Spacious family car? estate - help!

[turbolucie]

OH and I are on the taller side and struggling to find an estate that big enough for our needs. We have a car seat for our son which is rear facing (and will be for the foreseeable) which takes up a lot of room. We exchanged the hateful Qashqai we did have, very quickly for a 2014 5 series touring as it was the most spacious estate we could find (apart from the Mondeo, which I wasn't keen on). But it's still too small. What else is out there? Are the Octavia estates any roomier? Currently neither of us can sit in the passenger seat in front of the car seat.

Also open to SUV type things but wary as the Qashqai was just so awful in every way, and not really spacious at all. Budget about £10k.

TIA x

Edited by turbolucie on Saturday 1st December 19:01

[anonymous-user]

Superb

[oldaudi]

Audi A6 any bigger than a 5 series? Mk1 xc90 ?

[andy118run]

Jimboka said:

Superb

what he said. Doubt you will find bigger.
Personally I have an S Max.
Rarely use the 7 seats. It's just a fair sized estate with masses of rear leg room.

[A500leroy]

discovery?

[Shappers24]

andy118run said:

Jimboka said:

Superb

what he said. Doubt you will find bigger.
Personally I have an S Max.
Rarely use the 7 seats. It's just a fair sized estate with masses of rear leg room.

This. The rear space in a superb is bonkers.

E class mercs are pretty sizeable too

[Jasandjules]

Not a C Class.....

[wombleh]

Some SUVs have more space in the back. Had a kia sorrento hire car abroad that was huge.

One of the merc ranges has loads of rear leg room, possibly the cls? Always thought the E class and audi A6 were much same size as 5 series...

530 here and rear facing seats don't leave much leg room in the front!

[alfie2244]

Jimboka said:

Superb

^^^^ This.

[CharlesdeGaulle]

andy118run said:

...Personally I have an S Max.
Rarely use the 7 seats. It's just a fair sized estate with masses of rear leg room.

I've had a couple of S-Max when my girls were younger and regard them as just about the perfect family car.
Unless you're abnormally freakishly tall, that offers loads of space.

[Super Slo Mo]

Shappers24 said:

andy118run said:

Jimboka said:

Superb

what he said. Doubt you will find bigger.
Personally I have an S Max.
Rarely use the 7 seats. It's just a fair sized estate with masses of rear leg room.

This. The rear space in a superb is bonkers.

E class mercs are pretty sizeable too

They are, but I’ve had both and for space the Superb is in a different league.
Both good cars though.

[dave_s13]

My current family bus.

Go big or go home.

[kieranblenk]

alfie2244 said:

Jimboka said:

Superb

^^^^ This.

This again. It really is cavernous.

[Jag_NE]

Are you both 6’6” tall or do you have an oddly designed child seat?

[ZX10R NIN]

Forget the Superb get the S Max in Titanium X Sport/Vignale trim it really ticks all the boxes:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

[ninjag]

My neighbour a few doors up has the S-Max and she uses it for grand children and her daughter also uses it for the [same] children and it must be up to the job as she keeps replacing it for the same car every three years!

Alternatively, if looking at SUVs then the CRV has a huge amount of rear legroom (great for rear facing child seats), the 3rd gen has sliding rear seats so it can be increased even more but the 4th gen also has a ton of space. Most likely due to the bonnet not taking up a 3rd of the length of the car, unlike many other makes, in particular the Bavarian stuff.

Here's a 2014 CRV vs equiv. BMW X3 for example. Each red rectangle represents the length of the bonnet to the a-pillar, it becomes quite obvious how much space you lose with the X3 bonnet.

[turbolucie]

Jag_NE said:

Are you both 6’6” tall or do you have an oddly designed child seat?

Only 5'9" and 6'3" but rear facing car seats take up a hella lot of room...

Thanks for all replies so far, will have a look at the Superb and S-max. Anyone have a Kia Sportage, or know how roomy the rear is?

[PomBstard]

Late Subaru Liberty/Outback will be fine. Me and MrsPB are 6’2” and 5’9” and it’s been fine for us. Also fits three kids across the rear bench should that become an issue...

[ZX10R NIN]

It's the rear facing child seats that become the issue when coupled with the OP's & his partners height so if they're finding an F11 to small then I think OP you have to go S Max or something similar.

[TwistingMyMelon]

Ive got a ford Torneo Grand Connect for my family:

The first time I sat in it I felt like an utter midget, the headroom is unreal- my mate who is 7ft tall (actually 7ft) says its the most height friendly car he has been in

Its got sliding doors, so child seats are a breeze (2 x rear facing) , as on a ferry the other day and without them I couldn't of got the kids out the car!

I used to have to spend ages folding up the buggy and carefully putting shopping in the boot in my old car, in this I whack the buggy in fully put up and enough room for a monthly shop . I bought a double mattress from Ikea the other day and could fit it in the car along with 6 of us!!

Its got double the boot size of a Volvo xc70 I used to use and makes an Eclass estate feel crampt

On the downside, it looks st, kind of like something a poor mans pope would own, it also looks like a van, which doesn't bother me, but some people are snobs

Its also slow, but handles well for the size

Its also very cheaply put together, although been reliable

Next time im getting a full size transit or a VW transporter as fancy more space for bikes!!

I was tempted by an smax, but Id rather have a tool thats very good, rather than a tool that pretends to be stylish at the expense of practicality.