5 door, baby seat friendly? Not too big!

[Willber]

We're expecting our first child in the next week or so and I've only just realised that the baby seat / pram combo we bought doesn't fit in my wife's 3 door F56 Mini (whoops!) Yes, could swap the pram etc but looking online all car seats and bases are flipping chunky and i think long term a 5 door will be needed anyway.

We can manage short term as I have an E-Class estate, but need to sort something by end Jan.

The simple option is a 5 door Mini but not sure they're big enough and we'll outgrow it quickly?

A Clubman could be good or a Countryman but worried the Countryman is physically too big for my wife to manage. I dont think its far off my Merc!

Has anyone had a Clubman? Are the rear doors a pain?

Any other options we should be thinking of?

Needs to be:

petrol
Ideally turbo as used to that power delivery
Don't want wet belt engine
2017 onwards (so a bit newer than current 2015 Mini)
less than 50k miles,
5 doors.
Budget £14k max

Seen a few A3's creep into budget and newer Leons. They look a bit bland next to the Mini though...

Thanks!

Edited by Willber on Monday 9th December 09:55

[66HFM]

I've had a number of Minis, although R50, R52 and R53s, although I did have a Mini Clubman (08 reg), it was a great little car with the suicide rear door, on the drivers side and with the twin opening boot doors.
I also borrowed a later Mini Clubman on a 48 hour test drive, which was a lot more practical with the rear doors.

I think you'll find, that dependant if you go for a rear facing car seat, which I believe is the requirement now that the Mini Clubman is too small.
I'd personally go for something the next size up - Golf /A3/Leon than a Clubman or Countryman.

Best option would be to take your car seat down to your local Mini dealer and try it and see how little room there is...

[fflump]

If you like the BMW stable something like the 2- series gran tourer is an option.
Not as stylish as the Countryman though.
As with issues around size you can’t beat getting out and seeing them in the metal.

[Willber]

Thanks for the replies.

Yeah, i had wondered if we'd grow out of a Clubman or Countryman. They're physically big but internally not a lot of space?

Fortunately we have a car supermarket down the road with decent stock so I think, as you say, going down and having a look would be best.

The A3 is nice and interior quality great. Guess Leon is more bang for buck though.

2 series tourer a good shout, will take a look.

[Simon_GH]

Congratulations Op!

I’d buy a Focus 1.5 petrol turbo estate for that money. I’m pretty sure the new 3 cylinder ones are not wet belt.

Estates are more versatile than hatchbacks - you can also use the boot as a seat for feeding etc.when you’re out and about.

[ChocolateFrog]

That will get you a 2022 Duster with around 20-30k on the clock if you want something a bit newer.

Really like ours, not huge, apparently it's a B segment car but feels more like C Segment. Takes all the abuse my 2 toddlers and dog can throw at it.

[kurokawa]

I swap to a Countryman (F series) from a Clubman (F series) after having a baby.

The Countryman is not that big (almost same length as Clubman), it is about same size of family hatch just taller and look big

The Countryman is great if you have a bad back. The slightly higher seat height make loading and unloading a car seat much easier

[ZX10R NIN]

Willber said:

We're expecting our first child in the next week or so and I've only just realised that the baby seat / pram combo we bought doesn't fit in my wife's 3 door F56 Mini (whoops!) Yes, could swap the pram etc but looking online all car seats and bases are flipping chunky and i think long term a 5 door will be needed anyway.

We can manage short term as I have an E-Class estate, but need to sort something by end Jan.

The simple option is a 5 door Mini but not sure they're big enough and we'll outgrow it quickly?

A Clubman could be good or a Countryman but worried the Countryman is physically too big for my wife to manage. I dont think its far off my Merc!

Has anyone had a Clubman? Are the rear doors a pain?

Any other options we should be thinking of?

Needs to be:

petrol
Ideally turbo as used to that power delivery
Don't want wet belt engine
2017 onwards (so a bit newer than current 2015 Mini)
less than 50k miles,
5 doors.
Budget £14k max

Seen a few A3's creep into budget and newer Leons. They look a bit bland next to the Mini though...

Thanks!

Edited by Willber on Monday 9th December 09:55

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[Jamescrs]

kurokawa said:

I swap to a Countryman (F series) from a Clubman (F series) after having a baby.

The Countryman is not that big (almost same length as Clubman), it is about same size of family hatch just taller and look big

The Countryman is great if you have a bad back. The slightly higher seat height make loading and unloading a car seat much easier

My wife has a countryman F series and it's a very good car as a family car for us being two adults and two children, my youngest is now 7 but we have been using Countryman's since she was born and have had rear facing seats.

I think the seating position in a countryman lends itself much better to a rear facing seat than a conventional Mini does (even a 5 door).

[PT1984]

My wife had a F55 5 door Cooper S at the time of having our now 2 year old son. It has a slightly larger boot over the 3 door.

We went to Mammas and Pappas and they had a mini in the shop. Bonus! We tried what fit in the boot, then put tried hers.

In the end we went with. Nuna Triv pram which fit in the boot, and the matching carrier seat. We then moved to a AxKid mini kid 4 which we still use.

It’s was completely manageable for my wife, son and dog. I struggled to get in the front passenger seat, so I mostly sat in the back or drove. She had no issue as a passenger.

The only option is go to a dealer and try it. Then they a Countryman /Club.

She’s now in a XC40 which is a nice place to sit. But I wish she was still in a B48 mini. The MCS is a brilliant thing. In hindsight we could have lived with the F55.

[edc]

F60 Countryman with the right pack also has the sliding rear seats. We have one as commuter/back up family car and leave a rear facing ERF 25kg child seat in permanently.

Things you may not have thought about. You'll likely want rear tints, rear seats which are not too sloped at the base, check how wide the door opens and the position of the seat relative to the door opening. The further behind the back rear is the more awkward it becomes, rear cabin lighting which you can adjust the timer delay for.

[Davie]

Willber said:

A Clubman could be good or a Countryman but worried the Countryman is physically too big for my wife to manage. I dont think its far off my Merc!

What's your wife's take on this?

I ask as sometimes I this us blokes speak on our wife's behalf when it comes to cars and even if the good lady has proclaimed she won't drive anything bigger then X, Y or Z... could that change?

My wife started with a VW Up! and it was deemed more than adequate, don't need / want anything bigger thank you very much. Then our first made himself known and so she then quickly decided her Up! wouldn't cut it and she got an Astra hatch which was plenty big enough thank you. Then child arrived with his big car seat and "stuff" and the Astra started to look a bit small. So she got a medium sized Volvo estate. Then, the second child arrived with her entourage and said Volvo estate morphed into a bigger Volvo estate and that was plenty enough, we're all good. The child grew as did their bikes and assorted crap. Wife now daily's a LWB VW Transporter.

But the Up! was big enough / don't need a bigger car / won't drive anything bigger. Point being, situations change and so if she's actually fine with driving something bigger then I'd not rule it out and indeed, opting for something that allows growth is maybe no bad idea if practical and if you'd rather not change it cars again a year or so down the line. Even "big" cars start to feel quite small once a big baby seat is in place, the buggy / pram / changing bag etc etc...

[edc]

No different to most of us. We were all learners once in generally small cars. My wife started learning at home with a 2016 Fiesta plus whatever driving instructor car at the time. Then moved to an Arona then a first gen boxy A class Merc the B class. Now uses either of F60 Countryman or Citroen C4 Grand picasso.

[Davie]

edc said:

No different to most of us. We were all learners once in generally small cars. My wife started learning at home with a 2016 Fiesta plus whatever driving instructor car at the time. Then moved to an Arona then a first gen boxy A class Merc the B class. Now uses either of F60 Countryman or Citroen C4 Grand picasso.

Indeed, though the point I was leaning towards was more "Is the OP's good lady totally adverse / incapable of driving something bigger" which if so, will limit his options however if she's quite open to the idea of a bigger car / happy to embrace it, then it could open up more options which may in turn better suit.

A friend's wife is absolutely adverse to a bigger car then the current Focus she drives, no real reason... just will point blank refuse any notion despite said Focus really being a bit too small for their two young kids / buggies etc to the point it's actually causing a bit of stress for them. He's tried to coax her towards something with a bit more interior room (within reason) but it's a hard no... whereas as my wife, she was also initially fairly adamant that she didn't need / want a bigger car, but was happy to upgrade having seen the benefits.

[PT1984]

We could absolutely managed with the F55. Given the price delta with the XC40 we should have kept it. It’s even less of an issue since we lost the dog. It was a brilliantly fun car to drive.

You know what. I would have a F56 if the front seat had isofix.

[edc]

PT1984 said:

We could absolutely managed with the F55. Given the price delta with the XC40 we should have kept it. It’s even less of an issue since we lost the dog. It was a brilliantly fun car to drive.

You know what. I would have a F56 if the front seat had isofix.

Isofix is convenient but not a necessity. Most infant carriers can be fitted with the seatbelt and be just as safe. The safest rear facing seats then mostly use a support leg and tethers, no isofix.

[Skodillac]

Voice of experience here. Had 2 kids, now grown up. Don't underestimate how much of a pain it is to get the car seats in and out, and to get squirming toddlers in and out of them also. For this reason, mini-MPVs make the best sense and make for the easiest life. If you don't like the looks/image of them, then don't worry - nothing is forever and you can move back into a normal hatch in a few years time when the child is bigger, more reasonable and can get themselves in and out. To this end, and bear with me here because it's not going to be popular, but one of these would tick all of your boxes:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202412057...

They are well made cars, and far better than people will tell you they are - look beyond the brand snobbery.

I went through the same as you, OP, we had a SEAT Ibiza when our first child came along. I got a VW Touran to replace it, and by Gawd was I glad I did. I moved back to normal hatches and estates when the children got older.

Edited by Skodillac on Tuesday 10th December 13:09

[Willber]

Thanks for all the replies, much appreciated!

In terms of the physical size of the car, its not just me making assumptions, she doesn't want anything too big. It wont be the only family car - I have an S211 Merc for that which is ideal, but it will be for when I am not around and she needs to transport baby and pram. Ideally needs a bit of space to grow into so if we have another child it isn't immediately too small.

The Ibiza Fr and Polo look pretty roomy for a 5 door supermini and not sure a Countryman offers much more interior space despite being physically quite a lot bigger...

The Mini's have better engines with 1.5 vs 1.0 in the VAG group ones, but they're both turbocharged so nippy enough. The Ibiza in particular are well specced too with LED headlights often fitted. The Countryman classic is a bit low on spec compared to a 5 door classic which comes with LED headlights as standard.

Think I'll pop to local car supermarket (which is conveniently next to a Mini garage too) and have a nose around.

Edited by Willber on Tuesday 10th December 13:21

[PT1984]

edc said:

PT1984 said:

We could absolutely managed with the F55. Given the price delta with the XC40 we should have kept it. It’s even less of an issue since we lost the dog. It was a brilliantly fun car to drive.

You know what. I would have a F56 if the front seat had isofix.

Isofix is convenient but not a necessity. Most infant carriers can be fitted with the seatbelt and be just as safe. The safest rear facing seats then mostly use a support leg and tethers, no isofix.

Yeah that is what our current AxKid is, rear facing, belt and tethers. Means we have two bl00dy seats though as it’s a faff moving seats. With an infant seat the Isofix base with two cars was very handy.

Edited by PT1984 on Tuesday 10th December 14:29

[roadie]

My dad has a 2 series active tourer, which is on the same platform as the Mini products. I think it would make a really good family car. It is large and configurable inside, as the rear seats can move fore/aft and in back angle. Also the seat height is higher than your standard hatch so getting things and people in and out is easy.

I don't know what the lower power engines are like, but the B48 powered 225i is decently powered.