Looking for a family car. Suggestions if you don't mind!

Droolinggimp · 6 Oct 2020 at 12:58

Hi all.

The wife is currently looking for a car that is suitable for us both and 3 children (5, 2 and newborn) and a Labrador dog of course. It must have plenty of boot space for shopping and the dog (not at the same time as there would be no shopping left once arriving home).

Obviously must be 5 door, not fussed on petrol or diesel, unless you can advise which is more suitable/best, transmission we are 50/50 on. She is manual where, once I take my test I will be Auto, for health reasons and preference. We're considering a manual until I pass (next year sometime, no rush for me really) but an auto that fits the bill will be great too.

Budget? Looking around 20k give or take a few k. 2nd hand or new.

Can you lovely guys suggest something for us to look into.
Thanks in advance

Glanza · 6 Oct 2020 at 13:08

Skoda Superb

gailjon · 6 Oct 2020 at 15:37

The three children means that you are really wanting a car with three separate seats in the second row otherwise it gets really tight fitting car seats in.

I would suggest something like an S Max. It is good to drive and has a slightly higher and wider opening rear door for easier access to the kiddies.

I did have an Alhambra which was a great family car with excellent sliding doors but it is quite a bit bulkier.

GinG · 6 Oct 2020 at 19:37

Skoda Superb without a doubt. The newer ones are wider than the one I have so should be able to get 3 across.

Estate is huge so plenty of room for the lab also.

Dis86 · 6 Oct 2020 at 19:51

Sell one of the kids and buy yourself a Panamera estate.

iamdjdz · 6 Oct 2020 at 20:16

Sell all the kids and buy a 911.

randomshenans · 6 Oct 2020 at 20:21

If you don't mind hanging up your testicles and really want something that works and has mega space, look at the S max and the Zafira Tourer. They are dull as you like but really well positioned for 3 kids and luggage.

mjt · 6 Oct 2020 at 20:30

Superb. Lots of rear legroom for the rear-facing child seats and no knees in face for the front passenger, massive boot for the dog & shopping.

/thread

xs2man · 6 Oct 2020 at 22:00

Whilst the Superb gets a lot of love on here, and rightly so, as Gailjon suggests, you really want a motor with 3 seperate seats along the back row. Here the likes of the S-Max or Sharan / Alhambra / Galaxy really come into their own. I had an older Alhambra and it fit the bill perfectly. When it went, I missed the space, so bought a VW van instead. So that is also an option. You could get a pretty decent Kombi for your budget, which will have all the room you need (I went for a Caravelle, but you would be looking at a reasonably old one for your budget, so Kombi or Shuttle would be the better choices). None of these options really drive "like a car" though. But will hold their value probably better than any car suggested. I love my Caravelle despite not having it for very long. It is excellent for what I need it for. Today, for example, I did close to 300 miles in it, picking up sets of wheels, then a couple big shops, and the kids in the back no problem. And even got home not feeling too tired out by the amount of driving. Although it did only average 33 mpg today.

I mean, you can by all means go look at a Superb. They really justify their namesake. But you may not have the room for 3 kids seats. So I would make sure to have your 3 seats with you when you go look at anything, as that will be the main factor for you. Far more so than engine or make or features. Maybe something like an XC60 / 90 would work here. Or another larger SUV.

The alternative is something like a multimac. That would get you the seats you require in almost any car you choose. They are, of course, expensive though (probably somewhere between £1-2k). But then you could get something like a BMW 530d Touring, which is an excellent all-round car with plenty of room. But no way your getting 3 child seats on the rear bench. Or a Superb, or even a Golf R Estate or something (I don't actually recommend that, as cool as it is). It is, for sure, an expensive accessory, but it does open up a lot more options for a car that will actually work for you.

randomshenans · 7 Oct 2020 at 09:01

@xs2man I agree. I drove a new superb as a hire car for a week. I have 3 kids (5,11,14 at the time) with all of our luggage for 2 weeks of Christmas stuff and it was literally superb. Really enjoyed the car, it was great. Kids said they had room and that, but we didn't spend countless hours in it (Manchester to Newcastle and back as well as daily short trips) but it was a good car that I didn't expect to like as much as I did.

I also had a Zafira Tourer for a week and drove it 3700km in a week around Italy with all the kids and all our luggage. We had so much kids space in the back, it was fine to drive (1.2 was a bit lackluster but did the job) and we had a ton of space to pack in about 10 cases of wine as well as all our luggage. Just seems well spaced out which makes a difference with a big family.

I have had the S Max for about a week, too, but didn't do as much driving. I did just local trips at the time, but it was about the same as the Zafira above in terms of layout and space for family.

Journey · 7 Oct 2020 at 11:13

Brand new MG5 EV Estate, no gears to worry about so no auto or manual nonsense, much cheaper to run that either of the other options, no VED, tiny servicing costs and they either pay for your in home charger or give you money towards one.

https://mg.co.uk/mg5-ev/

xs2man · 7 Oct 2020 at 11:36

Journey said:
Brand new MG5 EV Estate, no gears to worry about so no auto or manual nonsense, much cheaper to run that either of the other options, no VED, tiny servicing costs and they either pay for your in home charger or give you money towards one.

https://mg.co.uk/mg5-ev/

I doubt your getting 3 child seats in the back of that.

Journey · 7 Oct 2020 at 11:44

xs2man said:
I doubt your getting 3 child seats in the back of that.

Why do you doubt it?

xs2man · 7 Oct 2020 at 12:37

Journey said:
Why do you doubt it?

Because that middle seat isn't a full sized seat. Not even close. I don't know if you know how bulky 3 child seats are, especially when 2 of them are likely to be rear facing, but getting 3 child seats on the rear bench of a car is pretty difficult, even in the biggest of cars. Which this isn't. Even harder if you want to use ISOFIX, and why wouldn't you?

mccarf · 7 Oct 2020 at 12:45

Here's a depressing list for you to look at OP:
https://www.whatcar.com/news/best-cars-for-three-child-seats/n16743

They do say that some of the cars might fit 3 if you had slimmer child seats and/or didn't use ISOFix etc

Journey · 7 Oct 2020 at 13:03

xs2man said:
Because that middle seat isn't a full sized seat. Not even close. I don't know if you know how bulky 3 child seats are, especially when 2 of them are likely to be rear facing, but getting 3 child seats on the rear bench of a car is pretty difficult, even in the biggest of cars. Which this isn't. Even harder if you want to use ISOFIX, and why wouldn't you?

Octavia, narrower, 3 cars seats fitted.

It's more about the seat options, rather than just bunging any random seats in there and hoping.

jpaul · 8 Oct 2020 at 22:02

another three seat option 5008,
although these have the space, I wonder what they are like to live with in the supermarket carpark, or cramped city roads, so would have to include that on the test drive.

jpaul said:
Have you considered a similar age 5008 hdi eg. https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202001236497734
not sure, does it share the same engine as an smax ?

colleague had one as a company car - A road 100 mile daily commuter / family vacation mpv - confortable economic ..
not sure how they wear their miles in comparison.

Tinders · 11 Oct 2020 at 10:27

5,2 and newborn is a tricky one, as thats the full size seats. I have the last gen XC60, and i can get 2 seats and a booster, or 2 boosters and a seat in, but ive chosen narrower seats and they are all belted rather than Isofixed in. The xc60 is a smidge wider than the Superb when i tried them both.

Have a look at the CRV aswell, they have 3 individual seats.

Quartz · 11 Oct 2020 at 10:57

Droolinggimp said:
Can you lovely guys suggest something for us to look into.

How about an older Mercedes S-class? The long wheelbase model, so the dog goes in the footwell of the rear seats. Looking on Autotrader I see a 2013 S350 AMG L with 45000 miles on the clock for £18k.

njm106 · 11 Oct 2020 at 20:22

Journey said:
Brand new MG5 EV Estate, no gears to worry about so no auto or manual nonsense, much cheaper to run that either of the other options, no VED, tiny servicing costs and they either pay for your in home charger or give you money towards one.

https://mg.co.uk/mg5-ev/

Much as we loved the MG5 we test drove today (so much that we've order one) 3 kids and a dog (don't forget the kids prams etc) no chance, it's Focus sized not Tardis sized!! Only EV I can think of that might work is a Nissan e-NV200 but it's basically a van with seats suppose a Model S is quite big but a bit expensive.

The Superb might just fit the bill but a 7 seater might be the better bet as your bound to end up with more kids in your car at some point!