7 seaters

sarahg1969

atrixblue.-MFR-. wrote: »

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.

I wanted one of these next, but as my children are getting older, I need fewer seats.

OP, you'll need to consider the configuration of the seats, too.

Some that we looked at had two seats in the middle row and three in the back, meaning that, we wouldn't have been able to take out the rear row of seats for luggage space when we were going on holiday with our three children.

davidjwest

Do you need full size seats?

We have a Renault Grand Scenic, it has 7 seats but the rear two are only any good for kids up to about age 8 and even they are now starting to complain! I have personally managed to squeeze in myself, I am six foot tall but not recommended!

With all 7 seats the boot space is small, you can get a full size suitcase in standing up or a few bags of shopping.

Fuel economy is around 30-35 MPG, ours is the 1.6 petrol.

It drives like a much smaller car having said that and the seating position is high up, if you like that sort of thing, doesn't feel like a big car although acceleration is poor.

We did have a few problems with it initially, we thought the "Grand" part of the name was because that's how much it cost every year to get through the MOT, but in the past 2 or 3 years it has been reliable and fairly cheap to run, probably as we've replaced everything that can go wrong with it. (Joking, not tempting fate I hope)

If you do go for one then make sure you get one with as few electrical bells and whistles as you can as they tend to go wrong, the electronic hand brake for example is to be avoided if you can.

We will soon be changing ours as the kids are getting too big for it, if we go for another 7 seater it will be a Galaxy diesel as we had a hire car and that was very good, although we would consider the Kia Sedona and the Seat Alhambra (this is basically a Galaxy with a different badge).

We may even consider getting a Vauxhall Vivaro 9 seater as that has a lot of boot space for when we go camping.

The other alternative is to go for two "normal" sized cars if that is an option.

Good luck, I can post more experiences of the Renault if you want to hear my boring tales.

Lucyadams184

Thanks for all of your replies, there has been lots of good reading and I now have as short list of the ford smax, qashqai and kia. I will be taking the car seats with me as I hadn't thought of that.

GwylimT

One thing I would say is that a lot of the seats in people carriers that are designed for children are also unsuitable for a wide range of car seats, which of course is stupid as children have to use car seats.

wba31

what's the difference between the Ford S-Max and Ford Galaxy? the S-Max is better looking and looks cooler, but is it smaller? Smaller rear seats?

Exemplar

Renault Grand Scenic here.

I must 'like' them as I am now on my 2nd Grand and have had 3 Scenics previously... (jeepers..).

The Grand and normal Scenics have 3 individual isofix middle row seats giving you the most flexibility (far better than the Zafira IIRC).

The dash is logical and well laid out.

The plastic wings reduce weight.

I have once had an electrical issue which was easily solved (one of the electric windows went down in steps rather than smoothly. Resolution was to hold the up and down switch when the window fully up which resets the window).

All servicing etc has been done by a local garage and I have (other than the window fault) had no issues with any of them.

My current one is a 1.9 DCI 130. Dynamique spec so everything I need, plus climate and centre arm rest which is refridgerated.

JonathanA

We test drove a Galaxy and an S-MAX yesterday. The SMAX is slightly smaller, lower roofline. It has sportier seats, and I think the seating position is lower than the Galaxy. In my view, the handling is slightly sharper than the Galaxy too.

Having said that, we opted for the Galaxy. The rearmost seats appeared to have more space and would be more useable by adults and there was very little differenc in running costs between the two.

I've owned the older shape Galaxy previously, and they were good cars. Hope this one will be too.

On the model we tried, the SMAX did without parking sensors whereas they were standard kit on the Galaxy, and you certainly can't tell where the front of the car ended!

Kids preferred the Galaxy due to the slightly higher seating position in the back, but my wife ( who will only be an occasional driver) would have opted for the SMAX.

bodgerx

smashingyour... wrote: »

The trouble with the small seven seaters is seats 6 and 7 are just for children.

Does anyone think sitting them in the crumple zone is an every day solution?

What about your head in a side impact crash? Your head is right in a crumple zone. Side impacts are also fairly common.

The vast majority of rear end collisions are very low speed. That's one of the reasons organisations such as NCAP don't specifically test for them (other than whiplash using a seat rig). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3-19iGNtuk

bodgerx

We have a Mazda5. New shape, late 2010. I've seen people complain on these forums that you can't get 3 car seats in the middle row. You can. Here is our car, with 3 pretty big car seats in it:



The Mazda5 also has the benefit of being a great driver's car, with sharp steering and a great precise 6 speed box. The newer model has a nicer interior and has a little bit more space in the boot with all 7 seats up.

It is also also cheaper than an S-Max for equivalent specs.

bikingbarney

bodgerx wrote: »

We have a Mazda5. New shape, late 2010. I've seen people complain on these forums that you can't get 3 car seats in the middle row. You can. Here is our car, with 3 pretty big car seats in it:



The Mazda5 also has the benefit of being a great driver's car, with sharp steering and a great precise 6 speed box. The newer model has a nicer interior and has a little bit more space in the boot with all 7 seats up.

It is also also cheaper than an S-Max for equivalent specs.

It maybe cheaper than the smax but the residuals will hit the floor after a few years where as the smax will still be worth a few quid.

To be honest that back seat looks well cramped in the mazda 5 pic above! My smax has 3 proper size middle seats which all move independently from each other and also have the benefit of reclining backwards to if a child wants to sleep on a long journey.