Vehicle for 3 kids

noodle996

multipla any day of the week unlike most of the others you dont have to use the back doors like you would in a 3door car or use the boot to get into the extra seats if you dont want to take the kids car seats out so you can flick the seat forward and your kids/grandkids wont be sat with their heads two inches from the rear window, which is nice if someone rear ends you, this is the reason i chose the multipla over the more subdued offerings
petrol or diesel isnt the issue most make out as there is only 10mpg difference between them and in my petrol i get 35mpg driving round town and low 40's on the run to work up one junction of the M6.

they do have problems though:-
watch the inside of the front tyres as they wear them out fairly quickly i get about 18 months out of mine.
electrics blower motor is a common failure but an easy fix if you have half a clue, lights the rear clusters suffer iffy earths so if the indicator stops working when your braking its a new cluster for the side thats playing up
exhaust on the petrol is a tad expensive if you break it
snow driving its the worst car ive owned when it comes to driving on snow light steering abs and an almost square shape to the wheelbase means i always think it wants to swap ends (it hasnt yet though)
plus points
they are not as big as you may think so are easy to park and get around town
space its unreal the amount you have in one
driving position you are very high and get a good view of everything around you
they handle very well on country roads and pass our version of the elk test (when a deer steps out on a national speed limit road and you need to swerve at 50 odd mph it all works and stays upright)

there were three other options when we were looking one being the renault espace the second the chrysler grand voyager, third nissan serena
the fiat worked out cheapest to buy and insure a little more expensive on fuel than the renault or nissan though

bigjl

patman99 wrote: »

Early Multipla with 1.9 TD engine. These are pug-ugly, but Fiat do make the most bullet-proof diesel engines around. Or a Picasso.1.6HDi (although these suffer the same engine issues as the Ford C-Max/Focus 1.6TDCi in which the injector seal starts to leak & destroys the turbo).

A lot of people on 'Mumsnet' also recommend Zafiras (although the boot space is small with 3rd row of seats deployed). Avoid anything with 'Renault' on it as these are real money-pits. Citreon Berlingo's are another alternative if you want a big car.
£2k should buy an 03/04/05 plate motor.

I am not 100% on this but I think the original 1.9td lump was a Pug XUD engine the same as they fitted to the first few years production of the Fiat Ulysses.

The later Ulysses had a JTD engine which was Fiat though but I always thought it was a 2.0.

Fiat are not know for relible Diesel engines really, they are responsible for the most unreliable diesels ever fitted to a Vauxhall, the 1.9cdti.

Though I agree entirely that the 1.9 cdti was a nice smooth engine when it wasn't going wrong due to intake, egr and Dpf related problems, though many believe most of the Dpf issues stem from egr issues!

Not arguing about your opinion, just adding details, I could easily be wrong about the XUD being in the Multipla aswell in the early years.

My vote for a cheapy vehicle to take three child seats would be n early Zafira or indeed a Picasso. Both are plentiful in that budget.

mysk_girl

I can currently get my 3 across the back of my '06 Ford Focus, but it's a squash and involves a very specific order of seats! I'm pretty sure when the baby needs the next seat up (I have one in an infant carrier, one in a high back booster and one on a small booster) that I will need a new car. I'm looking at a Picasso, I think.