It's twins.................

[TheCanonBall]

Thanks for the great response again.
At the moment the dog can travel in the boot of either the Clio or the Fiesta, he tends to go to sleep as soon as he's in the boot and his bed is about the side of a spare wheel.

Whilst the Mrs won't have a big car as her own, she will drive it if needs be. She's just in love with her Fiesta. I actually think she hates driving anything but her own car. I only managed to get her into a Fiesta from a long line of Corsa's after a lot of selling to her.
She hates driving the Clio (because she tends to Kangaroo it when its cold) and thats not bigger than the Fiesta. Other than that, she's actualy not a bad driver.

Half the problem is that she's never driven anything bigger than my old Alfa 147. Where as I used to drive my Mums Citroen Xantia when I passed my test at 17 and have driven several similar size cars since, so driving bigger cars has never bothered me.

[Bill]

My Mrs didnt want anything bigger than her Focus. Then the twins arrived and she realised it wasn't actually a Tardis... (Admittedly it helped that the swooping roofline of the S-Max makes it feel small from the driver's seat, and the switchgear was recogniseable.)

[rovermorris999]

Another vote for a Legacy. The interiors are pretty tough. A mate bought one when he had twins plus one kid already and a dog. He kept it for years and sod all went wrong. His wife pranged it in the end and he bought another. You might try an Outback. The extra height makes loading/unloading a bit easier.

[Pkh72]

We have 20 month old twins, for the first 18 months they were carted around in a Mark 1 Fabia Vrs without any trouble, the double buggy just fitted in the boot, the girls had enough leg room and random bags etc can be put in the footwells.

We did have to use my old Focus ST for the summer holidays as there wasn't enough room in the Fabia.

As the girls have got bigger we had a change around of our cars, i now have the Fabia as my day to day and the wife had a current flavour Mondeo 5 door hatch which is plenty big enough and is nicely relaxing to drive, we'll be keeping that for a while.

Good luck with your twins, have a knowing followed by an absolute

[zetec_s6]

I was in a similar position a few years ago, we changed my a4 avant, as the boot is not actually that big, and my wifes citroen c2, which she loved and refused to drive anything bigger, to an xc90 for me to use in the week and for weekends with the kids and an a-class for my wife as she could get the pushchair in it.

You wouldn't believe how much space a double pushchair, travel cots, nappies, babybath etc take up plus anything you ned to take, we would practically fill the volvo for a long weekend away so the bigger the car you get the better.

My wife subsequantly decided driving a big car wasn't too bad after all and left me with the a-class!!

[Blowfish]

Congratulations mate!

[Chris Peacock]

You and me both pal.


We have twins in the oven and they are due in april. (we also have a two year old)



Take a look at the Honda Fr-v, we have just bought one and it looks to fullfill all our needs.


Good luck.

[Basil Hume]

I used to have a 197 - I now have an S3 Sportback and one child, with another on the way.

Although the thought of all that baby gear sounds daunting, don't be fooled into thinking that you will always be travelling around with the peak possible amount of stuff in your car!

In reality, there will probably be half a dozen times per year when you will probably stuff the car full - and the rest of the time you will be travelling around with a lot of fresh air for company. We've also found that the amount of stuff needed when travelling diminishes as our girl gets older. Admittedly, I've yet to experience two kids at once - but neither has our A3 / S3 ever been too small for our needs (and there's always a roof box if needs be).

Personally, I'd imagine that a 5-door hot hatch from the next segment up (Golf GTi, R32, S3, Focus ST etc) would suit you just fine.

[TheCanonBall]

I'd thought of trying to get by with a larger hatch, but my brother struggles with his A3 5 door, 1 18 month old and no dog.

The other thing is, other than our respective parents in Holmfirth, the rest of our siblings and other close family live in Greater London and the home counties. I think we'll have a couple of long road trips in store as we live in Newcastle.

I think from the posts I've read and a bit if auto trader research I'm first going to look at big estates;
Volvo V70
BMW e60 5 series touring
Subaru Legacy

Any buying tips on these would be great.

If the Mrs can't live with these we'll look at the compact MPV's such as;
Mazda 5
S Max
Vw Touran

I think now that I've slept on it earlier posters are right. For at least the next 2 years, safety and space are the 2 top priorities.

After that I think I'll be able to talk her into a mini mpv for her and something more spirited for me.

[Bill]

The SMax isn't compact, it's a curved Galaxy. The CMax is the Focus based one.

[Twincam16]

Congratulations - and congratulations should also be due for going down the estate route rather than buying a sodding MPV just because you have kids on the way. Unlike soppy emasculated advert-man in his Previa, your kids will grow up knowing what it's like when they get to travel in 'Dad's car' - a big, sleek, low thing that goes like stink on the motorway and gets hurled about on A-roads. They can then be taken to the British Touring Car Championship when they're older and you can say 'see that - that one's a bit like our car isn't it', and then can cheer it on. When they grow up, they'll realise they can enjoy a combination of practicality and driving fun too, and will become petrolheads.

Good on you sir. It's a refreshing thing to see. There's nothing more depressing than seeing someone get rid of a sporty car - and in doing so throw away a whole sector of their life and personality, something that makes them 'interesting' that they can pass on to the next generation - and replace it with a massive MPV or 4x4 just because they have one child, let alone two.

I really do feel sorry for the kids who grew up in the MPV/lifestyle 4x4 era.

[schmalex]

If you're looking at 5 series touring's, you should probably have a gander at E class & A6 estates as well.

[SWoll]

Congratulations OP, you're in for some fun my friend

I'd probably go for the A6 avant with the 2.0T engine and autobox. No more expensive than a comparable A4, a lot cheaper to buy than the 2.0TDi, loads of room in the back/boot and still a reasonable drive. From the sound of it I reckon your Mrs might fall in love with the autobox like mine did. She wont have anything else now even though she is a good driver who enjoys pushing on.

I hope it all goes well for you and both, and welcome to PH.


edit: Like this one (although it is a manual) http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2012...

I'd avoid the S-line models also as the ride quality is dreadful, not good with sleeping babies full of milk in the back.

Edited by SWoll on Thursday 9th February 11:44

[R12HCO]

I would be after a e39 m sport touring model. Cheaper than the adui, more 'luxury' and huge.

Engine, im not sure. Its easy to do the typical pistonhead and suggest the biggest engine but I dont always see the point. I would be looking at a 525i probably or a 530i. I wouldnt be looking at the diesel due to the short jounreys and never getting upto temp etc.

[Leithen]

schmalex said:

If you're looking at 5 series touring's, you should probably have a gander at E class & A6 estates as well.

With number two on the way and a labrador resident too, we've been considering this dilemma too. I'm surprised the E Class hasn't made more of a showing in recommendations - they had a poor patch, but for 8K, a high miler diesel ought to be in the frame.

I am still flirting with a W124 estate - no Isofix, but a lot of style. But perhaps they are just getting a little too long in the tooth. So a W211 Estate ought to be obtainable - more space than you'll ever need....

[Twincam16]

Leithen said:

schmalex said:

If you're looking at 5 series touring's, you should probably have a gander at E class & A6 estates as well.

With number two on the way and a labrador resident too, we've been considering this dilemma too. I'm surprised the E Class hasn't made more of a showing in recommendations - they had a poor patch, but for 8K, a high miler diesel ought to be in the frame.

I am still flirting with a W124 estate - no Isofix, but a lot of style. But perhaps they are just getting a little too long in the tooth. So a W211 Estate ought to be obtainable - more space than you'll ever need....

I wouldn't completely write off the 124, especially as the 211 wasn't built nearly as well. Get a diesel and they really will go on forever. They're even good in a crash - they predate EuroNCAP, as do a lot of cars, but that doesn't mean they're unsafe in a crash. IIRC NCAP tested one more recently and it'd still come up with a reasonable score. 5th Gear ran a monster truck over one and the passenger safety cage wasn't even compromised.

There are a number of cars like that out there that are superb regardless of age. You can treat a 124 more like a house than a car - just the odd running repair here and there and you can be safe in the knowledge that most of it will hold up good as new.

Get a diesel one and they're even economical.

[LayZ]

I have filled our A6 Avant to the roof for trips to the inlaws with our two (both under 2) so I'd advise getting something large. A4 Avant class doesn't cut it imo.

V70 as suggested a good shout. Petrol one seems very cheap now, but beware the VED groups. There's a 2007 07 T5 auto outside our office which is has a painful £440 tax disc in it. This does however make them very cheap used.

[SWoll]

Twincam16 said:

Congratulations - and congratulations should also be due for going down the estate route rather than buying a sodding MPV just because you have kids on the way. Unlike soppy emasculated advert-man in his Previa, your kids will grow up knowing what it's like when they get to travel in 'Dad's car' - a big, sleek, low thing that goes like stink on the motorway and gets hurled about on A-roads. They can then be taken to the British Touring Car Championship when they're older and you can say 'see that - that one's a bit like our car isn't it', and then can cheer it on. When they grow up, they'll realise they can enjoy a combination of practicality and driving fun too, and will become petrolheads.

Good on you sir. It's a refreshing thing to see. There's nothing more depressing than seeing someone get rid of a sporty car - and in doing so throw away a whole sector of their life and personality, something that makes them 'interesting' that they can pass on to the next generation - and replace it with a massive MPV or 4x4 just because they have one child, let alone two.

I really do feel sorry for the kids who grew up in the MPV/lifestyle 4x4 era.

Couldn't agree more. having looked at Q7's, X5's and ML's before buying our E60 Touring I was amazed at how little useable space they have compared to a big estate car.

Less practical, less performance, more thirsty.

[LuS1fer]

I love the slagging of MPVs and thenconcluding that clattering Merc crap dieselis somehow a solution or indeed that any estate is automatically better than an MPV. Utter myth.

[SWoll]

LuS1fer said:

I love the slagging of MPVs and thenconcluding that clattering Merc crap dieselis somehow a solution or indeed that any estate is automatically better than an MPV. Utter myth.

Blimey, taken it a bit personally haven't we?

We've given our arguments, lets hear your's then.