Thanks brian, good post. Baby and child seats do vary, and they fit in the new golf fine. Point taken about cushion length not legroom, and seat position, these things are all personal though as to what people find comfortable. In a way a shorter cushion length might be more beneficial because then the girls knees could bend and feet point downwards, at present the legs are half stretched out. We also looked at the touran but I hated the floor mounted pedal.
We need the 3 seats in the back for when both adults are in the car, we have varying timetable of work run, crèche run etc so need some flexibility once my wife finishes maternity leave in sept. If there was a car we loved and had the rear room and a switch for airbag deactivation in the front, then we maybe would concede the fitting 3 car seats across wish list.
The zafira is a bit slow but was 10995 new 3 years ago and is very practical for prams etc. we were going to get a golf estate for 24k but then saw the Vauxhall offer that was just too good to pass up ( kind of a clearance sale as the new zafira tourer came out)
Totally agree with you about the shorter families thing ! We're I a bit shorter in the leg, then the golf or a3 would have probably been bought already as we like the style, ride and performance of those cars
Edited by MTD on 01/03/2015 at 12:45
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Nissan pulsar ,nissan note or skoda rapid/seat toledo
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Agreed Davey and the OP should also look at the Toyota Verso S (only second hand)
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little bit of an update, for those that care:
Have had a couple of test drives, didn't like the VW Tiguan, did like the Golf SV, and have test drives awaiting on these:
BMW 218i active Tourer
Kia Soul
Skoda Yeti
Merc B
Ford Cmax
Mini Countryman
With work commitments, and the seeming impossibility of finding a Petrol demonstrator to drive on all of the above bar Kia & mini, doing test drives has been slow. Had to discount the Skoda spaceback and Octavia as didn't quite have the room for my eldest + chair
We will probably relax the 'needs' criteria of all 3 kids in the back, with wifey in the back between the 2 youngest and eldest in front with disabled airbag. Which means we can consider something sexier like a Seat Leon, 320 tourer / 420i Gran coupe (A5 and VW CC too small behind driver still sadly). it will be just me for 90% of the time and 95% of the distances travelled.
Still have to visit MAzda, Nissan and Hyundai showrooms.
Gut feeling is, we will be getting the Golf Sv or the Mini Countryman as wifey likes those. i just wish ALL cars had rear seats that move back & forth !
Edited by MTD on 21/04/2015 at 14:54
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Look at a Jazz. Our 6 foot 3/5" sons travel occasionally in the rear with no issues.
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Recently, I have been given lifts in a Skoda Rapid, Nissan Note and Kia Carens - all had good rear leg room
Unlike the brand new 15 plate focus I had as a hire car that must have the worst rear leg room in its class.
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Skoda Superb?
Most of the extra wheel base appears to be devoted to rear seat passengers.
m
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SKoda superb is indeed vast inside - but its also a pretty big car compared to our 4.4m zafira or 4.1m Astra G
would ideally like to keep the length and width under 4.8m / 2m as parking near us can be tough.
Agree with the comment above about how poor a new focus is for rear legroom ! Astra hardly bigger.
re Honda, I couldn't get comfortable in drivers seat in a CRV or Civic as the seat just didn't go back far enough - so it fell at the first hurdle really.
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I think the Golf SV with the 1.4 TSI 150 bhp engine will be your best bet in terms of being roomy, fairly short and good to drive. You need the GT version to get the higher-powered engine but you can specify adjustable dampers to counteract the stiffer suspension.
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Update as i know they are highly thought of on forums ;)
Sadly i lost my job in july, so put new car on hold. Next contract will most likely commuting by train, so not sure i will want to spend as much for a car that will have little use.
The golf sv gt does seem to tick the most boxes, will let this thread know what the eventual outcome is.
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Sorry to hear about the loss of the job. You may find that commuting by train gives you a certian freedon when it comes to cars that you did not have before. Perhaps you may only need to rent a car when you really need it, thus saving on depreciation, maintenance, insurance and simply the waste of a resource sitting still when you are not using it.
Airlines only make money when their planes are in the air........Why buy a car to sit still most of the time.
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Airlines only make money when their planes are in the air........Why buy a car to sit still most of the time.
So you don't have to use trains and buses! :-)
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update (or non-update as it turns out)
My old Astra still going strong, we still have the Zafira - new job and kids being a lot bigger now mean the requirement for 3 child seats has changed, older two now in booster only which fit alongside the baby chair. also, their legs are now long enough they can bend and point straight down, even behind their tall Daddy. We also have an au-pair now so the need to cart all 5 of us at once has gone.
When the Astra finally dies or has something uneconomical to fix, then I will get something new, right now we are just keeping the same as don't see the point in changing a car unless there really is a need (rather than a want)
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The Nissan Note has decent legroom in the back, even when the front seats are really far back. I'm 6 foot 4 and it has a good driving position.
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The Astra G is one of the best budget buys on the market today. Simple and robust particularly the 8v 1.6 petrol which is one of those rare things today, a non-interference engine. This means that a snapped timing belt won't usually kill it. This is one of the reasons why so many survive today.
I've bought, sold and run dozens of these over the years and aside from the occasional gummed up EGR valve or noisy wheel bearing I've had no trouble which is fair enough on an older motor especially one that's available for pennies.
You can buy a good runner for £300 and the best for £1,000 like the mint 1.6 SXi I sold last year with 60,000 miles and full history. Brilliant wee cars for the money. Assuming you're only using it for local runs I'd suggest keeping it til it explodes. But it's not a safe car for very young children in car seats as it lacks isofix thus the reason why we got rid of the last one we had.
Edited by SLO76 on 05/10/2016 at 17:48
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Cool I may take at look at the idea too slo76.
I'm also interested in why you mention isofix is safer. my understanding from scouring resources is that it's not any safer than securing seats using just belts, just more convenient... only assumption being that people secure the seat correctly using the old school method.
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Research done by Which magazine shows child car seats are routinely fitted incorrectly. An investigation in 2014 found that 90% of the selling stores they asked to fit two common child car seats made mistakes, some of them serious. And a study in the same year by Good Egg Safety checked 1,692 car seats and found errors in the fitting of 67% of them
Even if installed correctly you are introducing extra risk by relying on a moving part in an elderly car, namely the seatbelt mechanism itself which can fail plus there will always be movement in a seatbelt holding a young child before it secures in an impact which can throw and twist the chair introducing further stress on the child.
There's also a risk that another passenger in the rear (possibly another child) might accidentally unfasten the seatbelt securing the child seat, something unlikely to occur with an ISOFIX base.
As much as I'm a fan of older cheap cars, I have two currently a 16yr old Ford Cougar and an 11yr old Mazda 3, I won't carry our wee boy in any car that hasn't got ISOFIX so he travels in the CRV or Polo.
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another Belated update
so, my Old Astra G finally got sold to a pal for £10 last week after 17 years and 60k (only) faithfull service, as front disks needed replacing (they were originals !) and Full Service & Mot is due next month. Shock absorbers also ideally need doing. Its gone to a younger, single chap who just want something cheap to sit on the road where he lives in Tooting, so he can go surfing at the weekend.
Anyway, back to new car purchase thoughts: now, personal circumstances have changed due to wife's job change & child care arrangements, and in theory we don't need to run 2 cars - but the first row with my wife when i was stuck in traffic and she needed to take the kids swimming proved that 2 cars is going to be better for our sanity.
Requirement for 3 kids seats in the back has become a bit defunct, as long as the front passenger airbag can be switched off if need be, which is pretty much every modern car now. My gripe now with the otherwise excellent cars i've driven recently (Golf Astra Mazda3 etc) is that none seem to have the thigh extender feature where you can pull the front of your seat forward to support your thighs on long trips, and none (so far) now have a flat top of door to rest your right elbow on.
Regarding the thigh support thing, does anyone know which models or makes have this feature that my 17 y o Astra had ? (it had very comfy sports seats, all manually adjusted including Lumbar)
Regarding the right elbow support thing, my elbow height is above where the cars elbow support cushion is, so i either have to slouch or lean to the side, or just hold the wheel with left hand only on my lap which is not ideal - the centre armrest is also too low for me usually for my left elbow. Modern cars, being wider than my old Astra, also tend to have the top of the door further away for right elbow to rest on as well.
Finally, I don't know if honest John wants to update my findings from my OP, but the New Astra has a whopping 17cm space behind me once i've found a comfy driving position (Right Elbow and thighs on a long trip notwithstanding). Was otherwise very impressed with the 1.4T 150hp in SRi trim.
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another Belated update
so, my Old Astra G finally got sold to a pal for £10 last week after 17 years and 60k (only) faithfull service, as front disks needed replacing (they were originals !) and Full Service & Mot is due next month. Shock absorbers also ideally need doing. Its gone to a younger, single chap who just want something cheap to sit on the road where he lives in Tooting, so he can go surfing at the weekend.
Anyway, back to new car purchase thoughts: now, personal circumstances have changed due to wife's job change & child care arrangements, and in theory we don't need to run 2 cars - but the first row with my wife when i was stuck in traffic and she needed to take the kids swimming proved that 2 cars is going to be better for our sanity.
Requirement for 3 kids seats in the back has become a bit defunct, as long as the front passenger airbag can be switched off if need be, which is pretty much every modern car now. My gripe now with the otherwise excellent cars i've driven recently (Golf Astra Mazda3 etc) is that none seem to have the thigh extender feature where you can pull the front of your seat forward to support your thighs on long trips, and none (so far) now have a flat top of door to rest your right elbow on.
Regarding the thigh support thing, does anyone know which models or makes have this feature that my 17 y o Astra had ? (it had very comfy sports seats, all manually adjusted including Lumbar)
Regarding the right elbow support thing, my elbow height is above where the cars elbow support cushion is, so i either have to slouch or lean to the side, or just hold the wheel with left hand only on my lap which is not ideal - the centre armrest is also too low for me usually for my left elbow. Modern cars, being wider than my old Astra, also tend to have the top of the door further away for right elbow to rest on as well.
Finally, I don't know if honest John wants to update my findings from my OP, but the New Astra has a whopping 17cm space behind me once i've found a comfy driving position (Right Elbow and thighs on a long trip notwithstanding). Was otherwise very impressed with the 1.4T 150hp in SRi trim.
I had an Astra-G, sold at 7 years old with 98,000 on the clock and running better than new - it had the Recaro front sports seats before they switch to their own and was exceedingly comfortable with the extending thigh support, good side bolsters and lumber adjustment.
My 6'7" son switched from Astra-G to Vectra-C Estate to get extra room and has now moved on to a Skoda Octavia Estate which is almost as big as the Vectra-C Estate, ie huge.
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Astra G was and still is a great wee car, one the best sub £1k runners you could buy. I've flogged loads of them with few problems.
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