Help! Need advice on best family car

Hi guys...

Ok so dh and I have decided its time to ditch the old commodore (bomb) and get ourselves a new car (YAY!). Problem is..were overwhelmed with what the best choice car would be for our family. So we have 2 kiddies atm (2 year old and 4 month old) and I would love a 3rd at some point so need a car spacious enough to fit 3 car seats. Has to have good boot space to fit double pram, shopping etc, would prefer brand new and our budget is $35,000...

ATM were thinking of Honda CRV or Toyota RAV 4...Mazda 6 was in the running till we saw the anchor points so thats out. Would love to hear any other suggestions and those who own a CRV or RAV 4 would love to hear your thoughts too!

Thanks!:D

i def think if ur gonna buy a new car n want more kids the best options are 4wd or station wagon types due to space n boot space also...
i have a mazda 3 hatch back n i have 2 seats n it is very limited inside.. the boot is now taken up by the pram so nothing else really fits unless its small or skinny lol
i had a mazda 6 n i absolutley luv those bloody cars lol!!
maybe a cx7?? or a new holden hatch?? my friend has one with all kids in car seats n there is 3 of them n they all fit perfectly..

I don’t think that a CRV, Rav, Mazda 6, Outlander will be big enough if you’re thinking of 3. We have to upgrade (our #3 is on the way) and we are looking at the next size up, Toyota Kluger, Ford Territory, or a commodore omega wagon, something like that.

Good luck! :goodluck: Ergh, I hate thinking about cars, it does my head in, so b.o.r.i.n.g.!

The latest rav 4's seem to be a similar size to mine, (Hyundai Santa fe but they are only diesel now). We are changing over in 6 months and are looking at the rav4.

Ford Territory has 3 anchor points in the back seat and if you get a 7 seater they have them in the 2 far back seats too. They are also wide enough to fit 3 car seats across the back. I loooooooooove ours, its awesome to drive. A lot of people at school have them too and everyone I know who owns one loves it.

We have a Toyota land cruiser. Was $21000, 2002 model and in excellent condition and an absolute score. I wouldnt rule out a used car, If you shop around you can find a bargain.
I love my car. I can fit DS in, his pram, an 80L engel, a German shepherd and a weeks worth of groceries in it all at once and I don't have to worry about curbing it!

Go the Territory!

Territory's are heaps roomier than they look. My friend has one and it's a great car. So that gets my vote!

Thanks for your replies ladies :) Will definately check out the Ford Territory...might need some convincing as DH is a Holden boy..lol...but i just want best value, reliable family car roomy enough for 3 kiddies...

Epacris: Out of curiosity what car do you have now?

Helle: I think we will most prob go the used car route...cars lose so much value the minute you drive away...will miss the new car smell tho! :/

Thanks again girls u have been a gr8 help!

We have a Mazda MPV and absolutely love it!!! :D

Mambo, I've got a Mitsubishi Lancer station wagon that I LOVE. We bought it (second hand) just before DD was born and thought it would see us through for a while. But now with #3 on the way we have to upgrade again, there is no way three car seats will fit across the back.

We will be buying a car from the government auction sometime this month. If you google “Government Car Auctions” you will easily find the website, there is one for each state. There are some amazing bargains there, it is well worth a look IMHO. :D

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We have a Mazda MPV and absolutely love it!!! :D

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:ROFL: Mel, pretty sure I have seen this exact quote in ALL the other car recommendation threads too :lol: In fact, I saw a new one of these on the road the other day and you popped into my head straight away, it actually looked Ok!!

If you have 2 kids now and considering a third, I would definitely look into a 7seater. Your 4yr old will probably be at school either next year or year after that and you may end up with a couple of extra's at pick up time :D

The Holden Captiva is a 7seater, the new Nissan Dualis + 2 is also a 7seater (review wasn't great on it on though). Both these brand new you could get for $35,000.

Only thing with Territories is the petrol bill, not sure if they have improved and the size if you are moving up from a commodore.

We are in the process of getting a Nissan X-Trail. I test drove a Rav and found it really squishy. The xtrail has LOADS of boot space and 3 anchor points on the back on the seats.

Just googled the Mazda MPV and its MASSIVE!! What if i dont have a 3rd! LOL

Epacris: Our old commodore was bought from the government auctions and thats what DH is planning to buy from again..like u said u can find some gr8 bargains there so I wont discount it...just need to decide on the best car! Goodluck with your car hunt...the amount of research and thought that goes into getting another car just does my head in! But i sooo cant wait to get rid of our commodore!

The Territories are not the most economic, the Captiva has better fuel economy, but the Mazda CX7 is again better, and isn't built in Korea, like the Captiva ;)

The commodore station wagon is big enough for 3, and will be cheaper all round as it isn't a 4wd - is there a reason you want a 4wd - like will you actually use it??

As for new/used etc, check our the used stuff on car sales - you will find a lot of 12-24month old cars, in brand new condition, but a fraction of the price because of the depreciation ;)

Well between this thread and DP I had a dream he surprised me with a territory turbo in ego colour. Ergh lol

we have a santa fe and love it. yeah the new ones are diesel, so that may be something you don't like, but i love ours! we got the manual, and it has plenty of room. we've had two rear facing car seats and an adult in the back with room to move. i think it we went a third car seat it would be fine, especially if we were using compact car seats. we fit the pram, car fridge and shopping in the "boot" with the ccover still over everything, and can fit a hell of a lot more if we leave the cover off.

Just out of interest, what is the problem with the Mazda 6 anchor points?

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:ROFL: Mel, pretty sure I have seen this exact quote in ALL the other car recommendation threads too :lol: In fact, I saw a new one of these on the road the other day and you popped into my head straight away, it actually looked Ok!!

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Bahahahah sorry! :redface:

I seriously do love our car though, we're going to drive it until it dies and then we're stuffed cos they don't make them anymore.. LOL

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The Territories are not the most economic, the Captiva has better fuel economy, but the Mazda CX7 is again better, and isn't built in Korea, like the Captiva ;)

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In my research it entirely depends on the model/series/option. There are just so many alternatives in terms of engine size and all those other blah blah blah things that make a difference to fuel economy. So, IMHO there is just now way you can say one make/model is more fuel efficient than another without a lot more information and specifications. :D

You need to test drive them all, I really liked the look of the captiva but hated driving it. I love the Santa fe, but it's a business car and we will swap it over soon.

Dh has a 100 series land cruiser, and it's a great family car too, it's an 8 seated and easy to drive.

I would either go a newish commodore or a Ford Territory. We have a Territory and LOVE it! There are not many cars out there that will fit 3 car seats along the back seat and these 2 cars are of the few that do. I love the space you have in the Territory when you fold the seats down.. we've had it for about 6 months now and i have used it for so many things, like when purchasing furnature etc.. It also comes with a hard cover that goes over everything in the boot section too so you dont have to worry about getting a gate thing fitted like other station wagons.. and the thing i also love the most is you can change nappies in the boot! lol.
We had a Berlina (commodore) before the Territory and it was also great.. couldnt really do the nappy thing in the boot though, i guess you could but youd be bending down and would be awkward.. but also you dont have that extra space when you fold the seats down in the commodore.
Ive found we go through pretty much the same amount of petrol with the Territory as we did the commodore. (unless you get a station wagon, but then everyone can see what you have in the boot.. the Territories have that cover i mensioned)
Territory all the way here!

I wouldn't touch a Craptiva fullstop. I've got a VE SS wagon, plenty of boot/backseat/legroom and even heaps of room for driver. So easy to throw the pram and shopping in the back, good height. We previously had a VE SS sedan and while I never had to put a pram in the boot of it, I'd much prefer the wagon for prams and stuff. Anchor points are good too. Both DH and I work for a Holden/Mitsi/Mazda dealer and for us the only cars we would consider having from the range as a family car (apart from a VE) would be a Pajero (diesel only) or a CX9, but both are that little bit too expensive to purchase and service/maintain (even though I have a pretty good mechanic ;) ).

Actually a friend of mine has the captiva and cannot fit the carseat in rearward facing position without having the front seats way forward. So one of the front passengers is always squished.

I drastically changed my mind after reading up about the cars we were interested in on the www dot ancap dot com dot au when we recently upgraded. For us, safety comes first. We bought a demo and saved thousands in doing so.

As for a car to fit three - I could not go without my VZ calais wagon - much more space than the current sports wagon and until I can find anything remotely on par space wise, I can't bear to part with it. I personally wouldn't go with a 4wd for space due to extra running costs (larger tyres = more $$ to replace etc).

I love the Mazda MPV but they dont make them anymore :(

We are looking at the Ford Territory or Tarago. good to know about the Captiva thanks.

Whats wrong with the anchor point in Mazda ? in our mazda 3 sedan all the anchor points are on top of the seats so I thought Mazda 6 would be the same. We cannot fit 3 carseats in Mazda 3 theres no way, plus I couldnt fit all the things we want in the boot plus shopping etc.. so time for us to upgrade.

The Mazda 6 wagon has the anchor points on the backs of the seats in the boot, iykwim... Not sure what is wrong with them though...

Mine has them on the back of the seats too, I think most of the newer cars do these days. They are still able to be anchored safely. I was in a car accident this year and the two kids in the car were fine. ( an Ambo witnessed the accident and checked them over)

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As for a car to fit three - I could not go without my VZ calais wagon - much more space than the current sports wagon.

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Actually the rear leg and head room of a VE is larger than a VZ. But yes, rear boot space is slighty less because of the sloping roof and tailgate, compared to the squareness of a VZ.

With front seats all the way back, a rearward facing seat didn't even come close to touching.

(not trying to sound superior or something to that effect, but I just cannot fault my car :) )

DH has a VZ SS. I hate it. I find it gets so squishy just chucking DS and has nappy bag in the back and then getting it all in and out again... Especially having to bend down to put him thru to the car seat. Boot doesn't fit my pram in well either and I wouldn't dare try fitting that and shopping in there. But, Maybe I'm doing something wrong and carting too much crap around!

Friends of ours have a VE SS and it seems heaps more massive inside than a VZ.

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As for a car to fit three - I could not go without my VZ calais wagon - much more space than the current sports wagon and until I can find anything remotely on par space wise, I can't bear to part with it. I personally wouldn't go with a 4wd for space due to extra running costs (larger tyres = more $$ to replace etc).

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Yep, we were looking at getting a 4wd, but found the Commodore VZ Lumina. Ours is an 05 model & we paid $14000. We got a 7 seater (since there are 6 of us!), & the best thing about this one is that the back 2 seats fold up & sit against the middle seat, so you still have all that boot space when needed.
I have a limo (tandem pram) for DS & DD3, & it fits on its side behind the back seats, but for long distance travelling we'll have to get roof storage. Car already has roof racks, just need the basket thingy :)
3 car seats fit along the back/middle seat great. They have so much room!!

Of all the cars I've owned I've found the commodores most reliable. Have owned 3 so far. Grew up with Fords too. The only way to go in a 4wd is a Landcruiser & they are very pricey to maintain, which is why we went the wagon instead.

We had a Rav 4 and the boot was TINY (and had MAJOR transmission issues which is pretty much standard across the range)! My camry was bigger boot-wise. Upgraded to a Ford Territory and as far as boot space goes, we haven't looked back. Can be a bit of a petrol guzzler, but you're probably used to that with the commodore, it's got guts, it loves the highways and is an allround good car. There is a site called complaints corner that we've used when buying a car - its a forum that will put warts and all on cars. Good luck.

Our Territory isn't 4WD so doesn't cost anymore to run than our Falcon did.

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only way to go in a 4wd is a Landcruiser & they are very pricey to maintain, which is why we went the wagon instead.

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True true. I forget about that. DH is mechanically minded and does services himself on ours. Cost 150 max every six months or so.