Hi looking for advice please.
I want to drive an estate car, not an MPV.
I have 3 kids (7, 5, 3) I'd like the option of sitting them all in row comfortably. When we pick up friends I'd like to open up spare seats in the boot.
I guess I'm looking for an estate that can have a 7 seat conversion?
I know the Volvo V70 has this option and the Merc estates too. Any other options or tips on companies that'll convert other estates?
By the way I really don't want an MPV of any sort, I just prefer estates.
Thanks,
wbuchan
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Have you seen the footage of what happens to young passengers in rear facing seat in the back of estates when some one rams from behind? Quite alarming. Having said that I had a Volvo 240 when my lot were young with the rear seats and they loved it.
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can you still buy the montego countryman
renault savanna
pewgot 504
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i feel old all of a sudden, memories! :-P when i was a wee boy i sat in the dickie seats in a few of these mentioned.
Montego was my favourite, can hardly remember anything else about it though, was it a bigger boot or just better seats?
Volvo 240 was cool but the one i was in smelled too much of dogs...
Renault 21 savanna was very posh / fancy. Electric window switches were blocky modern looking things and everything seemed very high quality. Lots of yellow backlighting inside.
Montego sticks out as the one to buy though...
Edited by Webmaster on 22/01/2010 at 01:10
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I'm pretty sure you could get a 7 seat option on the Peugeot 307SW
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pewgot 504
I have seen two Peugeot 505 estates today. They had 7 seats. I thought they'd all gone to Africa, but there are still two tearing around Reading today.
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>I have seen two Peugeot 505 estates...around Reading today.
If one was china blue it probably belongs to a friend of mine. Exhaust was making quite a din the last time I saw it but he has no plans to change cars.
Incidentally, I always thought the 505 was a fine example of stylish functionality; how did we get from there to the ghastly Peugeots of today?
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7 seater estates are a bit thin on the ground as you know but your other limiting factor is actually three child booster seats across the middle row.
I think the E class can just about do it from what I have read on here in the past.
Not sure about the V70 as Volvo themselves only offer two booster seats in the rear seat as a factory option.
The other modern car mentioned is the Pug and that is from a class smaller.
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We looked at a Volvo 960 before we settled on an mpv (Fiat Ullyse, now replaced with an Espace). Very nice car, but not practical for what we wanted as we have 4 children.
I think, as other posters have said, you may find it difficult getting three booster seats across the back seat and getting three children into those seats and strapped in - especially as regards three point belts rather than a lap belt in the centre seat. We usually leave the middle seat in the Espace out, ensuring all the children are in three point belts and have their own separate seats which cuts down on "conflicts" on longer journeys.
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You could get a v70 with three retractable child seats built into the rear seats as well as the two dickie seats in the back.
One thing to watch is that not all extra seats are child seats (ie the correct euro standard is it R44 or something?).
We bough the V70 7 seater after talking to vosa and the DoT. I was told that the E-class rear seats at that time were not approved for use as child seats so you would be looking at putting child seats on the dickie seats.
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If your objections to MPVs are the bus-like looks and bus-like driving position, it's worth looking at the Ford S-Max which to me looks more like an estate than an MPV.
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Peugeot 5008 (see HJ review above), or Mercedes R-Class. Obviously dependent on budget.
Did they make an MG Montego Turbo Estate? That would be my choice............. :)
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You don't want an MPV, so I'm not going to annoy you by telling you how good the S-Max is, how I actually prefer driving mine to the £60k A8 I had before, or any of the lovely exec / luxury cars that preceded it, I'm not going to tell you that it's like having a Mondeo estate but with a better view of the road, more room for the kids 3 across, easier to park, more boot space in 5 seat mode, I'm not going to tell you that if you did get one, which you shouldn't of course, that you should try to stretch to the 2.2 diesel or the 2.5 petrol as those engines and their better gearbox and brakes really make the car, sorry, MPV.
In fact, please just ignore this post altogether !
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Failing the mpv get a discovery 7 seats or even better a transit minibus.
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You say you don't want an MPV, but have you tried one? The Ford Galaxy / VW Sharan / Seat Alhambra are nice to drive. Even in their original form they were good. Of course, Ford is no longer part of the co-operative project, having replaced their version with a new Galaxy of their own design.
Also the latest Renault Espace is nice to drive, although earlier versions have awkward pedal positions.
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Peugeot 406 estate came with a 7-seat option, IIRC. No-one seems to have mentioned it yet.
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Peugeot 406 estate came with a 7-seat option IIRC. No-one seems to have mentioned it yet.
Peugeot 308 SW hasn't been mentioned yet either - that's got a 7 seat option hasn't it? Had a brand new 308 HDi 1.6 (hatchback) on hire a couple of weeks ago and it's perfectly reasonable in most respects.
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Maybe if the OP came back and gave us a bit more information on budgets, reasons against MPVs etc then we all may be able to offer more constructive advice?
After all , what is the definition of an MPV, who decides what is and isn't one?
Multi purpose vehicle? Whats that ? A Panda 4x4, a Porsche Pannamera?
My dad used to have a Peugeot 504 Family Estate - prior to that we had a succession of Cortina Estates and as soon as he got the Peugeot, all the car sickness stopped straight away. We put it down to the 3 individual seats in the middle and the higher seating position.
Fantastic car even though it was a sort of diluted brown colour.....
Rear facing seats? Pah! There were 5 of us kids and we toured all over Europe with the caravan attached to a Cortina 2.3 Ghia Estate (with vinyl roof!). Three kids in back, 2 in the boot. When you wanted to swap positions you just climbed over the seats.
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I wouldn't bother with a Discovery unless you need low ratio. While it is no doubt a nice car, running costs are ridiculous and reliability questionable. A 7 seat Santa Fe is much cheaper, more fuel efficient, and when comparing smaller engines, just as quick if not quicker now that they have a 194bhp engine. That is what I am going to get soon.
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Have you considered Kia Carens? Not driven one, but heard that it behaves more like car rather than a van.
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Have used a Carens - for all intents it is a 7-seat estate car. Doesn't look much like a Zafira/Touran. Also looks muuuuch better in silver than in dark/black.
2.0TD is adequate, and returned over 40mpg 6-up over 500miles of mixed driving.
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