Sorry but I'm a but stumped
Discussion
Sorry for another what car but I'm stumped on this. A friend of mine is expecting another child which means he will now be needing 7 seats well 6 really. But he is dead set against mpvs. And to make things a bit tougher his budget is 5k.
I thunk there were a few v70's about with 7 seats but what els?
I thunk there were a few v70's about with 7 seats but what els?
Someone is going to say W124 or W210 estate and that would be a bad idea because the rear seats aren't really suitable for trips of any real duration and if you get rear ended your kids will die.
Other than that there are old discoveries with the fold down seats in the boot, or Mitsubishi shoguns(?) which have fold down seats in the boot.
There is always adoption of course
Other than that there are old discoveries with the fold down seats in the boot, or Mitsubishi shoguns(?) which have fold down seats in the boot.
There is always adoption of course
I had this problem in January - I did NOT want a people carrier as our main family car. After fighting it for months I realised that the most important thing is to make your life as easy as possible, especially my missus' - if she's happy, the kids are happy and I'm happy. Now at weekends I have to drive a depressing people carrier, but I can cope.
We had bought a 5dr MK5 Golf Gti for her, but it was just not big enough even with just an ickle baby and a 7 year old. We also realised the advantage of being able to fit the gran-rents in, so my missus now has a 1.6 Vauxhall Zafira and I still have my fleet of s
t old cars.
Ok, so it's slow, and some of the others MPVs are a bit more versatile with separate rear seat and have a better image, but for VFM you can't beat it and it is a bit larger inside if not a clever as others - I got a 56 plate with low mileage for £5k from a dealer. We did have an issue with the clutch which is a common fault, but managed to sort it under warranty.
If he wants performance he could always get an SRi or GSi which are pretty cheap to buy as they ain't cheap to run.
Otherwise get one for the missus, buy an old MX5 or summat for running around in during the week, and then at weekends just enjoy life being that little less hassled when you don't have to worry about fitting everything in.
IME £5k won't get you anything that great with 7 seats that isn't a risk due to age or mileage - if he could push to an S-max I would recommend one - my bro has 4 kids and only just replaced his with an XC90 - it was great to drive with loads of space. A great compromise with at least a smidge of driving enjoyment.
We had bought a 5dr MK5 Golf Gti for her, but it was just not big enough even with just an ickle baby and a 7 year old. We also realised the advantage of being able to fit the gran-rents in, so my missus now has a 1.6 Vauxhall Zafira and I still have my fleet of s
t old cars.Ok, so it's slow, and some of the others MPVs are a bit more versatile with separate rear seat and have a better image, but for VFM you can't beat it and it is a bit larger inside if not a clever as others - I got a 56 plate with low mileage for £5k from a dealer. We did have an issue with the clutch which is a common fault, but managed to sort it under warranty.
If he wants performance he could always get an SRi or GSi which are pretty cheap to buy as they ain't cheap to run.
Otherwise get one for the missus, buy an old MX5 or summat for running around in during the week, and then at weekends just enjoy life being that little less hassled when you don't have to worry about fitting everything in.
IME £5k won't get you anything that great with 7 seats that isn't a risk due to age or mileage - if he could push to an S-max I would recommend one - my bro has 4 kids and only just replaced his with an XC90 - it was great to drive with loads of space. A great compromise with at least a smidge of driving enjoyment.
Edited by Emeye on Wednesday 27th April 21:02
As soon as we no longer needed a double pram, the estate was sold (at Mrs Pints' instruction!) and the Golf became the family car... which meant I could get my MX-5. 
I'm sure there are plenty of people who simply have to have a 48 seater MPV which towers twelvety feet over everything else on the road, but for us a hatchback is ample for most family outings.
If there was a Half-Pints mk3, a larger car would probably be needed, but only because it would be almost impossible to fit 3 baby-seats in the back of a Golf.
I'm sure there are plenty of people who simply have to have a 48 seater MPV which towers twelvety feet over everything else on the road, but for us a hatchback is ample for most family outings.
If there was a Half-Pints mk3, a larger car would probably be needed, but only because it would be almost impossible to fit 3 baby-seats in the back of a Golf.
NiceCupOfTea said:
Don't some of the E class estates have 7 seats? Landcruiser Amazon?
I think your options are going to be fairly slim though...
I have a W211 with the 7 seat conversion - excellent car, but I agree that rear facing for long journeys is not ideal, and we use the extra 2 seats only occasionally.I think your options are going to be fairly slim though...
Disco You said:
Someone is going to say W124 or W210 estate and that would be a bad idea because the rear seats aren't really suitable for trips of any real duration and if you get rear ended your kids will die.
Other than that there are old discoveries with the fold down seats in the boot, or Mitsubishi shoguns(?) which have fold down seats in the boot.
There is always adoption of course
I doubt the Mercs are that unsafe, are they?Other than that there are old discoveries with the fold down seats in the boot, or Mitsubishi shoguns(?) which have fold down seats in the boot.
There is always adoption of course
What age would passengers 6 or 7 be? I ask because how do the small seats in the backs of Merc estates and old 4x4's go with the recent laws on booster seats?
Heres the seat conversion I mentioned in my previous post: http://www.multimac.co.uk/home
Exactly. If you're going to have 3 kids, you need to understand that it's just part of the deal.
Our Touran is a brilliant family car. 3 kids can be separated from each other, and there's enough space to fit most of our junk, most of the time. For the other times, there's a roof rack with a box, and a bike rack for the hitch.
Is it beautiful to look at? Nope.
Is it 'fun' to drive? Not particularly, although it is not unpleasant.
Does it satisfy the PH urge? Barely, and only because it's got the 140hp engine.
However, as a family vehicle, I can't fault it. I long since stopped caring about dings from my wife's driving, or scratches on the rear bumper from slinging stuff in and out. We'll have an MPV in the family until the kids are teenagers at least.
Our Touran is a brilliant family car. 3 kids can be separated from each other, and there's enough space to fit most of our junk, most of the time. For the other times, there's a roof rack with a box, and a bike rack for the hitch.
Is it beautiful to look at? Nope.
Is it 'fun' to drive? Not particularly, although it is not unpleasant.
Does it satisfy the PH urge? Barely, and only because it's got the 140hp engine.
However, as a family vehicle, I can't fault it. I long since stopped caring about dings from my wife's driving, or scratches on the rear bumper from slinging stuff in and out. We'll have an MPV in the family until the kids are teenagers at least.
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