MPV for 4 kids.

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
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Mon 26 Apr 2010 14:40
MPV for 4 kids. - cavey76

Gents, Long time lurker only recently started posting. I am hoping a few wise heads here can help clarify my thinking.

So it appears SWMBO and i have had a wee accident and number four might be on the way. I am planning to shortly be de-seeded to prevent future accidents but this leaves us in a dilemma. After number 2 arrived we decided to go for a large estate as we deemed even if number 3 appeared we would be covered. Avensis estate has performed admirably but within the next 5 months a change will be needed.

So bearing in mind the ages of the current ones are 5,3 and 2 at the due date we have started looking for suitable MPVs.

First off petrol will be fine. Even with holidays we don't breach 10,000 miles/year. Secondly i'd really rather not go the whole hog and go for something Galaxy/Espace sized....well not until the lot of them are in their teens and need the space.

Options so far have included Corolla verso, Honda FRV, Mazda 5, Touran and Zafira.

My feelings against the 2+3+2 variants is that we would need to have one person in the boot area all the time and the fact this still doesn't leave much space for prams, baby bumf, shopping etc.

The Mazda 5 realistically is 2+2+2 as the middle rows, middle seat is probably too small for a booster or child seat.

I am leaning toward the FR-V with the thinking that as the children are all so small shoulder room wouldn't be a massive problem in the front, especially with the offset front centre seat. The missus loves the look of it and the fact those in the rear are all together. The thought being if no.4 needed attended to or fed on ther road SWMBO could sit in the back while the eldest two were up front with me.

Is anyone else in the position that they have 4 relatively close in age, young children and run one of these mid sized people carriers rather than the full sized Espace, Galaxy, Sharan type machine?

Regards

Cavey

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Mon 26 Apr 2010 18:03
MPV for 4 kids. - kerbed enthusiasm

I agree about the Mazda 5. It's a 2 +2+2 and the rear row seem quite flimsy to me.

All of the other cars afford the same difficulty of one child in the boot, surrounded by pushchairs and other similarly sharp objects AND you can't easily get to the child.

The FRV seems like a good solution so long as you factor in the stickiness of the child in the front middle seat and the possibility that when one of your offspring wants best mate Billy to come along with you on a jaunt there won't be room.

I'd reconsider the larger MPVs for the following reasons:

More space for the children might mean that they're less fractious which will make for a less stressful life.

Having additional seating allows friends to come along.

You can access the children more easily.

You have more permutations in which to arrange warring siblings...

Our friends with four children went the whole hog and bought a VW Caravelle! An inelegant but wholly practical solution.

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Mon 26 Apr 2010 22:43
MPV for 4 kids. - hillman1 {p}

We have 4 kids (8,6,3 and 1) and bought a Zafira last year after our 4th arrived. It is OK for us as a family, although granted the boot isn't huge with one of the boot seats up. However, we travel with a roof box when going on hols and have managed to go away for a long weekend recently with out needing to use that... just.

The one thing I don't find too great with the Zaf is that the middle bench lacks flexibility. Getting into the boot seat is more difficult than, say, a Grand Scenic (we had one of these several years ago) with the individual rear seats, especially when the entire middle row is filled with car seats. However, now our older 3 are in boosters, rather than proper baby seats it is a little easier. Also, there are very few storage compartments for a car with families in mind.

All in all we are well pleased with ours though- it has proved to be reliable, drives very nicely and overall has worked a lot better for us than we were expecting when we bought it.

I think the Corolla Verso is considerably smaller in terms of boot space....

Hope this helps.

Nick

Edited by hillman1 {p} on 26/04/2010 at 22:44

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Tue 27 Apr 2010 00:13
MPV for 4 kids. - Avant

Three more you could consider:

Ford S-Max - as long as a full-size MPV but by all accounts much better to drive.

Renault Grand Scenic / Citroen Grand Picasso - smaller, but it may be you don't want anything French as you haven't mentioned them.

Admittedly all these are 2-3-2 but there's more boot space than in the Zafira / Verso class, and the eldest might feel a sense of responsibility if you 'sell' the rearmost seat well to him/her!

Not sure what your budget is, but all these have been around for a bit.

Congratulations by the way, even if unintentional! We had four (intended) and we've no regrets - but in the 1980s when ours were little there was much less choice of car. Good old Renault - we had a 21 Savanna followed by an Espace, and both did a great job..

Edited by Avant on 27/04/2010 at 00:17

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Tue 27 Apr 2010 01:18
MPV for 4 kids. - Bilboman

Multipla? (the new one, not as scary to look as the original so shouldn't give the kids nightmares... :-)

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Tue 27 Apr 2010 03:17
MPV for 4 kids. - Lygonos

OP has managed so far without room "for a friend to come along" so I would recommend the FR-V.

Six-up you still have the full boot space (430-ish litres IIRC) for a double-buggy, or a couple of pushchairs, plus shopping.

Unlike many cars you can fit 3 baby seats or boosters across the back row (confirmed personally!), and the middle seat can easily accommodate a small 'un on a booster cushion.

Any 7-seater will be running with half bootspace any time you are out with the family.

It's also a bazillion times better looking than a Multipla....

Have fun at the "2-bricks" clinic ;-)

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