NEW CAR Needed... curse of the children! XC90 Owners?

[LGriffiths88]

G'day all.

Middle of last month we saw baby no.3 arrive and on the car front we thought we would be fine. He'd fit fine with our other 2 in the back of our MK3 Mondeo. But our eldest isn't comfortable in the car now. He is a tall lad for his age so he's wedged inbetween a rear facing seat and our middle child's forward facing seat.

So me and the wife have come to the conclusion that we need a bigger car where all 3 kids can fit across the back. At present our configuration is (from left to right) Forward facing seat... eldest child (without booster) and rear facing seat.

We assume a 7 seater is our best option as is there any 5 seater cars that would house all 3 across back?

our budget is around £5k. The car's we've come up with with... well Mrs has...
Zafira (I shudder)
Grand Picasso (engines seem very low on power)
VW Touran
PreFacelift S-Max (I'm picky.. I want the facelift smax sport if we have one.. but way out of budget)

Volvo XC-90 (my choice due to being safe and 7 seats)

any suggestions? watch outs? want the car to have a bit of poke as it will be lugging a family of 5 around.

thanks for the help

[Fastchas]

Out of those, the Touran. Hands down.
Get a 2.0tdi sport 170. You get to keep your balls. Plus quality, functionality and residuals piss over the others.

[jimi]

When our three were small I couldn't get the car seats to fit well in pretty much any saloon or estate due to the angle of the seat base.

There were a couple of cars with a flat rear seat base that worked, one was the Land Rover Discovery 3 or 4 now. I think the old Volvo V70 used to be fairly flat as well.

Now mine are all on booster seats and I can get three across in pretty much any car. What's the age range of yours, different seat types will make it more complex...

[DS197]

Nothing wrong with a Zafira if it's like this one http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...

[furtive]

Pre-facelift S-Max is pre-2010. S-Max is definitely what I would go for (oh look, I did )

I would hang on for a facelifted one if you can stretch to it

Edited by furtive on Monday 9th January 14:26

[LGriffiths88]

DS197 said:

Nothing wrong with a Zafira if it's like this one http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...

haha! I've mentioned a VXR to the mrs.... she didn't seem too keen! haha

Mrs doesn't like the DISCO's although I do like them. So they're gone as she will be driving most of the time.

Anyone know if a Touareg can fit 3 across back? seems like a wide car?

[andy-xr]

I've looked at this too, not for 3 but for 2 kids and a slightly lower budget. The ones I looked at

- Kia Sorento. Massive amount of space, and take the back 2 seats out. Everyone should be comfy. They need cambelts though, and it's 7 hours book time
- Grand Voyager. They were all just st
- Toureg - bit cramped in the back seats
- Vectra Estate - massive load space at the back. Would work for us and I probably will end up with a late one
- Galaxy/Alhambra - also fitted what we want, bit questionable on the TDCi engine though having had 2 before, I'll be at the price point where it's likely to need a DMF/clutch


I hadnt really considered the XC90 as they're a bit above what I want to spend, but seem to remember they're quite high at the back for getting 'stuff' in an out

[anonymous-user]

What about a Merc R-Class

[skyrover]

Chevrolet Tahoe or Suburban have very wide interiors. LHD and petrol only might be an issue though.

[LGriffiths88]

skyrover said:

Chevrolet Tahoe or Suburban have very wide interiors. LHD and petrol only might be an issue though.

only 2 suburbans over here... one thats 6k and looks quite dated the other very new and £62k!

[LGriffiths88]

MonkeyMatt said:

What about a Merc R-Class

never seen these before. they look very interesting. 6 seater.