Three kids seats, now what? please help!
Discussion
I am new to piston head and would appreciate your help.
We have recently had a baby girl and now have three kids 5 or under.
The problem now is I can't fit three kids seats easily into my wife's volvo v70.
I think we need a car with 3 idependent rear seats that can be slightly staggered to allow use of our non isofix child seats. Having 7 seats is better so we can take the kids friends/rotas etc.
I have narrowed the choices to a ford smax 2.0TDCI titanium (140 bp) or a volvo xc90 D5 se (185bhp)
I am also slightly tempted by a merc viano (extra long) which would allow you to leave kids bikes and prams etc in the boot with 7 seats up. Automatic is preferable as we live in town.
You can get all of them for ~£14k albeit with differing ages. The s max is probably best to drive, but I won't be driving it. My wife is keen on the volvo as perceives it to be safe and she has had the v70 for ~6 years.
Any one got any experience of these three cars, thoughts or comments would be welcomed.
Thanks
Dan
We have recently had a baby girl and now have three kids 5 or under.
The problem now is I can't fit three kids seats easily into my wife's volvo v70.
I think we need a car with 3 idependent rear seats that can be slightly staggered to allow use of our non isofix child seats. Having 7 seats is better so we can take the kids friends/rotas etc.
I have narrowed the choices to a ford smax 2.0TDCI titanium (140 bp) or a volvo xc90 D5 se (185bhp)
I am also slightly tempted by a merc viano (extra long) which would allow you to leave kids bikes and prams etc in the boot with 7 seats up. Automatic is preferable as we live in town.
You can get all of them for ~£14k albeit with differing ages. The s max is probably best to drive, but I won't be driving it. My wife is keen on the volvo as perceives it to be safe and she has had the v70 for ~6 years.
Any one got any experience of these three cars, thoughts or comments would be welcomed.
Thanks
Dan
I've just read one of Clarkson's books within which he praises both the SMAX and the V90 but he admits the SMAX is the better car for the money (assume both new).
You could try buying one of those multiple child seats but they only seem to cater for kids of approx the same ages, and all facing forwards. No good for your baby yet.
You could try buying one of those multiple child seats but they only seem to cater for kids of approx the same ages, and all facing forwards. No good for your baby yet.
Viano xl is a van - a well-appointed van but still a van - it will not be easy to park (it's 5.2m long) and you will be looking at quite a leggy example at that price. if you live in "town" I would query whether you need a diesel, since diesels and short journeys do not always mix well, partic. if they have a particulate filter.
You could get a new Citroen Grand Picasso or Renault Grand Scenic for about £14k if you look at Broadspeed's website, or a similar broker, and if you only need 5 seats instead of 7 they are cheaper still. Otherwise I would go for the S-Max over the Volvo, since it will be newer and Volvo D5's of a certain vintage can have expensive problems with faulty fuel injectors.
You could get a new Citroen Grand Picasso or Renault Grand Scenic for about £14k if you look at Broadspeed's website, or a similar broker, and if you only need 5 seats instead of 7 they are cheaper still. Otherwise I would go for the S-Max over the Volvo, since it will be newer and Volvo D5's of a certain vintage can have expensive problems with faulty fuel injectors.
We had an Espace after a V70. Great car. Not perfect reliability, but not far off. Biggest frustration was the dealers. Ours was the 150hp diesel and drove unusually OK, although probably at the cost of front tyres. Easily wound up to 3 figures on motorway.
is a XC90 any bigger than a V70 inside?
is a XC90 any bigger than a V70 inside?
Bluebarge said:
Viano xl is a van - a well-appointed van but still a van - it will not be easy to park (it's 5.2m long) and you will be looking at quite a leggy example at that price. if you live in "town" I would query whether you need a diesel, since diesels and short journeys do not always mix well, partic. if they have a particulate filter.
You could get a new Citroen Grand Picasso or Renault Grand Scenic for about £14k if you look at Broadspeed's website, or a similar broker, and if you only need 5 seats instead of 7 they are cheaper still. Otherwise I would go for the S-Max over the Volvo, since it will be newer and Volvo D5's of a certain vintage can have expensive problems with faulty fuel injectors.
Thanks bluebarge all sensible advice, I take your point about the viano being essentially a van and may well drive as such. It isn't that much longer than the volvo v70. I am swaying towards an s max but the rear seats in both the ford and volvo are for kids only. If its good I would probably keep the car 5 or 6 years so would need to be able to fit lanky teenagers. I hear the volvo xc 90 can also have major automatic gearbox issues.You could get a new Citroen Grand Picasso or Renault Grand Scenic for about £14k if you look at Broadspeed's website, or a similar broker, and if you only need 5 seats instead of 7 they are cheaper still. Otherwise I would go for the S-Max over the Volvo, since it will be newer and Volvo D5's of a certain vintage can have expensive problems with faulty fuel injectors.
The Crack Fox said:
I'm a big Volvo fan, but I can't argue with an S-Max, I wouldn't touch a Scenic or Picasso with a bargepole, hugely unreliable things. How long until your eldest is only in a booster seat ? My youngest is pretty tall and IIRC she was in a regular booster cushion thing at 5ish, that would leave enough room for 2 'baby' seats. You might be chucking BIG money just to get seating that you only need for a year or two.
Good luck
Thanks for your comments, agree with your views on a scenic and picasso.Good luck
Tried the eldest in booster seat last week end but still will not fit comfortably with 2 other child seats in the back of a v70. The good thing about the xc90 is it has an integrated child seat which means we could be down to 2 extra child seats only.
davidjpowell said:
We had an Espace after a V70. Great car. Not perfect reliability, but not far off. Biggest frustration was the dealers. Ours was the 150hp diesel and drove unusually OK, although probably at the cost of front tyres. Easily wound up to 3 figures on motorway.
is a XC90 any bigger than a V70 inside?
Thanks Davidis a XC90 any bigger than a V70 inside?
I would be concerned about renault reliability.
There isn't much more room in an xc90 compared with a v70. Its just the seats are more cleverly laid out and there are 7 of them but then with a small boot.
Hence my thoughts about the viano.
The ford S-max is supposed to be great to drive. Have been in a fast run in a galaxy (driven by a mad man) I was almost crying, it handled and went suprisingly well down some roads it shouldnt have been handling and going down very well.
Lovely inside as well with the big glass panels in the roof.
Yeah what about a galaxy as they are a bit bigger still?
Lovely inside as well with the big glass panels in the roof.
Yeah what about a galaxy as they are a bit bigger still?
Mr Dave said:
The ford S-max is supposed to be great to drive. Have been in a fast run in a galaxy (driven by a mad man) I was almost crying, it handled and went suprisingly well down some roads it shouldnt have been handling and going down very well.
Lovely inside as well with the big glass panels in the roof.
Yeah what about a galaxy as they are a bit bigger still?
I know a few pepople with an s max and they all very pleased with their purchase. One of them suggested a galaxy may have more head room in the back row.Lovely inside as well with the big glass panels in the roof.
Yeah what about a galaxy as they are a bit bigger still?
In fact I hired a galaxy on holiday a couple of years ago and it seemed fine but not as comfortable as the v70
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