Family Cars

JustBen

JustBen

JustBen

Soldato
Joined
14 May 2007
Posts
2,813
Location
Cumbria
Hello
I currently have 2 kids (4 and 6) who have car seats, at the moment in the mk1 focus they can fit ok however i have another child on the way later this year. I know in the focus it won't fit the additional car seat in it due to the width of the car.
I don't fancy a people carrier and was thinking of estate / 4x4. Looking at cars as i've walked past most don't look that wide.

I don't really have a budget in mind but not much so looking at somethign high milage and a bit old.
I've seen a few 5 series BMWs come up local to me which i like the look off but was wondering if anyones tried 3 car seats in them?

Any other recommendations on cars that are wide enough for the extra seats? May end up having to get a people carrier but thats a sign to me my 'young' life is over ha
 
Certainly my F11 5 series wouldn't have been able to fit 3 car seats. My wife, who is small, and slender could only just fit in between the two car seats in the back, meaning there was literally no chance of me, or another car seat sitting in that space.

But then I was using ISOFIX mounting points. I'm afraid your choices will be very limited in what you can use here. You might get more space if you don't use ISOFIX, but if you want to use this system, I couldn't find a single "car" that would allow me to use 3 seats in the back row. Hence why I bought my Alhambra, but you don't want a people carrier.

Some of the bigger 4x4's might allow you the space though. My P38's certainly had plenty room, but no ISOFIX points, if that sort of thing matters to you (it did to me). But they are ancient now, and are nothing short of a liability in reality. Pretty much the same as any older, larger 4x4's, maybe something Japanese might be more reliable mind you. But you are talking decent money for old tractors here.

Smaller 4x4's and crossover type things aren't likely to give you the space you require either.

It's not that I was looking for something to fit 3 baby seats into the back, but was looking for something you could fit an adult between two baby seats. So you might have more luck, but I doubt it really, as modern kids seats aren't really any smaller than the room an adult would take. But at least you are unlikely to be worried about the transfer tunnel taking up all the leg room in the back.

There are options for getting 3 kids seats in standard sized cars though. Something like this might work for you: https://multimac.co.uk/p/superclub_3_seater_1200 But then is probably worth more than your car. But may be necessary regardless of what car you pick, from my experience.

I just went for a big MPV because it just works, and it gives me 5 ISOFIX points (all 5 rear seats are ISOFIX), so I can be extremely flexible with seating arrangements. And has proved itself more than worth it's size since as even when not shifting kids about, it's great for other things, such as swallowing a whole semi-built double sofa bed, or taking multiple sets of wheels and tyres even with the kids on board.
 
that back seat system looks a brilliant idea but yup its worth more than my car :) Maybe i will have to go begrudgingly go down the people carrier route. thanks for the information :)
 
Maybe. I wasn't really a fan of the idea of an MPV either. I really wanted a VW Transporter if I'm honest. But there was no way I could convince the wife to go for a van. She is more susceptible to it now though.

To be honest, I do really like my Alhambra though. It's obviously based on the VW Sharan and shares the same platform as the Ford Galaxy. Now all these cars are essentially the same, and are all the larger side of MPV's. Maybe the smaller Touran / S-Max shape might be all you need, I don't know because I never looked at them. I simply thought I might as well go for the big one and be done with it. I have used all the seats a few times, and am happy to have went for "the big one" as the smaller ones don't have so much space in the back, whereas the bigger ones are proper adult sized spaces. Just as spacious as any other seat. This means a much bigger boot as well as the space for adults. Plus, I'm not sticking my kids right in the back. I want them in the safer middle row. Any passengers can go in the back if they want though.
 
My MD had to forgo a Range Rover Sport as it couldn't fit 3 seats in the back. He ended up going for the new Discovery as it was one of the very few cars which are wide enough in that space. I'd recommend taking seats with you when you test drive.

My point is that with 'normal' sized cars you're going to have a hard time finding something spacious enough.
 
Cleisthenes said:
My MD had to forgo a Range Rover Sport as it couldn't fit 3 seats in the back. He ended up going for the new Discovery as it was one of the very few cars which are wide enough in that space. I'd recommend taking seats with you when you test drive.

My point is that with 'normal' sized cars you're going to have a hard time finding something spacious enough.
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The Range Rover Sport is a disappointingly "small" car when you are inside it though. For being so big on the outside, it didn't seem any more spacious than my F11 inside.
 
As said above, you will struggle to find a 'big' estate or saloon, you either need to go for a proper MPV, or something like a Volvo XC60/90. Having been in a similar situation, we ended up going fro a cheap and cheerful Toyota Previa for the occasions we were all out as a family.
 
I fail to see how such big cars are necessary. My parents managed having 3 kids aged closer together than yours (my sister is 2 years younger than me, my brother 4 years younger) and yet our cars growing up were a Mondeo Estate (M reg) and Octavia Estate (52) both of which were more than adequate including camping trips (with a massive frame + canvas tent!) and holidays to the south of France, admittedly with a roof box but the issue ITT doesn't seem to be boot space. Now i can't recall what age I stopped being in a car seat but I'd imagine I was more likely to be in one at the same time as both of my siblings than your kids?
 
My friend has a 2010 Volvo V70 and managers to fit 3 children seats in across the back. From what he told me there are very few cars that fit 3 across without having to buy MPV, he said the E-class and V70 were the only 2 that it worked but i don't know what else he tried. An SUV would be good if you can afford to run one.
 
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I'm one of three boys with just two years separating each of us and we used to drive to France in a Vauxhall omega MV6 which to this very day I still miss. It was big, comfy, the boot was epic, the stereo loud and the engine lovely. Literally got us three in plus my mum and Dad and enough stuff for a fully self catered caravan holiday in France. Best memories ever.

No people carriers needed back then!
 
Car seat legislation has changed over the years and car seats have also become. Illiterate, hence the need for larger cars.

A friend has just bought a Mitsubishi Outlander which seems rather nice for the cash and its enormous inside!
 
Outlander wont take 3 full size seats either :( Car child seats seem to be massive nowadays, sadly the law is the law, gone are days when you could squeeze as many as you wanted in the back of the car :p
 
I had this issue as well in the end I went for a cheap Zafira. It cost me 800 quid for an 04 2.2 SRI (its had done 115,000 miles which is high but still runs fine) now I have my 6 year old in the very back boot seat and my 3 year old in a seat in the main rear seats with my 6 month old in a isofix baby seat.

The car is reasonable, nippy as its a 2.2 SRI and large enough for the family. its not a bad drive considering
 
The other MPV that can do it well, is the picasso, you mainly want cars with 3 full seats in the back and then aim to get the narrowest child seats possible.
 
always4lora said:
that back seat system looks a brilliant idea but yup its worth more than my car :) Maybe i will have to go begrudgingly go down the people carrier route. thanks for the information :)
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Unless you're buying a shed, that MultiMac car system will likely be much cheaper than the cost to change into an MPV. That said, I do know where you're coming from as spending the value of your current low value car on a custom child seat solution only for your car to go pop the day after... Well it's understandable you'd be wary.

As Freefaller said the S-Max is a good shout and has three separate ISOFIX seats in the middle row. The brand new BMW 5 series model has been widened and specifically allows three car seats abreast now, but from your OP is likely out of budget (unless you find a cheap lease deal perhaps?). Other than that my only advice is to go to a specialist seller like Babies r Us or Mothercare et al and ask for advice. Some child seats are much narrower than others and two of those on the outer seats can literally double the room left between on the middle seat compared to fatter conventional baby seat systems.

THIS WEBSITE lists the narrowest UK car seats separated by age class. It might be marginally out of date (I haven't checked since our daughter was born) but its will certainly help you towards working something out. For example is your six year old tall / heavy enough to qualify for a booster cushion rather than a full on chair? According to the regs/guidelines an average four year old does so unless your six year old is especially tiny that's an option. A good quality narrow booster (with a seatbelt modifier if necessary) would go a long way to solving your problem. You could place her in the middle seat on one and keep the younger two in narrow baby seats on the outer two seats? Food for thought for you.

We have an 11 year old, a 2 year old and a 9 month old and we're managing fine in a decent enough petrol Skoda Superb, because the eldest doesn't need any extra seating arrangements. If we needed three car seats however that might have changed, and I'd probably be stuck in an S Max (or more likely driving an XFR with a MultiMac in the back haha). Good luck mate, it'd be interesting to hear how you get on with solving it.
 
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