new car needed for 4 children +mum & dad

[rose]

Hi,
I know there is a post going on about bigger cars but it is targeting the 9 plus seaters. We are looking for an eight seater and not sure what is the best. We have a station wagon ford which we will keep and get rid of the olddddd car sedan ford. What are peoples thoughts, experiences etc. We have nine weeks and counting.
Thanks

[Visitor7]

A friend of mine has recently had her 4th child, and they bought a Ford Territory 8 seater. If fits all kids in, but the only problem she has faced is that her twin pram doesn't fit very well in the boot, as the pram is too big. (she has a newborn & toddler) However when we tried it with my P&T pram, it fit, so I guess her pram is just too big.

[Tanya]

Urgh!! I really need to do this too!!

One ppl mvr that I was impressed with the space was the Ssang Yong.

All I really know is that ppl mvrs are expensive!! LOL I will be watching this thread

Tanya

[The[cookie]Doctor]

My mum (2 adults, 2 teenagers, 5 month old twins in carseats) has a Honda Odyssey.
It's a seven seater I believe.

[cindyb]

OK Girls,
My other half is in the car game and i asked him what have 8 seats and this is what he came up with on the top of his head -Toyota -Tarago& prado& land cruiser,he thinks maybe the kia carnival. perhaps the toyota klueger also , he seems to think the territory is only 7 seater.
When you get the extra seat you always lose boot space though. Have you thought f putting in a ****y seat in the back of the stationwagon?
You can actually search on any of the car sites like redbook and carsales so i believe and get a list of what is available.

Good luck!!

[Trillian]

OK,
Ford territorys are absolutely up to ****e with fuel consumption and they are only 7seaters. some of the new models are coming out with the third row of seats as standard, but the early ones have a d1cky seat in the back.

Honda Odyseys are great, but are very european in looks and design - wood panelling etc, but for space they are fab - the second row of seats is adjustable too so you can move it forward or back if you need more room. We would have gone this way only they are very close to the ground.

Toyota Klugers are great too, but very exxie, as are the prado's and landcruisers. If you are buying new then luxury car tax comes into play with these vehicles because the Govt has just lowered the threshold for them so the LCT kicks in at $50k now. Excellent resale value too

Kia Carnivals aren't too bad, but have a crap resale value and it seems to be quite hit and miss with them - some people will have no trouble with them and others will have nothing but trouble.

Ssanyong - these only just came on the market after we already brought our captiva so we didn't look at those.

Mazda do an MPV 7 seater too, but we weren't keen on it at all.

We have a holden Captiva LX and we LOVE it. It runs like a dream and is very good on the juice too. Because it is AWD it is perfect for the conditions we drive in (gravel roads and around the farm etc) we can't see ourselves getting any other car now. We can have all 4 kids, a stroller plus grocery shopping and there is plenty of room for it. The third row of seats come as standard too and have a recessed foot well so they don't have their legs around their ears LOL.

The downfall of all 7 seater vehicles is there is always going to be issues with room for prams etc. We only use the third row of seats if we are all going somewhere, because my eldest is big enough to sit in the front passenger seat now, so if it is just me and the kids we don't need the extra seats.

Another thing you have to look for is how much space there is for car seats. In our car we can only have the car seat in the one spot behind the front passenger as the 2nd seat is a 40/60 split fold and the 40 part (behind the driver) isn't wide enough for it, plus you need it free to fold down for access to the 3rd row, unless you want hte kids climing in and out the back of the car. The middle seat is too narrow for even a booster seat. The 40 seat is just big enough for DD2's booster though. It will be fine once you don't have kids in car seats anymore though.

HTH

[rose]

ok, so I need to add that all 4 children are in car seats. The two eldest will be in the booster seats, #3 will be in a h harness full booster and #4 will be in rear facing. So we are going to be cutting our options due to car seats.

Is there a van/car that will fit a booster and two car seats across the second row of seats or will we have to place two caseats in each row? I would rather 3 youngest closer to front and the eldest in the 3rd row. Can that be done and which car?

Thanks for all your feed back, keep it coming

[rose]

Cindy, can't go ****y seats in wagon due to space, we go on long distance traveling enough to warrent an 8 seater. Need the lug. space.

We will be buying 2nd hand due to cost. They are sooo $$$$$

Thanks

[Trillian]

If that is the case then the Kia Carnival and Honda Odysey would probably be best suited for that, because with a lot of the cars with the 3rd row, you cannot leagally put a car seat in them because they have no anchor points on them. You can with the carnival though from memory and definately with the Honda Odysey. Check out the Kia website - they have a huge amount of info and all the specs on it.

[*Efjay*]

I have a Kia & have 3 (soon to be 4) kids in child seats.
At the moment I have it set up with the 2 older boys in the 3rd row & then I have the middle row seat thats behind the driver removed (all back seats come out) & have Isla in the middle seat behind the passenger. The other seat will go back in when the baby is born.

The kia is set up so its driver / passenger, Middle row & that again then the third is a 50/50 split bench seat. You can't put 3 across the back as there is no room & the split is in the way. You can only put 2 in the middle as there is only 2 seats.
I'm not sure but if you look at the bigger Kia carnival (grand??) that has 3 in the middle & back row but I am not sure how you would go getting 3 seats across any of the rows, it still looks pretty narrow but I never tried when we were looking, it was out of our budget.

The kia has issues, but has been ok for us in the going on 2 years we have had it. Its not a car made for the long run, I live up the mountains & it doesn't do great getting up the hills LOL I sit on about 40 unless I really gun it going up. I have read that they are car designed for inner city/suburban runs. It will struggle to sit on 110k speedlimits on freeways etc. So far I have found it sits on 100 just fine.
Boot space is pretty crap (which is why I have the un used middle seat out while I dont need it) You can push the back row forward for more space but then your cramping up legs.

But you could get (which I will be looking into) those pod thingys that can go on top of the car for extra storage room.

Oh they have a horrid turning circle! I am currently testing how far a tank gets me but I think its 70lt tank does about 500ks (well mine anyway.)

HTH's

[The[cookie]Doctor]

With the Honda Odyssey though when you put convertible seat in (rear facing or otherwise) where you put it (I think if you put it in the middle, not sure)can mean the cut off of one of the third row of seats because the way it harnesses could cause "decapitation" (it is a legal thing). This how it was explained to me anyway.
Anyhow, I think, in the Odyssey, you could fit a rear facing, your harness booster and a booster in the first row and then the second booster in the back.

[*Efjay*]

oh that reminds me, the kia has anchor point on the floor behind all 4 seats that are safe to have a baby seat

[Trillian]

The anchor points in our car is on the back of the seat itself, but in some model cars they do have roof restraints I *think*, so that may be the issue you were talking about Ashlea?

[Inanna]

My g/f has a Kia Carnival Grande and it is absolutely fabulous. She has two in boosters and twins in carseats. It is 8 seater and has ample room for the big twin jogger stroller in the boot area and groceries. It's my dream car

[The[cookie]Doctor]

The anchor points in our car is on the back of the seat itself, but in some model cars they do have roof restraints I *think*, so that may be the issue you were talking about Ashlea?

Yup, sorry couldn't figure out what I meant in my head at the time. The newest model (well I think it is) of the Odyssey has roof restraints which cause that issue.

[kristi14]

Hi,

I always recommend Toyota Tarago to everyone looking for a people mover.

We had a 95 model (More bubble shape) for 4 years and it was excellent. You can get them for about $10,000 or so now i think.

We just upgraded a year ago to a 2004 model Tarago and i LOVE this car. If you can afford one, i suggest try and get one of these.

They have a door on each side, which is excellent and the benches roll back and forward to where you want them too.

They are excellent on fuel economy and if you keep them regularly serviced should run well

They are 8 seaters.

Boot space is good too. We have the Bertini Shuttle and toddler seat and we can fit this in easily. We have gone out and done a full shop, forgetting the pram was in the boot and managed to get all the shopping in.

When buying this car, we looked at others like the Kia Carnival etc but came back to getting another Tarago.

[aussienic]

We have a toyota Landcruiser. I have had 2 forward facing seats in the boot part and 2 rear facing in the middle seats.. Car seat wise it works well.. We leave the seat on the passenger side up and locked into position and our 2 eldest climb in and out that way..

2 car seats can fit easily across the middle seats but makes getting in and out of the back awkward. with 2 seats in the back there is virtually no room for a 3rd child to sit.. but 1 seat in the boot allows for 2 children or 1 child and adult to sit reasonably comfortable in the boot..

hope that made sense