What's the point of 3rd row in modern MPVS?

no.1swimmum

I've owned 2 zafiras and as much as I liked them, it's really only children that can fit in the back row, I did however use it as extra luggage space when needed, we ended getting a full people carrier for extra leg room as both our boys grew to 6'8" 😱 But again there is not a lot of actual boot space.

Herzlos

There's no less space between the 3rd row in a modern Zafira than the 2nd row in something like an Aygo, so I'm not sure that's an issue.

I was under the impression that you couldn't fit car seats in the rear row, and was trying to ascertain what they can realistically be used for.

I'm interested in the Zafira for more than that - the flexibility in the 2nd row seats, large load space etc. The ability to use the 3rd row on occasion (if needed), or being able to take them out for more storage would also be handy.

Whilst I'm only a 4 person family, it'd be nice to carry the occasional passenger (rather than wedge them between 2 car seats).

If the 3rd row seats are actually useful, I'll probably get a Zafira. If they are a waste of time, I'll probably get an Insignia. Hence asking about how useful they actually are.

Ebe_Scrooge

Herzlos wrote: »

I was under the impression that you couldn't fit car seats in the rear row, and was trying to ascertain what they can realistically be used for.

I'm interested in the Zafira for more than that - the flexibility in the 2nd row seats, large load space etc. The ability to use the 3rd row on occasion (if needed), or being able to take them out for more storage would also be handy.

Whilst I'm only a 4 person family, it'd be nice to carry the occasional passenger (rather than wedge them between 2 car seats).

If the 3rd row seats are actually useful, I'll probably get a Zafira. If they are a waste of time, I'll probably get an Insignia. Hence asking about how useful they actually are.

We used to have a Zafira up until about a year ago. 3 kids, so the 7 seats did get used fairly regularly when we had a couple of friends tagging along, parents visiting, etc.

The rearmost 2 seats - definitely only for kids for anything longer than a 10 minute journey. Putting aside any aforementioned safety concerns, there's no reason you can't put a child seat in the rear. Mine didn't have Isofix fittings, just a standard seatbelt - but then, it was quite old. No idea on more modern ones.

I terms of flexibility, I couldn't fault it. Standard 5-seat mode with a pretty large boot, easy to convert to 7-seat mode. Put it into "van mode", as my mate used to call it ( all rear seats folded away ) and you could carry anything. In fact he used to borrow it from me now and then to cart bulky stuff around.

Another of my friends had a Kia Sedona ( I'm going back about 10 years or so ago here ), he loved it. The advantage was it had 3 rows of "proper", full-sized seats. But it was a fairly lengthy job to install or remove the 3rd row, and they had to be stored in the garage. With the Zafira you can just flip them up or down as required, in a moment.

As a tool to do a particular job, personally I think it was ideal. Sure, it's not flashy, certainly not exciting to drive - but hey, it does the job and does it well. Another consideration - it's essentially just an Astra with a different body glued on. So repairs are cheap and easy. In fact, the Haynes manual that I bought for it covers the Zafira and the Astra - mechanically they're pretty much identical.

Hope this gives you some pointers

Warwick_Hunt

Herzlos wrote: »

There's no less space between the 3rd row in a modern Zafira than the 2nd row in something like an Aygo, so I'm not sure that's an issue.

I was under the impression that you couldn't fit car seats in the rear row, and was trying to ascertain what they can realistically be used for.

I'm interested in the Zafira for more than that - the flexibility in the 2nd row seats, large load space etc. The ability to use the 3rd row on occasion (if needed), or being able to take them out for more storage would also be handy.

Whilst I'm only a 4 person family, it'd be nice to carry the occasional passenger (rather than wedge them between 2 car seats).

If the 3rd row seats are actually useful, I'll probably get a Zafira. If they are a waste of time, I'll probably get an Insignia. Hence asking about how useful they actually are.

You can't take the 3rd row out.

Ebe_Scrooge

Warwick_Hunt wrote: »

You can't take the 3rd row out.

No, but they fold flat into the floor ( at least, they did in the old 04 plate model that I had ), so it's effectively the same as taking them out.

sevenhills

Herzlos wrote: »

I was under the impression that you couldn't fit car seats in the rear row, and was trying to ascertain what they can realistically be used for.

It depends which car seats you are talking about.

Car seats are not needed for those above 135cm. They are also not needed for some occasional, short journeys, you do not always need car seats if its not a regular journey.

sevenhills

Herzlos wrote: »

I'm seriously considering either a Zafira or an Insignia estate, to handle all the crap that comes with 2 kids. Leaning towards the Zafira because of the extra row, but I'd I can't put kids in them and adults don't really fit, do they serve much purpose now?

I would like a Zafira for taking junk to the tip, all that space will come in use at some point.

Mercdriver

sevenhills wrote: »

It depends which car seats you are talking about.

Car seats are not needed for those above 135cm. They are also not needed for some occasional, short journeys, you do not always need car seats if its not a regular journey.

Herzlos is referring to baby/small child seats. Just because many people try and take young children on 'just a short trip' doesn't make it legal.

Ebe_Scrooge

sevenhills wrote: »

They are also not needed for some occasional, short journeys, you do not always need car seats if its not a regular journey.

You don't half post some drivel :mad:

If the child is of an age/size where a child seat is legally required, then it must be used for every journey, no matter how short or infrequent. It's illegal not not use one if the child's size requires one.

Quite apart from the legal aspect, how would you feel if that "odd short journey" was the one where you had an accident, and the child was injured or killed ?

photome

sevenhills wrote: »

It depends which car seats you are talking about.

Car seats are not needed for those above 135cm. They are also not needed for some occasional, short journeys, you do not always need car seats if its not a regular journey.

Guessing no one needs to use a seat belt either if it's a short journey in your world