Family car question

[andysteele]

We've got a Skoda Octavia VRS TDi (2007) hatchback which was a replacement for a Fabia VRS when we had our first child just over 3 years ago, now we've got a 2nd little one my wife is talking about getting something bigger. She drives the car mainly as I've got an Elise for commuting.

My wife wants an Espace as her dad had all the variations while she was growing up, she likes the fact the kids can see out, side windows must be lower in relation to the seat compared to the Octie, our 3 year old has been in his current latest model and loved it. The extra space is really needed for luggage, taking travel cot plus push chair and then cases etc when we go on hols, with one child the Octie was just enough if we used the back seat as well as boot for stauff, so with 2 we think not, but the boot in the Octie is decent size compared to a lot of cars.

It I can't quite get over the fact an Espace is like a big bus...

Please suggest some alternatives, budget is probably mid-teens including trade-in.

Cheers, Andy.

[Rob P]

Keep the Octavia and get a roof box for trips away?

S-max as a car/bus compromise?

[andysteele]

Never been a fan of roof boxes. People have recommended S-Max and Galaxy to my wife, so think we'll go see them both, not much difference in the size between the two....

[Pints]

Zafira is a 7 seater but not quite the size of a London bus.

[Mave]

How much space do you really need? An Octavia is quite big, if you're happy with it could you get an Octavia estate instead? We've got a 3 series estate which isn't huge, and we manage to fit in a pair of 2 year old including 2 travel cots, double pram, toys, our kit etc...