller 4x4 types will have similar amounts of leg room in the rear seats.

i really want a boot that i dont have to play tetris every time i pack it. just want to be able to throw everything in, not worrying about space.

thanks
 
Forgive my ignorance, but how does a child seat affect the leg room and the positioning of the front seat, surely a child seat requires zero leg room?
 
pepp77 said:
Forgive my ignorance, but how does a child seat affect the leg room and the positioning of the front seat, surely a child seat requires zero leg room?
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It doesn't necessarily. Depends on both the age of the children and design of child seats.

Rear facing seats near more room, as they tend to foul on the back of the front seats (hence them needing to be moved forward).
 
A cart seat will overhang quite a bit from the actual seat when on an iso fix base. Since most people don't have their seats bolt upright you can only go back so far. It does reduce the passenger leg space quite a bit.
 
VW Touareg. Fab personal contract hire deals at the moment and they are as wide as Q7, (larger than Q5), but shorter than the Q7.

The 3.0 V^ diesel is lovely and if you spec Air suspension the ride is amazing.
 
theone8181 said:
How olds your eldest, is it worth moving the behind the driver if they are in front facing?
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he will be 2 when the next arrives. he is already front facing. but with the isofix seat we have the passenger seat is already far forward.

AFIK the babies feet are not supposed to be able to press against the seat in front.

i am 6 foot 3 btw.
 
gjrc said:
i guess i need to persuade her that an estate car will work.
Click to expand...

Not necessarily. While the boot in my 5 series (F11) wasn't small, it wasn't exactly cavernous either.

gjrc said:
i will take a look at the other suggestions. not tied to any badge at all. i only dream of the RR. any purchase we make will be very second hand too.

re the size its more the leg room available in the rear seats that i need to work out. I suppose all of the smaller 4x4 types will have similar amounts of leg room in the rear seats.
Click to expand...

If it's rear leg room, then you will need something particularly large. Big MPV's and SUV's don't have the transmissin tunnel encroaching in the cabin either (for the most part), which makes a huge difference in the middle seat.

You might also want to consider if you'll need someone to sit between the kids ever. My wife is not big (5ft 0in, reasonably slim), but it was a struggle even for her in between the 2 baby seats in the 5 series. Bigger cars (SUV's and MPV's) often have a full size middle seat. My Alhambra does, and it is also ISOFIX, as are the 2 rearmost seats (6&7).

gjrc said:
i really want a boot that i dont have to play tetris every time i pack it. just want to be able to throw everything in, not worrying about space.

thanks
Click to expand...

As I said earlier, a set of wheels, plus a set of tyres, all just lobbed in. Plus 2 kids in their seats, in the back. Easy.



Of course, you do have to put up with the looks otherwise...

 
xs2man said:
Not necessarily. While the boot in my 5 series (F11) wasn't small, it wasn't exactly cavernous either.



If it's rear leg room, then you will need something particularly large. Big MPV's and SUV's don't have the transmissin tunnel encroaching in the cabin either (for the most part), which makes a huge difference in the middle seat.

You might also want to consider if you'll need someone to sit between the kids ever. My wife is not big (5ft 0in, reasonably slim), but it was a struggle even for her in between the 2 baby seats in the 5 series. Bigger cars (SUV's and MPV's) often have a full size middle seat. My Alhambra does, and it is also ISOFIX, as are the 2 rearmost seats (6&7).



As I said earlier, a set of wheels, plus a set of tyres, all just lobbed in. Plus 2 kids in their seats, in the back. Easy.



Of course, you do have to put up with the looks otherwise...

Click to expand...

that's the boot i want!
 
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