Car for threee children

[Olliepen]

Hi

Baby No:3 is on its way, and I really don't want to go down the people carrier route if I can help it; so do any of you know of a normal saloon car that can get three kids seats on the back seat?

Oh - no french cars!

Nice one

Ollie

 

[pigman]

arent most cars 5 seaters - 2 up front 3 in back. Ive yet to see one with three individually sculptured seats at the back. I'd say make sure you get one with a proper seat belt in the middle, not a lap belt and a wider car (eg volvo or sommat) otherwise its a right faff belting up when everything is squashed together.

 

[tintin40]

What's wrong with French cars :?

 

[dyna-ti]

Siister has a vauxhall madeira
She has 2 kids [9+11],its fine for them plus a friend.
Plenty of room for all their stuff
She's had it a long time and its still runs fine

 

[Olliepen]

What's wrong with French cars :?

Don't get me started...... My sh1t box of a clio finally died the other day in the middle of a blizzard after 6 months + of extensive argro!

 

[Kerplunk]

arent most cars 5 seaters - 2 up front 3 in back.

Yep but only three people not sitting in babies car seats. I've got a Passat which is massive and with two kid seats in the back (my kids are 3 and 1) my size 8 missus struggles to squeeze in between them when we have an extra passenger.

 

[pigman]

my bro had a pug 406 diesel estate as a company car from new. Just about everything electrical went kaput at some point - engine management, alarm, imobiliser, lights. Not all at once, but at some time over the three yrs he had it. he did about 60k miles in total, so it wasnt knackered.
He now drives a picasso (his, not company). Recently the button on the seat belt that stops the buckle falling to the floor cracked and broke. Citroen told him its not a separate part and he would have to buy the whole belt thingy at £200+. I fetched the button from a ford dealer for 19p + vat.
So I'm no french car fan too.

 

[legrandefromage]

arent most cars 5 seaters - 2 up front 3 in back.

Yep but only three people not sitting in babies car seats. I've got a Passat which is massive and with two kid seats in the back (my kids are 3 and 1) my size 8 missus struggles to squeeze in between them when we have an extra passenger.

you'll find that with most 'family' sized cars. 3rd generation Mondeo is pretty wide at the back with 3x proper seatbelts.

I sold mine with 374,000 miles on the clock and the major faults were:

dual mass clutch flywheel thingy kills clutch and starter motor

remanufactured steering racks are rubbish

rear callipers can seize and hand brake mechanism gunks up very quickly wearing pads out prematurely.

Theres a major pulley that is now failing on EVERY diesel model

Rear subframe bushes can wear quickly and need to be glued and set properly - some kits all ready have this done.

TDDI engines rough but durable.

TCDI engines smooth but fragile.

Drive better than Passats but engines are naff when compared to a TDI 130

I doubt you'll be doing intergalatic mileages but thats a rough guide to long term Mondeo ownership. They are very tough cars.

My Passat is the devils spawn...

Bigger cars loose MPG dramatically - as a leftfield entry, we are getting 50mpg + from the Ugly duckling Fiat Doblo. They have HUGE amounts of room in the back (they are van derived but they are surprisingly quiet on the road).

 

[legrandefromage]

my bro had a pug 406 diesel estate as a company car from new. Just about everything electrical went kaput at some point - engine management, alarm, imobiliser, lights. Not all at once, but at some time over the three yrs he had it. he did about 60k miles in total, so it wasnt knackered.
He now drives a picasso (his, not company). Recently the button on the seat belt that stops the buckle falling to the floor cracked and broke. Citroen told him its not a separate part and he would have to buy the whole belt thingy at £200+. I fetched the button from a ford dealer for 19p + vat.
So I'm no french car fan too.

Our 406 51 plate set fire to itself...

 

[Kerplunk]

I doubt you'll be doing intergalatic mileages but thats a rough guide to long term Mondeo ownership. They are very tough cars.

My Passat is the devils spawn...

Nope, not doing masses of miles as try to commute by scooter when I can. Only got the Passat as I needed a big family sized estate car (had dogs and kids were imminent) and it was just as the model was getting replaced so a massive clearout discount. In its defense its never been anything other than solid and reliable for me with the added benefit of looking like a hearse so people let me out at junctions if I remember to wear a black suit and tophat.

In the good old days when nobody cared about their kids hurtling through windscreens we had a Mini Countryman that could easily get four kids on the back seat.