options for a growing family

Andyf33

Soon to have 4th child and need to trade in my 3 year old estate car for a more practical people carrier with 7 seats. Considering Ford S max but always had german cars so wary of ford - have heard they are better than they used to be - any views? Any alternatives up to approx 25k new or nearly new?
Thanks

vikingaero

Go to www.broadspeed.com to get around 4k off.

Plenty of people trading in quality German cars for a SMax. The space and handling (for an MPV) are a real winner.

Broadspeed also have an offer on the front page for a 09 Galaxy TDCi for £13,993.

Also try Drive The Deal and Deal Drivers.

BernadetteN

I second using Drive the Deal. We bought our VW Touran 90 diesel from there and no regrets at all. It cost 12k and the prices when I last looked were still the same as 4 years ago. When we bought our Touran, there were not so many small 7 seaters around and we considered the Renault Grand Scenic and Toyota Corolla, now we would also consider the Ford S-Max (got to drive one as a hire car and just as good as Touran) and also Citroen one (can't remember name) or Mazda 5. Would not consider Zafira as middle is a row instead of individual seats and whole row has to be pushed forwards and backwards to access rear seats, impossible with car seats attached. Touran has excellent NCAP ratings, for passengers and pedestrians, sure S-Max and Citroens have too.

sarahg1969

We looked at the S-Max, but it was practically the same price as a Galaxy.

Personally, I'm not keen on the flimsy rear seats you get in the new Galaxy, though - prefer the old-style ones that you still see in the Sharan.

In the end, went for something a little cheaper and older and got the C8.

GT60

Have you thought of hyundia we have the trijet very big in side and all 7 seats come out one by one unlike most other cars.
Also if you are like me i just put the pram in the car whilst it is still up i can never work out how to put the pram down just leave it for the boss to do.
Also just looked at the santa fe all the seats fold down flat.

p1tse

s-max gets good rating

mazda 5 is good too with sliding doors

but with 4 children, with a new born, would mean you'll still need boot space for buggy, so toyota corolla verso is out of the question.

touran would be a good option.

but if you wanted to save half of that budget, have a look at the discontinued toyota previa, as it's a bigger car and amazing reliability

Andyf33

thanks for all your thought/views. gonna draw up a short list then start the test drives. also seen a used volvo xc90 with 7 seats and loaded with toys so might check that out too.

GT60

re the volvo make sure it is pre march 06 or you will be paying 400 for road tax and make sure it is the 180 bhp engne.
Go ne volvos web site for good deals

Andyf33

Now changed minds. Im keeping my estate car and looking to buy a 7 seater mini MPV for the wife - took SMax for test drive but wife didnt like it as it was too big to live with on a daily basis and park around town/at shops etc.

Need to be able to sit 4 kids in car seat and fit a folded pushchair in the boot. Is this possible?

Currently looking at Zafira, Mazda5, Renault Grand Scenic, VW Touran.

Any thoughts?

Also, I heard a rumour that it was unwise to have kids in car seat in 3rd row of seats in MPVs. Any truth in this?

jasmin10

They did some tests on top gear I think it ws with the 3rd row. And it showed it in slow motion when the car had rear impact. The dummy that was sat in the back 3rd row took all impact as it was so close to the back window. (we too are looking for a bigger car, and this put us off). Can't remember if this was for all cars with 3rd rows or if it was just one type of car.

Brooker_Dave

Andyf33 wrote: »

Soon to have 4th child and need to trade in my 3 year old estate car for a more practical people carrier with 7 seats. Considering Ford S max but always had german cars so wary of ford - have heard they are better than they used to be - any views? Any alternatives up to approx 25k new or nearly new?
Thanks

Ford (Europe) are German.