boring question
Discussion
Help Pistonheads. I have four boys and a wife. If we go out in the car I can fit children in but almost no luggage, so we end up with a roofbox.
My car is the supremely awful Chevrolet Orlando (its a long story, I'm ashamed and it has to go)
But any ideas what to get for ferrying family with a decent boot space with the third row of seats up?
My car is the supremely awful Chevrolet Orlando (its a long story, I'm ashamed and it has to go)
But any ideas what to get for ferrying family with a decent boot space with the third row of seats up?
I can offer you some advice of what not to get... I have 4 kids aged between 6 and 12.
I have had -
VW Touran. Made me want to self harm. Went ok, and was very economical (2.0tdi).
The 3rd row is split seats so you can just have one up which helps. But the space behind the third row if up is woeful.
Nissan X Trail 1.6dci. Did nothing well other than look pretty (subjective). The engine was under powered and didn’t return good economy (I expected one or the other to be bad, but not both!) As with the Touran, split third row.
Space behind 3rd row was dire. The only advantage of the X Trail was that the 2 row of seats slides back and forth so you could make the boot space bigger if you only had 1 third row seat up.
Volvo XC90 1st gen. Great great car. Comfy, bags of space, did family duties well. The boot is huge... but then so are the third row of seats which are individual proper seats. The space behind them is better, but by no means room for a family holiday. If you only had one seat up there was still a lot of space however. Also the 3 2nd row seats move backwards and forwards independently so the space is quite versatile. I loved that car but the high 20s MPG was a killer for the mileage I do.
Funnily enough I’ve now opted to go the route that you are moving away from.
I now have a 7 seat V70, and if I need to take all the kids plus luggage I’ll use a roof box.
I have had -
VW Touran. Made me want to self harm. Went ok, and was very economical (2.0tdi).
The 3rd row is split seats so you can just have one up which helps. But the space behind the third row if up is woeful.
Nissan X Trail 1.6dci. Did nothing well other than look pretty (subjective). The engine was under powered and didn’t return good economy (I expected one or the other to be bad, but not both!) As with the Touran, split third row.
Space behind 3rd row was dire. The only advantage of the X Trail was that the 2 row of seats slides back and forth so you could make the boot space bigger if you only had 1 third row seat up.
Volvo XC90 1st gen. Great great car. Comfy, bags of space, did family duties well. The boot is huge... but then so are the third row of seats which are individual proper seats. The space behind them is better, but by no means room for a family holiday. If you only had one seat up there was still a lot of space however. Also the 3 2nd row seats move backwards and forwards independently so the space is quite versatile. I loved that car but the high 20s MPG was a killer for the mileage I do.
Funnily enough I’ve now opted to go the route that you are moving away from.
I now have a 7 seat V70, and if I need to take all the kids plus luggage I’ll use a roof box.
Realistically you'll need a large mpv or can derived vehicle if a mid size mpv like the Orlando is too small for you.
SUVs may be more in vogue, but are rarely more spacious than an mpv.
Ford Galaxy, vw sharan/ seat Alhambra could be good, or a Ford grand tourneo if you don't mind it's looks.
If you don't mind Japanese domestic market imports, the Nissan elgrand and Toyota Alphard are tech laden, large, and comfy.
SUVs may be more in vogue, but are rarely more spacious than an mpv.
Ford Galaxy, vw sharan/ seat Alhambra could be good, or a Ford grand tourneo if you don't mind it's looks.
If you don't mind Japanese domestic market imports, the Nissan elgrand and Toyota Alphard are tech laden, large, and comfy.
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