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Family car recommendations - Chrish1985

Hi. We're looking at buying a new family car and would like one with 3 full seats in the back so we can take 3 kids in car seats. I don't really want a 7 seater with 3 rows of seats. Budget would be around £4k. Any recommendations?

Family car recommendations - SLO76
Is fuel economy important? What sort of usage will it see, mostly local stop start or a lot of distance driving?
Family car recommendations - Chrish1985

There will be the odd longer journey but the majority will shorter trips, which can be quite stop start. Thanks

Family car recommendations - SLO76

There will be the odd longer journey but the majority will shorter trips, which can be quite stop start. Thanks

That’s very different usage from your previous post. I assume this is a second car or you’ve decided to commute by train/bus? If so then most cars with 3 isofix seat points in the rear are MPV’s. If economy isn’t a big concern then a petrol Ford S-Max with the chain driven Mazda L series 2.0 motor would be a good option at this sort of money. The diesels are prone to a number of costly issues and are best avoided. I think the Mazda 5 also has 3 in the first set of rear seats again with either 1.8 or 2.0 petrol power this would be possible too. Very handy sliding rear doors are great in tight parking spaces. Most hatches will only have two isofix points so MPV is really your best bet.
Family car recommendations - Chrish1985

It is indeed. We have (had) 2 cars but the one I was taking to work isntvworth repairing. Our other car (an Astra which we have been using as out family car) is going to need replacing within the next 18 months for something larger so I'm going to take the Astra to work and we're going to buy the larger car now. Thanks for your advice. Much appreciated

Family car recommendations - Engineer Andy

Hi. We're looking at buying a new family car and would like one with 3 full seats in the back so we can take 3 kids in car seats. I don't really want a 7 seater with 3 rows of seats. Budget would be around £4k. Any recommendations?

What happened to your search for the car that died?

www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/122283/any---which...o

Does seem odd why you'd start brand new thread for a completely different car with an extra £4k budget (how can you affor this when you couldn't before?).

Very strange indeed.

Family car recommendations - badbusdriver

In fairness Andy, actually his budget in the previous post was £3-4k. Tricky one this, as without direct experience of fitting 3 child seats next to each other, there is no way of knowing which car in any given category has the most width across the rear seats. In your previous post you mentioned not wanting something massive, but how big a car would you be thinking of?. Mondeo size, focus size?.

Initial thoughts are;

www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/20180104244...1

www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/20171127161...1

This last one is a 7 seater i know, but in fairness it does not take up any more roadspace than a focus estate. Assuming you CAN fit the 3 child seats on the middle row, fold the rear row for a huge boot + you have that added flexibility of having an extra 2 seats just in case you need them!.

www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/20180102238...1

Family car recommendations - Bromptonaut

Citroen Berlingo or it's Peugeot twin would fit the bill. Usage though suggests you should avoid diesel but petrol engines may be rare amongst examples in your price range. At least until diesel began to come in for a pasting most buyers chose the diesel.

Family car recommendations - Chrish1985

Budget remains the same. Decided it will probably be best for me to take the current family car for work and buy a larger car as we're going to need larger soon anyway. By not too large I mean I want to avoid the MPVs that look like mini buses, and if I'd prefer just the 2 rows of seats. Hope that makes sense. Thanks for your advice

Family car recommendations - Engineer Andy

Budget remains the same. Decided it will probably be best for me to take the current family car for work and buy a larger car as we're going to need larger soon anyway. By not too large I mean I want to avoid the MPVs that look like mini buses, and if I'd prefer just the 2 rows of seats. Hope that makes sense. Thanks for your advice

Fair enough (your post to SLO nails it), and probably a good idea if your family is getting bigger. I would say that the suggestions of the Mazda5 (nice driving, reliable [petrol] engines and those handy sliding doors for car parks and tight driveways etc) and the Honda FRV seem perfectly reasonable. Stay away from diesels as explained before on the other thread as short trips only ruins them (some more quickly than others). Check the load space, child seat attachments all fit and the boot lip is low enough for your needs.

Would you prefer an MPV over an estate, which can give more load space. In any case, I'd go for the mid-range models that have less gadgets to go wrong and higher profile tyres (say 16in 55-65 profile) which still handle fine but give a decent ride over the bone shaker 40-50 profile versions, last twice as long and cost half as much to replace (205/55 R16 is the most common and the cheapest of the 16in ones) - very handy if you're on a tight budget.

Family car recommendations - veloceman
Mazda 5 a good car with advantage of sliding doors.
I had one for a bit, remember it being quite narrow inside without a proper centre rear seat.
It was a few years ago and I maybe wrong but check it’ll take three child seats, I’m not sure it will.
Family car recommendations - Engineer Andy
Mazda 5 a good car with advantage of sliding doors. I had one for a bit, remember it being quite narrow inside without a proper centre rear seat. It was a few years ago and I maybe wrong but check it’ll take three child seats, I’m not sure it will.

Perhaps (my slow memory now does recall another thread with comments to that effect) - maybe the OP will be lucky, in that their eldest child may not need a child seat by the time No.3 comes along. For all the advice we all give on the forum about performance, handling and reliability of cars, its all a bit pointless if you can't use it for its primary purpose!

I remember being laughed at by colleagues when I took my holiday stuff (suitcase, box of provisions [I go self-catering and need to bring certain foods but also certain k******ware not provided], golf bag, trolley, shoes and umbrella plus the usual holiday/long trip/car stuff [foot pump, etc]) - empty suitcase and box of course - with me in my little Micra when I went looking for a replacement (12+ years ago), so I could see whether I could get it all in the boot of cars I was looking at without having to put the back seat down (safety/security reasons).

Definitely worthwhile, as some of the cars I looked at were very good on many other fronts, but the boot was too small. Even the Mazda3 hatch (I bought the saloon which has a 405 ltr boot) didn't have a big enough boot (about 40-50 lts smaller) and I would end up with a similar problem as with my Micra with having to either take the parcel shelf out/put the back seats down and have loose items (potential missiles in the event of an accident) in the boot area and on the back seats.

So many people just visit a showroom/forecourt and have a short test drive, rather than a good look around the car (including trying to get the drivers seating position right for all drivers), checking to see if it meets all their potential needs (and especially must-haves) as well as a decent length test-drive on different types of roads and speeds for all the car's drivers.

I would definitely recommend this to the OP, as I've come across many people who've had to PX their shiny new car just after a few months because it was uncomfortable or didn't have a must-have feature (because they didn't do their homework and/or forgot/couldn't be bothered to check). This can prove VERY expensive, even for people buying on a budget.