3 Car Seats (1 Toddler / 2 Babies) - What Car???
Discussion
my situation is very similar - We have a 5 year old, a 2 year old and number 3 is due in two weeks!
Have just bought a 59 plate S MAX 2.0 tdci titanium. tax i think is 165, and were getting 43 MPG on the display. The isofix has been the only issue, my eldest will have to seat in the middle of the second row, and the two youngest will go either side. The flat folding rear seats are very useful and the expensive pram whatever its called fits in the back no probs. We used to own a 51 plate galaxy, the S max drives much better than that, but not quite a "car"
Have just bought a 59 plate S MAX 2.0 tdci titanium. tax i think is 165, and were getting 43 MPG on the display. The isofix has been the only issue, my eldest will have to seat in the middle of the second row, and the two youngest will go either side. The flat folding rear seats are very useful and the expensive pram whatever its called fits in the back no probs. We used to own a 51 plate galaxy, the S max drives much better than that, but not quite a "car"
I had this exact same problem and got a Volvo V70, job done. Masses of room in the boot for all their crap and nicer to drive that the slightly wobbly XC90. I bought the T5, but none of them are slow and I've been surprised at home much fun it is to hustle along.
Congrats on the twins by the way. Mine are now 18 weeks old and still really f
king hard work.
Congrats on the twins by the way. Mine are now 18 weeks old and still really f
king hard work.dme123 said:
I had this exact same problem and got a Volvo V70, job done. Masses of room in the boot for all their crap and nicer to drive that the slightly wobbly XC90. I bought the T5, but none of them are slow and I've been surprised at home much fun it is to hustle along.
Congrats on the twins by the way. Mine are now 18 weeks old and still really fking hard work.
Does your older one fit on a booster in the middle?Congrats on the twins by the way. Mine are now 18 weeks old and still really f
king hard work.Bill said:
Efbe said:
You can get thinner booster seats for the middle if you're struggling
All the ones I found were pretty much the same size.Material doesn't really matter unless you've got really really fat kids
Ciaran said:
As a side issue and I'm sure you'll soon find out but it's fking mental with a 3 year old and baby twins. Honestly, it's been the hardest 7 months of my life 
Good luck!
I have 2.5 year old twins and it's a killer. I've always said that the only thing harder would be to have a toddler too. You have my upmost respect.king mental with a 3 year old and baby twins. Honestly, it's been the hardest 7 months of my life Good luck!To the OP: our twins frequently travel with their cousins (5 and 7) in an FR-V with their seats on either side in the back and a booster in the middle.
Other than that, how about an RS6 and a MultiMac?
Oh, and good luck, it's very very hard work!
Bill said:
Does your older one fit on a booster in the middle?
Nope, it's a proper child seat. We have Maxi Cosi isofix bases for the baby seats on each side and a Maxi Cost Priori group 1 seat in the middle. The bases make it easy enough to get the baby seats in with a bit of wiggling. Once the oldest child is in a booster seat it'll be even easier.
Thanks to all the additional responses.
Went over to Fords of Winsford and confirmed that the pre-2010 S MAX is a contender even without the centre ISOFIX mount.
Tried out a Renault Grand Scenic, which has less rear legroom compared to the Ford (but 3x ISOFIX). There also appear to be plenty of average milage used models for not alot of money.
Citroen Grand Picasso got veto'd due to the driving position (for me) and the quality of the interior in the model of the age we are looking at (from the wife).
What year is your's dme123?
Went over to Fords of Winsford and confirmed that the pre-2010 S MAX is a contender even without the centre ISOFIX mount.
Tried out a Renault Grand Scenic, which has less rear legroom compared to the Ford (but 3x ISOFIX). There also appear to be plenty of average milage used models for not alot of money.
Citroen Grand Picasso got veto'd due to the driving position (for me) and the quality of the interior in the model of the age we are looking at (from the wife).
dme123 said:
Nope, it's a proper child seat. We have Maxi Cosi isofix bases for the baby seats on each side and a Maxi Cost Priori group 1 seat in the middle. The bases make it easy enough to get the baby seats in with a bit of wiggling. Once the oldest child is in a booster seat it'll be even easier.
Didn't get chance to try out any of the Volvo models as the Wife was feeling ill (just recovering from a bug she picked up a couple of days ago). However the V70 looks like a nice option and you have described the exact car setup we are intending to use (and already have, partly)!What year is your's dme123?
Edited by Rinko on Saturday 22 October 18:39
The only way I can see you doing this is to utilise the front passenger seat for one of the kids
SEAT IBIZA 1.6 PETROL SPORT - 3 adults, 1 baby isofix & 1 full booster
we had one baby seat isofix on n/s/r - one booster seat with the straps on o/s/r and then one adult in the middle full seatbelt - it was a bit crammed in the back!!
In the front we had two adults
SEAT IBIZA 1.6 PETROL SPORT - 3 adults, 1 baby isofix & 1 full booster
we had one baby seat isofix on n/s/r - one booster seat with the straps on o/s/r and then one adult in the middle full seatbelt - it was a bit crammed in the back!!
In the front we had two adults
billzeebub said:
I read in one of the car magazines about a company that makes bespoke car seats which replace the whole rear bench in an M3/3series, with up to 4 toddler seats or 3 child seats..as far as I remember!..
Yes and they're over £1,000 to buy. Friends GF was showing me it as they now have 4 kids between them.Just a quick thread resurrection to say we ended up getting a Galaxy Ghia, with a few nice bits like leather and the panoramic sunroof.
We decided on the Galaxy on the basis that we wanted the extra space and usability over the S-Max (e.g. rear seats will take two adults). Having driven quite a few, I didn't think there was a massive difference in the drive between the two - certainly not enough to put me off the Galaxy.
Although I have to say I was shocked with the standard of some of the cars being sold, and how they were described. Cars with gouges in the dashboard, trim missing, scrapes and dents - being described as "immaculate", but when challenged the dealers response was "well, it's a second hand car - what do you expect".
We had a couple of false starts, narrowly avoiding buying a car with repaired accident damage costing about half of the cars value - and that was from a Ford franchised dealer.
In the end, we payed slightly more than we wanted to, in order to get a clean well maintained car (with a warranty) - hopefully it was worth it!
We decided on the Galaxy on the basis that we wanted the extra space and usability over the S-Max (e.g. rear seats will take two adults). Having driven quite a few, I didn't think there was a massive difference in the drive between the two - certainly not enough to put me off the Galaxy.
Although I have to say I was shocked with the standard of some of the cars being sold, and how they were described. Cars with gouges in the dashboard, trim missing, scrapes and dents - being described as "immaculate", but when challenged the dealers response was "well, it's a second hand car - what do you expect".
We had a couple of false starts, narrowly avoiding buying a car with repaired accident damage costing about half of the cars value - and that was from a Ford franchised dealer.
In the end, we payed slightly more than we wanted to, in order to get a clean well maintained car (with a warranty) - hopefully it was worth it!
Edited by Rinko on Wednesday 15th February 10:29
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