NOOOO... Not a 7 Seater but 3 Childseats in the rear

[Welshbeef]

walm said:

We have two boosters and a massive proper strap-in child seat for the 2-year-old.
Had an XC90 and switched to an S-Max.
Absolutely effing LOVE the S-Max.
Get the 2ltr Titanium, minimum.
Avoid the 1.6 if you ever want to overtake anything.

What was bad about the xc90

[walm]

Welshbeef said:

What was bad about the xc90

Not much to be honest - and as above the middle seat had a built in booster which is great.
But my wife was doubling her mileage owing to a new job.
The S-Max does about 40mpg vs. 28mpg on the Volvo.
The volvo was pretty leggy and just drove very wallowy, like a boat really - I felt like I should be asking the family to "hike out" any time we went round a corner.

And much as I like the feeling of swanning around in a "luxury" SUV we just don't need 4x4.

We had some bad luck on things breaking on it too that were expensive to fix.

[Dapster]

Welshbeef said:

...it doesn't have isofix as standard!!!

Is the S Max the same

Not only is ISOFIX standard on the middle row, it is wide enough that even with full size seats, the seats don't touch each other. I was advised that when child seats are pressed against each other, not only does it make if fairly difficult for kids (or indeed fat handed adults) to easily manipulate the belts, but also in the event of a heavy side impact, the crash energy transmits through the seat increasing the likelihood of the child farthest from the impact sustaining the effects of the impact - keeping a gap between the seats is a significant safety feature.

[Welshbeef]

Dapster said:

Not only is ISOFIX standard on the middle row, it is wide enough that even with full size seats, the seats don't touch each other. I was advised that when child seats are pressed against each other, not only does it make if fairly difficult for kids (or indeed fat handed adults) to easily manipulate the belts, but also in the event of a heavy side impact, the crash energy transmits through the seat increasing the likelihood of the child farthest from the impact sustaining the effects of the impact - keeping a gap between the seats is a significant safety feature.

I do actually like the S Max especially the colour in the pic you attached really elegant.

Problem I find is they really hold value well a glance at Autotrader shows 5 year old examples hovering around £20k.... Trader. I'd struggle to give a private seller £20k with no comeback/risks involved. They only cost £28k new £8k depreciation over 5 years is astonishing --- and yet lease deals are shockingly high on these ditto the PCPs the GFV doesn't reflect this marketplace at all

We'd have to go for Titanium sport x pano roof cooled and heated seats etc

[Kitchski]

Welshbeef said:

I do actually like the S Max especially the colour in the pic you attached really elegant.

Problem I find is they really hold value well a glance at Autotrader shows 5 year old examples hovering around £20k.... Trader. I'd struggle to give a private seller £20k with no comeback/risks involved. They only cost £28k new £8k depreciation over 5 years is astonishing --- and yet lease deals are shockingly high on these ditto the PCPs the GFV doesn't reflect this marketplace at all

We'd have to go for Titanium sport x pano roof cooled and heated seats etc

Why pay £20k for one? Buy a tidy older one privately, pay much less, enjoy pretty much the same car.

We've got a 2006 2.5T Titanium. 100k on the clock, didn't pay much. Yeah it's had its niggles (steering rack is common fault, had to do ours pretty much straight away) but it's a great car. It's quite big, but not huge (though if you only have two kids it's probably a bit overkill in my opinion). Very good to drive, refined, practical, comfy....it's just a great all rounder. Economy's around 25mpg, but our mileage is low so it's no issue, and the 2.5T drives a million times better than a diesel unit (which negates its economy and tax savings as soon as a DPF or DMF packs up).
We had a Picasso before that, which is smaller overall. Looked at all the smaller MPVs before deciding the Picasso was the best at being an MPV. Not much fun to drive, but as a tool for the job it was better than Scenic, Zafira, Verso etc.

Left-field choice for me would be the Mazda 5. It's a 6 seater, but the last two are in the boot (you can get three people across the middle row, but you won't get three car seats in there - weird design, suited more to families of 4 who occasionally carry extra people. Drive well apparently, and in budget. Mazdas have been pretty good for quite a few years now. In your shoes, I'd consider an S-Max seriously, as it's all the car anybody could ever need, but if deemed a bit too big the Mazda 5 would be perfect.

[Kitchski]

Dapster said:

Not only is ISOFIX standard on the middle row, it is wide enough that even with full size seats, the seats don't touch each other.

Wouldn't fully agree with that. We've got three Recaros across the back of ours, and while they're not hard up against each other, you could only just lose your phone down the gap.

[IroningMan]

Welshbeef said:

I do actually like the S Max especially the colour in the pic you attached really elegant.

Problem I find is they really hold value well a glance at Autotrader shows 5 year old examples hovering around £20k.... Trader. I'd struggle to give a private seller £20k with no comeback/risks involved. They only cost £28k new £8k depreciation over 5 years is astonishing --- and yet lease deals are shockingly high on these ditto the PCPs the GFV doesn't reflect this marketplace at all

We'd have to go for Titanium sport x pano roof cooled and heated seats etc

Blimey.

I paid £18k for my Disco 3 at four years old...

[walm]

Welshbeef said:

We'd have to go for Titanium sport x pano roof cooled and heated seats etc

That spec is OTT for something your kids will trash in seconds.
This shouldn't be your P&J!

[mini me]

Welshbeef said:

22mpg is the kicker & it's age.

Imagine the daily trips to shops school round town you'd be lucky to see 10mpg.

I was more replying to the OP which has a budget of <6000, however the principle is the same and you can get much later/nicer examples for the amount you are proposing (20k?) Also i'm sure a derv version is available.

I thought the thread was more about a 7 seater which wasn't an MPV style thing, hence the E class suggestion.

interesting comparison here:

http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/ford-s-...

[anonymous-user]

We have a Grand C-Max, and we fold the middle seat away as it is pretty near useless, so ultimately a 6 seater.

It is quite a bit smaller/more car like than an S-Max, which we also looked at, but obviously more constrained on room as a result. It was a compromise we were happy to make as none of us are what you would call massive.