In need of a 7 seater

[Craigdarlo]

Hello all,

Looking for some expert advice.

To cut a long story short, my wife has just recently given birth to our third child and the currently family 11 plate focus seems incredibly cramped with 3 car seats across the back (kids are 5, 2, and newborn). I've always had an interest in performance cars, not family hacks, so when looking for a bigger car I've not really known what to look for. Got a budget of 14k but would be open to leasing. I've never leased a car before or had finance so it is completely new to me however my limit would be £275-£300 max per month including the deposit (deposit divided by 23/35 then added onto monthly payments). Would be happy with either diesel or petrol as it'll only do about 10k miles a year, think the main thing is needing 7 seats. Only cars I've found so far are the 7 seater Qashqai however I have no idea about the specs of these cars and what would be a top spec compared to bottom.

We're going to go and see this at some point this week:

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/n...

Any advice or experiences would be greatly received.

Thanks in advance

[crosseyedlion]

Just out of interest, why do you need 7 seats when theres 5 of you?

Basically will the extra seats get used?

[Craigdarlo]

Hi, thanks for the reply. I would happily have a 5 seater however child seats seem really very bulky and the middle seat is generally a lot narrower than a normal seat. If there are cars avaliable with a proper sized middle seat I'd be happy to look into them. Also having to climb across one seat to put a child in a middle seat isn't ideal either. Our thinking was have two in the back, one in the middle leaving the empty side of the middle to be used for access to the back seats.

[dazwalsh]

If it had to be an mpv then ford s max gets my vote. Just about manages to be cool considering its a big family box.

I get the whole 7 seater need to be honest, we have two large recaro child seats in a volvo xc60 and middle seat is very cramped with the child seats in.

Edited by dazwalsh on Sunday 21st August 23:40

[Searider]

https://multimac.co.uk/home

Allows you to fit 3, or 4, seats into a normal car.

[Efbe]

Was in the same situation 5 years ago when my third daughter came along.

short version, is an alfa 159 estate has been perfect for us. absolutely didn't need bigger.
I also wouldn't put any of my kids in the third row of a 7 seater.

[crosseyedlion]

Bit of an outside choice here....mercedes r class.

[sebhaque]

I love the idea of a 7 seater and would like one as my next car. Instead of buying a newer car, which (I assume) thanks to safety regs have thinned the herd of 7-seaters, why not go for something a couple of years older that will satisfy your requirements?

As an example. Here's an E55 AMG. It has 7 seats, good practicality, the performance to keep you happy and looks to be in top spec, compared to some of the E-class sheds you see for sale.
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...

That would be top of the budget - towards the lower end would be this E200. Everything except the performance, but £7,000 under your budget.
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...

Final E-class, being slightly biased based on my next choice of car, is the E320. 220bhp and mid-budget so it's a good compromise.
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...

Alternatives? Your budget would buy a fantastic 7-seater Zafira VXR, as long as you can cope with the image of driving a Zafira.
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...

If you want to forego performance, you could get an approved used Grand Espace for your budget. Not my personal choice of car but a friend had one and it was simply cavenous inside.
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...

So, a little alternative, how about a Mercedes R-class? It's only got 6 seats rather than 7 (some of them do have the full 7, mind) - but a 6 seater with the collapsible armest would be a good way of transporting children and keeping an eye on them too. Good ones are well within budget too - here's a 270bhp model for £5,000 under budget:
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

HTH

ETA:

crosseyedlion said:

Bit of an outside choice here....mercedes r class.

Damn you!!

[ZX10R NIN]

If you need 7 Seats the default choice is a Ford S Max but because of this they hold their money very well the Qashqai isn't as nice inside or to drive but they are robust.

How many miles a year do you do? I only ask because if it's less than 12k then you might be better off with a petrol.


Here are some other 7 seater (you can always take a look at ones closer to home to get an idea of if they're something you might consider) options:

2015 Mazda 5 1.6d Sport Venture 7k 115bhp with Nav & Full leather Reverse Camera Xenons etc (the Mazda benefits from sliding doors) & a nice amount of the Manufacturer's Warranty left.
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...

2014 Mazda 5 1.6d Sport Venture 47k 115bhp with Nav & Full leather (Well under budget)
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...

2011 Ford S Max 2.2tdci Titanium X Sport 200bhp 44k (Good Steer & well equipped)
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...

2010 S Max 2.0 Ecoboost Titanium X Sport 200bhp 50k Nav 1/2Leather Auto
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...

[akbarirfan]

We have a Mazda 5 (2008 model), the sliding doors made it better than any of the alternatives for us.

[tankplanker]

The S-Max is a good deal bigger than a Qashqai when all seven seats are up, and is much nicer to drive, with all seven seats up the S-Max's boot is almost as large as my Golf's boot. If you are going to use all 7 seats all the time then I would suggest getting the Galaxy instead as it bit more headroom in the back over the S-Max.

[bga]

Our SMax is thoroughly practical. We have 3 kids (2 year old twins and a 7 year old). We use the 7 seats a couple of times a week and while the kids are young we will always have a 7 seater as its so useful. With the rearmost seats down the boot is also big enough to fit 2x adult MTB, a kids MTB and a double kids trailer in it.

[LM95]

Craigdarlo said:

Hello all,

Looking for some expert advice.

To cut a long story short, my wife has just recently given birth to our third child and the currently family 11 plate focus seems incredibly cramped with 3 car seats across the back (kids are 5, 2, and newborn). I've always had an interest in performance cars, not family hacks, so when looking for a bigger car I've not really known what to look for. Got a budget of 14k but would be open to leasing. I've never leased a car before or had finance so it is completely new to me however my limit would be £275-£300 max per month including the deposit (deposit divided by 23/35 then added onto monthly payments). Would be happy with either diesel or petrol as it'll only do about 10k miles a year, think the main thing is needing 7 seats. Only cars I've found so far are the 7 seater Qashqai however I have no idea about the specs of these cars and what would be a top spec compared to bottom.

We're going to go and see this at some point this week:

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/n...

Any advice or experiences would be greatly received.

Thanks in advance

HI, I am in a similar position to yourself with 3 kids although the oldest is quite a bit older. Add holidays to the list and the vehicle needs to be of a fair size.

Previously we had a Citroen C4 Grand Picasso. This was great for space and is ok on the inside. The dash is pretty cool (like the virtual cockpit in the new Audi's surprisingly!) Can be had a year or so old for pretty much in your budget and I would recommend one of these.

We now have a Nissan X-Trail and the new(er) shape is not within budget and you are not really missing out. However I have only seen good things about the Ford S-Max and I am due to look at the new shape one next week. I would seriously suggest trying one. It will be miles ahead of the Nissan dynamically, and it can even come with the turbo petrol from the focus ST if MPG is not of primary concern.

[techguyone]

Mazda 5 has a lot of good points, including sliding doors, they are very narrow inside though.

[robinessex]

Go for it! Get this:-

When they're older, you can put the entire school football team in it. And take all your mates to the Pub!!

[J4CKO]

Efbe said:

Was in the same situation 5 years ago when my third daughter came along.

short version, is an alfa 159 estate has been perfect for us. absolutely didn't need bigger.
I also wouldn't put any of my kids in the third row of a 7 seater.

Why, has there been a lot of documented child deaths in the third row of people carriers or is it just that it seems risky ?

We had a Galaxy and it was superb for the job, miss it for its usefulness, basically a van with the seats down, drove well, never gave us any agro.

[Timbo_S2]

Without sounding like a stuck record, I've got a VW Caravelle, and love it. Great for family duties.

Mines a six seat, picking up a new one in September, that will have the 7 seat option.

[Craigdarlo]

Thanks for all the replies, the bus one gave us a good laugh! As has been mentioned a few times the S Max looks a real winner, the middle row looks to have 3 properly sized seats too so wouldn't even need to use the rear row.

Whilst doing more research last night I've seen slim car seats, one which caught my eye is the Volvo one http://www.volvopartshop.com/child-seat-booster-cu... Anybody had any experience with these?

[e21Mark]

VW T5
1.9tdi

Hold there money and are decent on fuel. Nice enough to drive too.

No messing about with folding seats & plenty of room.

Avoid Vauxhall Zafira. Hateful POS.

[S10GTA]

Friend who is also on here went for the S-Max and rates it.

He did a thread at the time http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

I'd be looking at an XC90, as I like them.