5 useable seats - family car, decent to drive
Discussion
Having been searching for a 7 seater for the past 6 months, over the weekend the OH relaxed the criteria and suggested that a 5 seater would be sufficient if you could fit two large-ish forward facing car seats in the back, but then also be able to use the middle seat as an adult in relative comfort.
Now are Civic is a squeeze and my size 8 wife can barely fit her bum betwee the seats so it seems any hatchback is out of the question.
Anyone with any experience of fitting two kids in the back of these:
- Volvo V70
- Mercedes E Class estate (W211 shape)
- Honda CRV
- Toyota RAV 4
- Lexus RX
and able to tell me whether they would meet this criteria?
Cheers
L83
Now are Civic is a squeeze and my size 8 wife can barely fit her bum betwee the seats so it seems any hatchback is out of the question.
Anyone with any experience of fitting two kids in the back of these:
- Volvo V70
- Mercedes E Class estate (W211 shape)
- Honda CRV
- Toyota RAV 4
- Lexus RX
and able to tell me whether they would meet this criteria?
Cheers
L83
hornetrider said:
I'm confused - two largish forward facing seats in the back? Do you mean the boot? Is this some kind of aftermarket thing?
Anyhoo, would also say 5 series.
No I mean the two rear passenger seats will be taken by forward facing child seats. That leaves the middle seat in the rear free but I need it to be big enough to fit an adult. Basically at the moment, the Civic rear middle seat is useless.Anyhoo, would also say 5 series.
Re getting in and out - the car seats are Isofix and come out in a click. Not ideal but reasonably easy.
Citroen C4 Grand Picasso. The diesel is better (we've had both petrol and diesel). Surprisingly pleasant to drive, 5 good seats and the rear extra 2 seats are OK for teenagers, even adults on short journeys - legroom is a bit limited. The front seats are superb, and it's a great motorway cruiser or city commuter.
The thing is a lot of 4x4 and estates use the same platform as their smaller siblings, so all you are gaining is additional boot space/height as opposed to any width or wider seats.
Im in the same situation with cars, 3 young kids, so we ended up going the MPV route. I would prefer an estate, but for example Im pretty sure an A4 estate is the same width as an A4 Avante (we certainly couldnt fit three across the back once two cars seats were in).
Even things like the CRV most likely use the Accord/Civic platform, so there's as much chance of fitting 3 across the back in that as there is a Civic, and given the middle seat is essentially a occassional use type one I expect your missus wouldnt want to be squeezed into it for any length of time.
You would need to look at the larger 4x4's, or accept that an MPV is probably most suitable for now, there are a few with 3 good sized individual rear seats, like the Renault Scenic, Honda FRV, or Citroen Picasso, then when the kids are older and can use booster seats, buy a nice estate.
Only other approach would be to suggest to the missus that she lose some weight, then once you're single you can buy something really fun like a Lotus Elise.
Im in the same situation with cars, 3 young kids, so we ended up going the MPV route. I would prefer an estate, but for example Im pretty sure an A4 estate is the same width as an A4 Avante (we certainly couldnt fit three across the back once two cars seats were in).
Even things like the CRV most likely use the Accord/Civic platform, so there's as much chance of fitting 3 across the back in that as there is a Civic, and given the middle seat is essentially a occassional use type one I expect your missus wouldnt want to be squeezed into it for any length of time.
You would need to look at the larger 4x4's, or accept that an MPV is probably most suitable for now, there are a few with 3 good sized individual rear seats, like the Renault Scenic, Honda FRV, or Citroen Picasso, then when the kids are older and can use booster seats, buy a nice estate.
Only other approach would be to suggest to the missus that she lose some weight, then once you're single you can buy something really fun like a Lotus Elise.
The best thing to do IMO is take the seats to a big car supermarket and try all their stock. Getting an adult past the child seat is a huge PITA so leg room is as important as width IMO.
We have a 53 plate Mazda 6 estate as SWMBO's hack and it's surprisingly spacious in the back and pretty good to drive, so add that to the list of potentials. I believe it's the same platform as the Mondeo. Also we recently had a Hyundai i40 estate as a hire car and that was huge in the back and not half as s
t as you'd expect 
On the 7 seater front, have you tried an SMax? We had one and once I'd got over the MPVness I found it extremely competent.
We have a 53 plate Mazda 6 estate as SWMBO's hack and it's surprisingly spacious in the back and pretty good to drive, so add that to the list of potentials. I believe it's the same platform as the Mondeo. Also we recently had a Hyundai i40 estate as a hire car and that was huge in the back and not half as s
t as you'd expect On the 7 seater front, have you tried an SMax? We had one and once I'd got over the MPVness I found it extremely competent.
Is the adult a limbo dancer? If not, it may be a struggle to get an adult into the middle in a saloon/estate given the low roofline and bulk of the seat, unless you're going to remove and re-fit the seat each time.
There is a reason so many people drive mpvs you know - they work for families.
There is a reason so many people drive mpvs you know - they work for families.
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