Cars for 4 kids!

Hi!

I know I haven't even had my 2nd but I'm hoping to have 3 or 4 bubbas (just got to talk dh into it!)
The only thing I can see being a drama is a car...we definately don't want a van so I'm assuming the only other option for us is a 4wd which I'd be happy with..
Now the question is -
How does it work? If we have 4 kids I'd like them to be close together so how do we fit in car seats and how does the back seat of a 4wd work?
Basically I'd just love to hear how people work their seating plans?
Obviously when it would be just me and the kids it wouldn't be such a drama but with a full car load I just wonder how it would work!

Thanks in advance!!

Kristie, we will go with a station wagon with a ****ie seat in the back. Luckily, Lindsay is at school, so it will be rare that we will use it, only when we are all travelling together somewhere. Unfortunately you do lose a lot of space in the back of wagons, 4WD and vans due to the extra seats so you can always fit in a bit pram, shopping etc together. The Kia Carnival is a shicker for that, there is only about a foot and a half of width at the back of it. We probably wont even get another car until after the baby is born, as I have a commodore and DH's work vehicle is a camry, so will will just use two cars to go anywhere for a while.

If money was no object, I would go for a Holden Adventra or a Nissan Patrol 7 seater.

We have a jackaroo but like Sherie has said they really are shockers for storage. We have one back seat up to fit the jogger stroller in for Sammy. We are just looking at getting a pod to put on the top on the roofracks for when we go away. It is doable..the back seats seem big enough. My girls dont have any problem being in the back and when they have friends come over its normally a fight to sit there.

In terms of carseats..there does seem to be a fair amount of room but youd have to put them into the middle and not the back fold up seats. Sammy has a maxirider (which is very big) and we still manage to comfortably sit two other people there..i wouldnt think itd be a problem with another car seat.

Have fun shopping for cars

Jo

We have a landcruiser and I have had 3 baby seats in it before. We put one baby seat in the boot and 2 in the middle seats and a booster seat next to the 2 baby seats plus I then had 2 more children in the boot..

We are planning on baby number 4 and will put 2 car seats in the middle row and put my 2 oldest children in the last row..

We have a Nissan Patrol 7 seater, we have in the middle seats the baby's chair in the middle a booster seat on either side of it and they all sit comfortably and my oldest sits in the ****ie seat. Like everyone has said the biggest problem is space but you can work around it. When we go camping or visiting my parents we have the roof racks with space cases on top.

hugs xoxo

Thanks heaps for your replies!

So - sorry this might sound silly but how does the oldest get in the back?? Can you fold the seat down with the baby seats or does your oldest climb over??

It has split fold seats ( is that right) one side both seats fold down (where we have the baby seats ) and the other side only one seat folds. When we have other children in the car we use the single folding seat for getting in and out

I have a friend who is about to birth twins (so will be a 4 child family) and she has just bought the latest Kia Carnival. It has great boot space - they are a bit different to the older ones. It is soooo easy to get kids in and out of - I want one!

I have to say the ol Honda Oddessy is a blessing to get around in, there is enough space in the boot for a pram and other stuff.. with four kids and xtras its very easy to get in and out of. We also have the pajero which is a bit more gutsy for the long travelling camping trips and we just take the trailer, you dont know its on, and you can take everything! even the kitchen sink!!

Our oldest goes in thru the rear doors (boot doors if you like), he loves it.

hugs xoxo

Thanks Amanda and everyone for replying!

Well dh and I have been talking and we're looking at either a Ford Territory or Explorer...although it won't be for a while though! (and I still haven't talked him into having any more kids yet...hehehe)
Probably getting a bit a head of myself but it's good to hear what everyones doing!

Kristie - DH did loads of reserach into suitable cars for 4 children when I fell pregnant with Adrian, we were looking at getting a Ford Territory but one look at it was enough to put us off (and I come from a Ford family), so a new search began so we went looking at the Toyota Prado and the Toyota Landcruiser, after a number of months of contemplating the Toyota`s and measurements with the big boys thoughts on room etc in the back for them we decided to go for the Landcruiser and ended up with the Sahara as DH couldn`t live without climate control (we previously owned a Cailais with climate control and loved it).

Being on a farm we also needed the towing capacity of a 4WD so that was another reason for going to the 4WD market.

As for room, there isn`t much at all but again after loads of research we finally found a double pram which will fit snugly in behind the back seats so we`re so happy now with a pram and 4WD which suits us well for 4 children.

At the moment we have Matthew behind the driver`s seat (which I have to admit neither DH or I are happy about this option but can`t put him behind the passenger seat as that is the folding seat for the back seats) and Adrian is in the middle, when Matthew is older and we may have another baby, Matthew will then move into the back seats.

Hi Kristie,
I already posted something about this in another thread, "perceived issues for larger families", a week or 2 ago. Tiggy's car thoughts are there too. We have a Hyundai Trajet. I am pleased but not thrilled with it (not enough storage space with all the seats in). Before that, we had a Pajero, which I LOVED. We actually took the Trajet on a lease because we really could not decide what to do about another car--with the idea that we'd buy it at the end of the lease if we liked it a lot. Currently, we don't like it enough to buy it.

It depends on what ages your kids are. What we liked about the Trajet was that the seating was modular & that it could go 2 in front, 2 in the middle, and 3 in back. We have an age gap & my older 2 are big boofy guys; the 12 year old is nearly as tall as I am. The Pajero did not work any more because it was a) hard to get in the back, and b) the biggest reason, the back seat did not have enough leg space for them.

Other things about the Trajet: the climate control system is not great. It has rear air, but although I can turn the option on or off at the front, I can't actually control the fan. That is only in the back. In other words, if the big boys have turned the fan off in back, even if I press the button "allowing" rear a/c, it doesn't actually blow. This is annoying. I have to get out of the car & adjust the fan manually. Also, it doesn't cool the car very fast. I've driven other minivans before & 4WDs, so I know that that does NOT have to be the case...even though the vehicle is big, with good a/c you can cool the car fast, and there are plenty of systems with a full control option at the front or back.

Also, the radio is annoying & fiddly to adjust. This is a small thing, but a daily irritation.

We are pondering other options now. I LOVE the Volvo 4WD. It has an integrated booster seat in the middle centre so our 2 year old could go in that. But for $85,000.... I find it hard to justify that kind of $$.

We wanted to get a Toyota Tarago Ultima van but they stopped making them after 2005. This was the top of the line mini van. Apparently they sold only about 50 a year in Australia. Several of my friends have the Volkswagen vans. They like them but they are fairly bus-like.

I have been in Suburbans, which are fantastic, but again I can't justify the cost. And I know I'd have trouble getting it down my driveway! If you really want a 4WD, as I said I loved my Pajero. I would also suggest taking a deep breath & buying "up" as much as possible, getting the space you really want, because you'll spend a lot of time in it & the more convenient it is for you, the better.

We have a trajet, I love it, but it does lack space! Once I've put the double pram in the back there isn't much room for anything else, there are only anchor points for the second row, so the bigger ones in the back have to straddle the strap from the carseats. But, I still love it! LOL

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Thanks Amanda and everyone for replying!

Well dh and I have been talking and we're looking at either a Ford Territory or Explorer...although it won't be for a while though! (and I still haven't talked him into having any more kids yet...hehehe)
Probably getting a bit a head of myself but it's good to hear what everyones doing!

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Just quickly... Don't buy an explorer., While I loved mine and hated that we got rid of it .. It was unreliable and it wasn't just our car. If you do decide to buy one double check the universal joints and the timing chain are in good condition. When our timing chain broke it shattered throughout the engine and the guy who replaced the motor said he heard that it happened a lot in Explorers., Anyways I just wanted to put my 2 cents in cus I didn't want someone else to be out of pocket by thousands. It cost over $7000 to get the motor replaced in our car :O

Thanks Nic!!

It's dh that wants the explorer - I want the territory! So this will be good to tell him! Also they've actually stopped making them now and I'm not keen on the idea of buying a car that they've stopped making iykwim?

My husband is an auto electician by trade and he calls the Explorer the EXPLODER as they catch on fire sometimes!!! WHAT THE???? So I guess what I'm saying is maybe the territory is best! But I have a friend who has one and she only has two kids and they struggle 4 space with it already! My other friend had a Santa Fe and had to get a landcruiser when number 3 came along as it just wasn't big enough.

Amanda how do you get the baby rear facing seat ancord down we have a nissan 7 seater too and 4 kids two in booster on in baby seat we dont have ancor points in the middle only on either side
kittykat

I looked at the ford territory, Jordan is 12 and got in the back and it was very squishy. Car seats would have to go in the middle, it would not be very roomy. We have the Kia carnival and it is way more roomier than the ford territory. The boot is small but bigger than the territory. And I don't feel like I am driving a bus, it is not like the taragos. If I had money I would buy the new Kia carnival grande, it looks cool. Otherwise the other car I was looking at was a Subaru 7 seater4wd hting, can't remember exactly what the model was , but it had leather seats and stuff, was very nice. Not sure about reliability though, was too expensive for me.

We are thinking ahead too to a solution to a similar problem - we are planning on TTC#3 by the end of the year so potentially we could have 2 children in booster seats and 1 in a baby seat. I have been looking at a lot of cars/4wds and the Territory seems to me to be the best option.

I have seen 2 other families who also have 3 baby seats in the back of a territory and there seems to be plenty of room. Wheras a lot of the other 4 wds eg Prado, Captiva etc dont seem to be wide enough in the back seat to have 3 baby seats or the middle seat is only a 3/4 size, but the Territory had a full seat in the middle IYKWIM?

I dont really want a van so does anyone else have any suggestions to what cars will fit 3 babyseats/boosters in the backseat???

We have a landcruiser and it fits 3 car seats across the back. I have also been in a flacon with 2 car seats and a booster. it was a snug fit but they fit

I have a Landcruiser and will have 3 carseats in the back seat as well.

We have a falcon atm and there is no way 2 boosters and a car seat would fit as the boosters are too wide - 2 car seats and a booster would tho.

Ok so the Landcruiser fits all 3, wasnt planning on going that big a 4wd but at the end of the day if it ticks all the right boxes!:D