7 seaters

Jamie_Carter

squeakysue wrote: »

I have travelled from Liverpool to London cramped in the boot seat in a zafira.....not a great journey, far too cramped, even my son felt uncomfortable using the back seats from the age of about 9.

I would definitely look for a car with 3 independent seats in the middle row, 3 carseats/2 carseats and an adult is not a comfortable setup in a zafira for regular use!

The problem is the extra seats in most 7 sweaters are made for occasional use.

I have been in my friends multipla, very roomy and comfortable but personally I don't like how wide they are :rotfl:

I would definitely get to a dealer and have a go at putting the seats up and down, sit in the back seats, test out space with carseats. As I said before I would highly recommend the Renault grand scenic, so nice to drive and comfy inside. The ford s max was the other option we considered but it came down to price.

Good luck!

The French come up with some very innovative and clever designs when it comes to MPVs, but I would never buy a French car due to reliability problems. If they improved build quality and reliability, then I might consider one.

tetley_les

i have a ford galaxy 1.9tdi
great on fuel with being the 6 speed box
i only have 2 kids so only use 2 seats in the back
i take the others out for more room for my dog, kids junk, shopping etc
have used it as a 7 seater or even a 6 seater with front row middle seat taken out
best thing to do is go have a look around and sit in them, get a feel, test drive them
good luck and hope you find one thats suits you

squeakysue

Jamie_Carter wrote: »

The French come up with some very innovative and clever designs when it comes to MPVs, but I would never buy a French car due to reliability problems. If they improved build quality and reliability, then I might consider one.

We have two French cars

JonathanA

I've owned both the Galaxy and a Zafira, both have merits and drawbacks. The Galaxy is obviously bigger than the Zafira & you comment about not wanting a bus. However, the Galaxy has individual seats in the rear, which means that to access the two rearmost seats, you don't have to move the whole of the middle row of seats. With all 7 seats up, there is also a small boot space available.

The Zafira's biggest drawback in my opinion, especially when you have child seats to contend with, is the need to move the whole middle row of seats to gain access to the rearmost seats. It is a pain with young children, unless you put the child seats only on the back row. As others have said, the rearmost seats in the Zafira are not really suitable for adult use on longer distances - the Galaxy is a true 7 seater.

Pre 2006, the Ford Galaxy, Seat Alhambra and VW Sharan were built on the same production line. Post 2006, the Galaxy was a purely Ford built car.

I found both the Galaxy and the Zafira to be fairly economical to run, but in my case the Zafira wasn't reliable (I know that may just have been my bad luck).

My preference from a versatility perspective is the Galaxy every time.

sarahg1969

I personally would go for a Sharan or Alahambra over the new shape Galaxy, because the rear seats are more sturdy. We had an old-style Galaxy but when we were shopping for a newer MPV were put off by those that had a flimsy third row. We ended up with a Citroen C8 which, aside from needing a new engine (a known fault) has been OKish.

Jamie_Carter

sarahg1969 wrote: »

We ended up with a Citroen C8 which, aside from needing a new engine (a known fault) has been OKish.

I rest my case from what I said earlier about French cars.;)

julie2710

Just to throw in a bit of a curve ball, I've recently changed from a Zafira, which was good but had to unhook the child seats every time I wanted to put the back seats up, to a Quashqai +2 which I love. Seats go up without moving the rear seats, it's not as wide as the Zafira, comes with loads of extras, really comfy and the diesel I have is probably the most fuel economic car I've ever driven. Oh and the road fund licence is £0!!!

fivetide

Jamie_Carter wrote: »

Isn't it the Sharan and the Galaxy that are basically the same car?

They were. Not sure if they still are.

To be honest, I thought the Sharan had been replaced by the Touran but this was a brand spanking Sharan. We only got it because it was the only auto they had. Like I said, I was surprised when it turned up. huge car, certainly seems bigger than the Touran.

Sure someone will know how the line up works.

Tigerprint

How about the VW Touran, or the Kia Carens (7 seater version). Both slightly 'bussey', but both very easy to drive....

The other option is the Peugeot 307 SW with the 7 seater option, of course with the Peugeot, & if it's diesel you are after, it's probably best to find one with well under 100,000 miles. Once they get to 150,000 miles, things start going terribly wrong.... I find.... However being an estate they are very car like, but, the 3rd row seats are not so great.

Never had much luck with the later post 2006 'diesel' Zafiras.... although the petrol versions always seem ok.....

atrixblue.-MFR-.

how about a hyundai i800 ok outside looks like a van not as big as it looks a mum has one for her child minding buisiness that picks kids up from schools has a decent boot as she gets 2 pushchairs and baby bags galore in the boot, and roomy. 5yr warranty etc etc.