cars with 3 full size back seats

jaydeeuk1

snowmen wrote: »

Why is that?

They are awful for reliability. Sure, some comedian will appear on here and say his is the most reliable car ever etc etc. But look at wider reports and surverys. MIL has one (grande espace), must have spent £1000 a year over last 4 years at least just to keep it on the road. Hasn't gone wrong in 4 months now though. Usually goes in limp home mode randomly. Won't trade it in because of all the cash spent on it. Its near as dammit a new car now though, other than chassis.

funkycoldribena

jaydeeuk1 wrote: »

They are awful for reliability. Sure, some comedian will appear on here and say his is the most reliable car ever etc etc. But look at wider reports and surverys. MIL has one (grande espace), must have spent £1000 a year over last 4 years at least just to keep it on the road. Hasn't gone wrong in 4 months now though. Usually goes in limp home mode randomly. Won't trade it in because of all the cash spent on it. Its near as dammit a new car now though, other than chassis.

Totally agree,avoid Renault,you might get a good one-but not worth the risk.
S-Max or Frv would be my choice.

jimmo

Don’t be fooled by the advertising hype. If you need a car which will seat 3 adults in comfort in the back seat, you need a big car.

The current Vauxhall Meriva (yes we have one) and the Zaffira are based on the Vauxhall Astra.

According to the Vauxhall website the width of each, without wing mirrors, is

Astra 1814mm.

Meriva 1812mm.

Zafira 1781mm.

I was surprised that the Zafira is the narrowest of the 3 but we are only talking about 33mm or an inch and a quarter.

I suppose vehicle height could make a difference but, in my own circumstances, 3 back seat adults were less uncomfortable in the Astra than they were in the Meriva. I can’t see any reason to suppose that other car manufacturers are different to Vauxhall.

The last car I had that could carry 3 adults in comfort, on the back seat was a 1985 Vauxhall Carlton.

That was one size up from the Cavalier, Vectra and Insignia but lacked the luxuries (and padding) of BMWs and Jaguars.

In old money, the Astra, Meriva and Zafira are all less than 6ft wide (on the outside) and I would reckon each adult in the back seat needs more than 2 ft width for comfort so that does not compute.

[Deleted User]

I have a 12 year old scenic diesel and 3 kids under 6 who all fit in nicely with child seats. Ive had a combination of 2 child seats and a biggish adult (mil) in the back with ample room.
Unless you need more than 5 seats then i would not go any bigger than this size of mpv as the running costs for this size of car are very reasonable and the practicality is second to none.
The scenic seems more spacious than my old 52 reg mondeo.
Its like a tardis.

snowmen

thanks for all your help/comments!

a friend of mine recommended the honda f-rv (6-seater) so I will have to look at that as well.

grizzly1911

Citroen Picasso -older style had three separate seats but each was a compromise. We had one 2.0HDI and it was a good car for 70k miles. could get two (8+10) children in the back plus Grandma fine.

I would think they are getting a bit old hat now for your price range.

Didn't like the the C4 Picasso, seemed bigger but the back seat rests were very low IMO.

sunshinetours

FRV has 3 seats in front as well and is a genuine 6 seater, its wide in body at around 2200 mm I think. They aren't cheap even though they stopped making them in 2009 or thereabouts

A much better option than teh suppsed 7 seaters wher back towo seats are in the boot space (safety and practicality wise)

DonnySaver

Have you considered a Toyota Corolla Verso (7 seater)? I've got one and its great for getting all sorts of stuff in - not just kids!

snowmen

DonnySaver wrote: »

Have you considered a Toyota Corolla Verso (7 seater)? I've got one and its great for getting all sorts of stuff in - not just kids!

I love toyotas from their reliability aspect - have had an avensis before and it never went wrong and was build like a tank - so was ready to be bowled over by the verso, until I saw the back 2 seats. These are very cramped and also I'll not be able to get the buggy in behind them when all 7 seats are in use.

shop-to-drop

We bought a Ford Smax when we saw the 3 full sized seats in the back. It's really comfortable for my 6ft + teens. You wouldn't get a very new one for £9K though that's the down side.