Car for three kids

michsmit

We have a third child on the way and we currently have a very old focus and a 2010 qashqai. How do people cope with three car seats? Would anyone recommend a smax or similar? They seem to be quite expensive (3 year old for £17k!). Any thoughts or advice appreciated. Thanks

tacpot12

Some people use the arrival of the third child to promote the eldest to using a booster cushion rather than a fitted car seat. There are other options to the S-Max such as the VW Touran or Sharan, Seat Alhambra, and Ford Galaxy (remove the two rear-most seats for the boot space in the Sharan or Galaxy, and use them if you need to fit and extra friend or two in). The people with Zafira's all seem to be happy with them as well. 

Chrishazle

Daughter has a Citroen C4 which has 3 Isofix seats, she loves the car. Couple across the road from us have 4 young children and a 2009 Volvo XC90!

alan_d

It will depend on the ages of the kids.
I have 3 boys, but by the time the 3rd came along the eldest was just in a booster seat.
I've had both V70s and an XC90 with a built-in booster seat (or seats in the V70) which take up less space than a separate booster.

foxy-stoat

I would think you can buy an older car that will fit 3 child seats for a lot cheaper than 17 grand !

knightstyle

have a look at a Honda FRV, plenty of room in the boot and a small child in between the two front seats. Getting old now but super reliable in our sons case.  We had the early Renault Scenic and it was very versatile, they do a bigger one with extra seats in the boot. We now have a Cmax and are very pleased with it. Not as big as the Smax but a much better drive and it is Focus based.

[Deleted User]

I vote Ford S-Max. I've got 4 kids, had 3x Ford Galaxy over the years but dropped down to an S-Max now that seats 6 and 7 rarely used. They are reliable so you could go for an older one, mine now has 174,000 miles on the clock and running great.

I'd advise going for a low mileage 4-5 year old model, you'll be able to get a top spec one with 40k miles for £10-12k if that is in reach budget wise - 2015 was the change over to mk3 so anything newer than that is good.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202010044589697