3 child seats across the back seat
Discussion
Guys,
Asking for a friend whom I am helping to find a car; what cars are wide enough to fit three child seats across the back seat, with space to do up seat belt buckles between them?
More specifically, a friend is trying to buy a car that will fit three child seats in (he has three kids), as well as two adults. Budget is under £10k (preferably under £8k). Has to be petrol as he does a lot of short journeys and this isn't kind to a diesel car. Reliability is important; VED and fuel economy is important but less so (he's happy to go for something that's a bit more expensive to run if it's less likely to land him by the side of the road.) Just about the only firm 'No' he gave was to a car being white!
It needs to have some boot space. Not necessarily huge, but not tiny either.
I think that these requirements probably rule out anything electric (happy to hear otherwise if people know more.
)
We looked at a 2016 Honda FRV today on a bit of an off-chance. All three child seats fitted across the rear bench but there was no space between them to buckle up the seat belts which at least one of the kids would need to use, ruling it out. We measured the rear seat width at 135cm, and I think he'd really need 145cm or more to make it work.
Seven-seater things seem to be the obvious choice but he thinks they are a bit more expensive (maybe because they fit more child seats in.) A wild card option that occurred to me would be a Honda FRV, but I know nothing about them.
What would anyone suggest? This is not a part of the world of cars which I know anything about so all suggestions are welcome - thanks.
Asking for a friend whom I am helping to find a car; what cars are wide enough to fit three child seats across the back seat, with space to do up seat belt buckles between them?
More specifically, a friend is trying to buy a car that will fit three child seats in (he has three kids), as well as two adults. Budget is under £10k (preferably under £8k). Has to be petrol as he does a lot of short journeys and this isn't kind to a diesel car. Reliability is important; VED and fuel economy is important but less so (he's happy to go for something that's a bit more expensive to run if it's less likely to land him by the side of the road.) Just about the only firm 'No' he gave was to a car being white!
It needs to have some boot space. Not necessarily huge, but not tiny either.
I think that these requirements probably rule out anything electric (happy to hear otherwise if people know more.
) We looked at a 2016 Honda FRV today on a bit of an off-chance. All three child seats fitted across the rear bench but there was no space between them to buckle up the seat belts which at least one of the kids would need to use, ruling it out. We measured the rear seat width at 135cm, and I think he'd really need 145cm or more to make it work.
Seven-seater things seem to be the obvious choice but he thinks they are a bit more expensive (maybe because they fit more child seats in.) A wild card option that occurred to me would be a Honda FRV, but I know nothing about them.
What would anyone suggest? This is not a part of the world of cars which I know anything about so all suggestions are welcome - thanks.
I don't think you will get a 5 seater to do that unless:
I child seat on front passenger seat ((reversed and air bag switched off): then the two outer rear seats with child seats, and an adult in the middle. But that will be a helluva load up and upload at each end. You need a seven seater, probably a Ford Galaxy MPV?
I child seat on front passenger seat ((reversed and air bag switched off): then the two outer rear seats with child seats, and an adult in the middle. But that will be a helluva load up and upload at each end. You need a seven seater, probably a Ford Galaxy MPV?
You need a car with 3 equal size seats. Most cars have a 2 larger outer seats and a small middle seats. At the budget you are looking at the traditional MPVs like VW Touran, C4 Grand Picasso, VW Sharan, Seat Alhambra. Most will be diesels because at your budget it puts it into a certain age bracket where most of these cars are diesel. I had e car seats in a C4 Grand Picasso. It will be very awkward to have to do up 3 seatbelts each time. They work best with rear facing seats when free the seats are already belted in and you use the integral harness, or a combination of such seats.
I have three car seats across the back of a 5 series (F11). I leave the seatbelts done up and have taught the kids how to climb in and out of them. Making sure they're all snug and fitted properly takes no more time than doing up individual seatbelts, and for me the minor additional faff is outweighed by not having to drive a people carrier.
Just an option that may not have been considered.
Just an option that may not have been considered.
seiben said:
I have three car seats across the back of a 5 series (F11). I leave the seatbelts done up and have taught the kids how to climb in and out of them. Making sure they're all snug and fitted properly takes no more time than doing up individual seatbelts, and for me the minor additional faff is outweighed by not having to drive a people carrier.
Just an option that may not have been considered.
What seats are they?Just an option that may not have been considered.
) but usually it's two of We spent some time looking at this for the OH's car and the 5-series kept coming up on ChatGPT as having a particularly wide rear bench, though we never got as far as trying one out for ourselves. I also can't remember if it specified a particular generation.
We ended up getting a 2-series Gran Tourer, very happy with it. Depending on the age of the kids it could be a good option for him. Ours is white though
We ended up getting a 2-series Gran Tourer, very happy with it. Depending on the age of the kids it could be a good option for him. Ours is white though
We had 3 children under 5 and I explored this option to death...
We ended up wit ha Discovery 4 as the best solution as 3 individual seats plus a further 2 in the boot, we also had a MK1 XC90 at one stage when the older one just used the built-in booster seat.
I do appreciate that apart from the very odd exception that Disco 4s are 3.0 Diesel...
S Max was another option, plenty of petrol ones, even a 2.5T
We ended up wit ha Discovery 4 as the best solution as 3 individual seats plus a further 2 in the boot, we also had a MK1 XC90 at one stage when the older one just used the built-in booster seat.
I do appreciate that apart from the very odd exception that Disco 4s are 3.0 Diesel...
S Max was another option, plenty of petrol ones, even a 2.5T
The Fiat Multipla is the other 2x3 seater like the FRV, a little old now but may be worth considering.
In Japan there is a class of 'compact MPV' below the Alphard/Elgrand etc, a few of which are imported here
Nissan Serena https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202608135...
Toyota Voxy https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202610247...
Toyota Noah https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202609206...
These have three rows of seats albeit not hugely spacious in each row.
Being JDM they tend to be petrol automatic and often lower mileage and good condition (not always!).
Another vote for the S-Max. Mine’s a 2018 1.5 petrol and probably worth that sort of money. It’s a bit thirsty but really practical and more fun to drive than you might imagine.
I grew up lusting after XR2s and Cosworths and always liked the blue-collar vibes so that helped my choice!
I grew up lusting after XR2s and Cosworths and always liked the blue-collar vibes so that helped my choice!
I have had 3 car seats across a Peugeot 5008 for the last 3 years. We've had various combinations of infant, forward and rear facing, and booster seats.
We have a 2019 model, but from 2017 to 2025 they all had 3 individual seats across the middle row that were the same size.
A 2017-2019 ish 1.2 petrol should be well within budget with average miles.
We have a 2019 model, but from 2017 to 2025 they all had 3 individual seats across the middle row that were the same size.
A 2017-2019 ish 1.2 petrol should be well within budget with average miles.
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