What car for three child family?

[tired out]

In June I will have 3 kids - aged 38 months (a bit small), 14 months(average size) and newborn.
I currently have a VW Bora and cant get 2 toddler seats and a baby carrier seat in the back. Cant put baby in front as wife wont fit in back with toddlers so will need a new car.
I was wondering what everyone else with 3 small kids does?
Will I fit all kids in the back of something bigger like a mondeo or passat or will I have to get a MPV?
Thanks.

[redcrx]

Im not sure about getting 3 seats in the rear as i only have a toddler but the ford focus c-max is very roomy. We can get two adults and a front facing child seat in the back. We even managed a 150 mile journey with 4 adults, one toddler, 3 large suitcases, 1 pushchair, travel cot, various boxes of toys and hand luggage and car was still great to drive and everyone was in comfort.
Its what is classed as a mini MPV, just the 5 seats but i can thoroughy recommend it for comfort and the 2.0 diesel gets an average of 45mpg on combined driving

[ganesh]

I have a Honda CRV which is spacious and has loads of room in the back for luggage,baby stuff,and dogs etc. It is also a 4x4 but a small one and feels like a normal size car but a bit higher up. Useful when it snows as well.

[winny]

Do not buy a BMW like Mr W did as you cannot do the 3 seat or 2 seat and one adult thing.

My friend has a zafira which seems roomy and another has a vectra which also seems roomy. Do not be afraid to test drive some and take seats with you. It might be a pain but trust me it is better now than later. Be careful also of test driving a newer model at the garage then looking for an older one as the seat shapes change considerably with models and could make all the difference.
Volvo v40 or v 70 (bigger back seat and boot) are worth a try.
Also look at ones where you can flick off the front air bag if you need to as on the odd occasion this may be of use. I think the citroen does. Although in an ideal world the children should be in the back sometimes it is necessary to use the front.(not available on BMW till 2005 model)!!!!!
Happy hunting.

[winny]

P.S. I just thought. Are you crazy!!!! or just tired.

[meltoadhall]

we had a multipla when our 3 were in car seats and it was brilliant, loads of room and still room for my mother !! have a volvo estate now, as we only have one left in a booster and the volvo has a built in one.

[poolethebear]

Please tell me what car you decided on and are you happy with it. I have a 2 yr old and twins so am in a similar situation. Thanks

[tired out]

Thanks everyone for your replies.

In the end came up with the following:

Honda CRV, Nissan Xtrail 3 seats no good due to seat belt arrangement / middle seat shape.

large family cars (mondeo , passat ,saab 5, Mazda 6 etc) didn't try all of these, but generally the middle rear seat was a funny shape or had arm rests in the way, so the seats didnt sit securely.

Big mpvs (Ford Galaxy, etc) Just too big!

small mpvs- (Toyota verso, VW Touran, Mazda 5, Ford Cmax)

Mazda- middle seat really thin so really only carries 3 rows of 2 which is ok if you never need to take a pram.

Cmax, Verso and Touran all very good. Didn't look too much into the c max as they only come with 5 seats- the other 2 have 7 (the back 2 fold into the boot floor when not in use). A weekend at the grandparents means you can unload all your stuff and then go out in one car.

The Touran and Verso both had individually moveable seats so the child seats fit easily. Boot is quite large and you can also move all the seats forwards to make it bigger. You can even get a stroller in if you have all 7 seats in use.

In the end I went for the Toyota with a 2.2 diesel engine on a 56 plate. The VW dealer was not as helpful (even though I was trading in VW) and the Toyota was much quicker than the VW on the road.

I get about 35 - 40 mpg around town and about 55-60 mpg on the motorway.

It has 9 airbags and you can turn the front passenger one off.

Best of luck with your search. Dont forget all baby seats are different. We had Maxi cosi ones - 2 xps and a cabrio.

[tired out]

I did also consider a Zafira, but was so fed up with looking by then, however it would probably do the job as well. Someone did tell me the rear seat was all one big bench though and not individually moveable.

Also looked at Honda FRV and Fiat Multipla, but wife wasn't happy with the 2 rows of 3 sears layout.

Hope you find something!