Car with 4 children

[Big_Dan]

We have another baby en route, which makes 4 ...

We currently have a 2016 Discovery 4

We've struggled a bit with 3 car seats across the back, had to have 2 non ISOFIX to make buckling up easier, something I'm not especially comfortable with. Lack of ISOFIX in the centre seat and 33/33/33 split is a massive oversight for the Disco 5, something the Q7 has

Anyway, eldest is now out of her seat, so she can squeeze in the middle and 2nd eldest can go in the boot on a non ISOFIX. I guess he is going to have to climb in the boot as the middle row seats can't tip forward with a massive baby seat in situ

Question is, is this livable? Anyone lived the dream?

I've been looking at Peugeot Traveller (cheap, huge spec, massive boot on the LWB) and Caravelle (expensive, poverty spec, small boot) but I'd like to keep the Disco. I'm not sure a normal MPV is going to be any better than the Disco. Resigned to the fact we'll need a roof box as a double buggy is going to take up the non occupied space in the boot

[Christmassss]

I have 4 children. Age: 7, 4,3 and 11 months

Luckily I have several cars, but for full on family days out a VW Touran.

7 year old in one of the boot seats. He gets in through the boot which is pretty easy as it has a low floor.

The other 3 in the normal back seats, all with isofix.

The pram then goes in the space of the 7th seat.

Pretty boring car, loads of storage compartments and does the family duty well....ultimately i would like an XC90 though as i think that does the family thing better!

ETA: Congratulations!

Edited by Christmassss on Tuesday 10th July 14:23

[ZX10R NIN]

Ford Galaxy

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Transit Tourneo

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Hyundai i800

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V Class

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[funkyrobot]

Transit van with benches in the back?

Loads of room and you can put the kids in there still in their prams and pushchairs. No need to faff around taking them out.

[anonymous-user]

I second the touran. It has loads of space but the footprint is a lot smaller than you think.

All 5 rear seats have isofix and the fold flat easily on the recent shape.

[coljoh148]

Bloke in my street has a VW Caravanelle for 4 kids.

[TwistingMyMelon]

I have four kids, I bought something van based, tbh I can see myself going back to a car for family duties for a long time

We have a baby, toddler, 17 year old and 19 year old, I bought a 2014 Ford Tourneo Grand Connect : https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-review/ford/grand-to... they start from 10k up

For family duties its brilliant, we recently went on holiday for two weeks and fitted everything with ease in. You can fit 5 people in and the boot is effectively a small van. I picked my stepson up from uni in Hull and had a years worth of stuff and furniture , along with 5 passengers and a 600 mile trip and it did it all with ease.

My misses loves it as it is huge inside, you never feel on top of each other and sliding doors are a godsend, i.

I share your frustration re isofix, the ford doesn't have it so the child seats we have , have to go on either side seat which means we cant use the folding seat to access the seats in the boot. However we only need the seat in the boot occasionally and you can easily get to it through the boot door if that makes sense

The final 2 seats fold flat, and I just put our buggy in the boot un folded, saves so much time as I can just throw it in and out

Its not all great, the build quality is dire, so many pieces of trim have fallen off or badly fitted, I thought it being van based would make it tougher I was wrong. My 12 year old Seat Leon was tougher and felt like a tank in comparaison...the Ford isnt well built at all

I like the VW vans but 12k would get me one that was just too old for me, I also wanted lots of extras like cruise control and a decent stereo

If I was to buy again id be tempted by the Mercedes range of van based cars

I was hesitant to go near jap imports due to any delays on parts

[WhiskyDisco]

We have four kids (14, 12, 7, 5). We've gradually moved up scale, through Lexus RX, then Disco and a hired Alhambra - we now drive a VW Caravelle. For us, moving 6 people in air-conditioned luxury with luggage it's the perfect vehicle.

Sure, the Disco had a presence, and was very comfy and practical. But when you have all seats occupied you find yourself looking for something bigger. One thing I would point out is that on the motorway you can't fault the Caravelle. however, around town, especially over speed humps the vehicle gives away it's van-basis. Sometimes the chassis will shudder a bit, so you just have to slow things down over the bumps. With a Disco you don't need to slow down!

I think the Caravelle is the same size as the Disco BTW.

Here's a few pics of ours taken in Split. We drove over there last year for a holiday (we've almost recovered from the financial and mental trauma ;-) )




I've found a pic of the inside too so you can see how well the layout works.

Edited by WhiskyDisco on Wednesday 11th July 10:18

[WhiskyDisco]

Big_Dan said:

... Caravelle (expensive, poverty spec, small boot) ...

Yes they are expensive to buy (what isn't?) but they do hold their value well. I'm not sure what you mean by poverty spec as ours comes with all the toys - the adaptive cruise is incredible, I've seen it slow us to a standstill from cruising speed (covering the brake of course). The seats are all on rails (they swivel too) so the boot can be as small or as large as you require. Oh, and the rear seat converts into a bed, if you ever need it to.