Car Size Relative to Family Size

shays_mum

3KIDSNOMONEY wrote: »

WE HAVE JUST BOUGHT A 7 SEATER CAR AS OPPOSED TO A PEOPLE CARRIER TYPE THING.

HOW DOES ANYONE AFFORD TO BUY PEOPLE CARRIERS, ETC. WHEN I TAKE MY KIDS TO SCHOOL THE MUMS ALL DRIVE THEM AND DAD HAS A SEPARATE CAR FOR WORK. HOW DO PEOPLE AFFORD IT? I MUST BE DOING SOMETHING WRONG.

i know how you feel!, but maybe they are all buying 2nd hand or something, or they could be business cars, loads of possibilites not necc. that they actually own the cars!

sharnad

shays_mum wrote: »

Just the question i've been asking myself, think i'm going to go for a 7 seater diesel auto hyundai santa fe, ok its a 4x4 shape, but its a 2 wheel drive until you set it to 4!. Got 2 kids & share the school run with another 2 from sept, have got a vw polo at the mo & is way toooo small

that is an okay make of 4x4 and it looks quite roomy inside

BernadetteN

3KIDSNOMONEY wrote: »

WE HAVE JUST BOUGHT A 7 SEATER CAR AS OPPOSED TO A PEOPLE CARRIER TYPE THING.

HOW DOES ANYONE AFFORD TO BUY PEOPLE CARRIERS, ETC. WHEN I TAKE MY KIDS TO SCHOOL THE MUMS ALL DRIVE THEM AND DAD HAS A SEPARATE CAR FOR WORK. HOW DO PEOPLE AFFORD IT? I MUST BE DOING SOMETHING WRONG.

I often wonder this too. The majority of families ith 7 seater MPVs at our children's school have only 2 children. Surely they don't all need 7 seat for the odd occasion when they have extra passengers? I think there are many who buy these huge vehicles for the same reason as some buy SUVs - for status.

If anyone is really after a 7 seater, I can highly recommend the VW Touran diesel. We have the smallest engine 1.9 diesel 90 BHP and it accelerates at ease and can easily go over 90mph even with 7 occupants (no I don't go at 90 but I know it is capable). It does an average 55 mpg - yesterday I drove from Crawley to Dover on motorway and it did 60mpg and you can get it to do 65mpg if you drive at an average of 60mph. The Touran is in a much lower insurance class than larger MPVs such as the VW Sharan. It also only costs £350 for a service every 2 years. We also found it was the cheapest compact MPV on the market at the time, cheaper than the Renault Grand Scenic and Vauxhall Zafira. It also has higher NCAP ratings than most of its rivals - pedestrian and passenger. We paid 12.5k new from an internet broker.

Superfast_Gran

I often wonder whether people actually get the point of this size of vehicle. It's not just about bums on seats, it's about space for everyone to take what they need as well as some of what they want! Another important aspect is being seated slightly higher, you can see the road more clearly. Who wants to be sitting jammed in with the luggage and/or shopping? What about pushchairs and all the paraphenalia required for younger children, wheelchairs etc for the disabled child or adult? Unitl recently I had an 8 seat Caravelle, now I have a Transporter Shuttle with the same number of seats. Don't get me wrong, my second car was a Ford Focus and I am a dyed in the wool supporter so I was against such a big car at first but my husband talked me into it. Guess what, I'm a convert. The boot is humungous and takes my grandkids double buggy, my wheelchair AND all the luggage too. Ok, I hear you say that not everyone needs either the pushchair or, more so, a wheelchair. I'm just saying status isn't necessarily what it's about, you don't always know another person's situation. I also sometimes wonder if there's maybe a little jealousy involved - I know there has been for me in the past. Even now I feel the Shuttle looks cumbersome at times but then my husband reminds me how we've used it, how it feels to be able to see so much more ahead, how many kids we've had in it and been able to give them each a bit of space (we're foster carers as well as grandparents, and as well as my having MS). We do also get a lot of people asking us about it and looking admiringly at it as we drive by. Sermon over, moral is get what you need regardless of what others think of why you got it, or the so called status!

nej

I had a Zafira hire-car once... I HATED everything about it. Sorry to those who own them, but I can't see why they are so popular.

Our MPV is a Mitsubishi Grandis and it's wonderful in every way.

And yes, we only have 2 kids, although we'll often have my sis-in-law and her daughter with us. We also have plenty of space for things, especially on longer trips and holidays, and it comes in very handy for shifting big things around when required.

I wouldn't change it for the world.

[Deleted User]

9 of us. 2 adults and 7 children in an austin 10 and we`ld still take another adult sometimes

48 years ago I might add

[Deleted User]

I used to drive a beetle and happily got everything in for two children

imo status has a lot to do with cars these days or perhaps there is too much `stuff`

or like they say locally when all the dressed-up-to-the-nines visitors swarm in. They`re all fur coats and no knickers

izoomzoom

I just realised that I didn't post my reply.

Thank you so much for all your suggestions.

We finally decided on a Citroen Picasso, which we bought about 2 weeks ago.

It is many moons until baby arrives (I am hardly showing), but we are very confident that all three children's seats will comfortably sit in the back.