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My SMax is nearing the end of its serviceable life as a family car. Costs are mounting and more can be seen coming over the horizon. £1200 to repair/service this year, which is ok for being 10 years old and 170k on the clock, but reliability is dropping off.
So, looking for a new family car in the next 12 months, but as my eldest is about to stop needing any form of booster, middle child is already in a backless booster and smallest about to move into a high backed booster, I was hoping to get a standard "car" rather than an MPV or SUV.
Does anyone have any pearls of wisdom about going back to a car once the kids start growing up? The shape of the rear bench is critical, and thinking that some , c2015 Golfs, Passat's and Skoda's seem to fit the bill (sister has a golf we could test fit seats in).
I miss my 3series BMW but that's not on the cards!!!
Booster, high backed booster and no seat.
Ta! Keith
If you keep your cars a long time, get one you really like (speaking as an owner of a 10 year old S-Max and an MX5). If that means waiting a bit longer to ditch another booster seat, do that, then get a 5 series.
Same again I’m afraid.
They only get bigger and need more and more room. I have two six footers at 15 and 17 and a 5 foot 6 11 year old.
Was hoping for a large estate for a few years before probably having to get another MPV. We don't have many tall genes in the family, so hoping kids don't need the leg room for a while!
Same again.
We've moved out of people carrier at 14, 15 and 17. With a second car in the house to take on trips as needed - so both cars went on holiday to Wales for example.
Reluctant owner of the kids here and I realise they will fight and scream whatever size car you are in.
For physical space anything other than a people carrier is a compromise.
When my kids were about the same age as yours I traded my smax for a Hyundai Santafe. I lasted six months before getting another smax.
My SMax reached the end of its life, so I bought another.
Well the SMax is based on the Mondeo estate floorpan but the more slab sides of the SMax means you have alot more width that will come in handy as the little ones grow. I think unless you go for something at least as big as a Mondeo Estate your only other options are another SMax or similar.
V70?
Face up to it you’re going to need a Galaxy, until 1 has left home. There is more room in the back of your s-Max than a 7-series never mind a 5 or a 3
So, looking for a new family car in the next 12 months, but as my eldest is about to stop needing any form of booster, middle child is already in a backless booster and smallest about to move into a high backed booster, I was hoping to get a standard “car” rather than an MPV or SUV.
We've had a range of people carriers and cars due to being a large family before our circumstances changed. Similar to yourself, we don't need a people carrier anymore. Although we did manage to shoehorn myself and 4 children into the gnusmobile (a yaris) which was pretty entertaining so anything is possible.
Not sure about other year mondeos, but I have a mk3 mondeo estate and that's the set up I had in the back. Width of the booster and high back will make a big difference too. We bought recaro high back boosters a few years back as they were the narrowest seats we could find at the time. Currently have one child in a recaro high back and one child in a graco booster with enough room in the middle for another child. Plenty of leg room in the back too and a decent boot. Seem to be pretty straight forward to work on too as far as servicing is concerned.
V70?
We went Passat Estate -> Touran -> Galaxy -> V70.
When they were all in kiddy seats and boosters, the Passat was fine.
I couldn't have done our holidays without the people carriers. However we load up bikes and boats plus associated kit for 5 of us and head to Highlands or Alps... They also meant having friends or grandparents along for days was workable.
As they grow into teens, the sheer size of them also meant the Galaxy was brilliant. Less reason to argue on longer journeys.
I'm on record to say the V70 is the best car I've ever had (just behind the Galaxy), however it's really small in comparison. You squeeze onto the not really a full seat in the middle (yet better than any thing other than a Mondeo). The legroom is significantly less, and you can't slide the seats forward an extra few cm to squeeze holiday kit in. The boot while wide and long is really low so gone are the days of a bike in the boot. We did a week this summer with just 4 of us and it was brilliant. Would I have felt the same with the five of us? No. We also chose not to take the canoes, just bikes.
Summary: V70 is ideal for four. Any people carrier will be better for 5.
If that means waiting a bit longer to ditch another booster seat, do that, then get a 5 series.
I disagree that a 5 Series is any good for a regullar 3 in the back. Its rear wheel drive so you loose a load of rear leg space with the drive shaft/transmission tunnel.
Slight curveball, but look into a few Kias - instead of a "bench" back seat, some models have 3 independent sections, the backrests can each be adjusted and the whole seat moved forward/ back. 17, 14 and 10 year old in mine.
Thanks all.
For the record we don't have canoes and rarely take bikes on the car (would be on the roof anyway, so a car would be easier to load).
Girls are well into gymnastics which means we don't have lots of equipment to cart around. We don't do lots of big holidays, weekends away or camping. We can go away for a week in the SMax with everything in the boot, covered. And that's with a buggy we'll probably not take next time we go away.
voodoo-rich, what kia is that with 3 independent seats? I've already ruled out a 5 series as the central bolster is too narrow.
The 5 series is fine for 3 teenagers but when the kids have car seats, especially if they're the size of the cybex ones we had. With one of those each side there was almost no room in the middle for someone to sit no matter how thin they were. To be fair that's not just the 5 series, that's a whole host of other cars we tried. The cybex seats do have great impact protection though.
As my 2 are now in secondary school I thought I'd get a civic type s in April this year.
My eBay watch list is now full of C4 grand picassos. They do double as a handy weekend micro camper though...
When my kids were young I didn't have an option of a company car MPV, instead had to manage with big hatches/estates.
In your shoes, I'd just buy another MPV.
Then when they're all grown up you can do like me and be on your 5th saloon/coupe in a row 🙂
I had an E class estate, was and felt bigger than my 5 series estate
Was tricky to manage with 2 in backless boosters and one in an isofix baby seat. Did work for about 8 months, but needed to move on.
MPV is the obvious choice - lots available, good value, easy to get a nice spec. BUT I despise them! Drove a Sharan to London from Lancaster and really didn't like it, even though it was practical.
I'm in a T6 Kombi. Was a bit more than buying an MPV, but I have even more practicality and I'm in a vehicle I actually want. Has some extra things that I'm really appreciating as a family (huge boot, space between the front seats to walk through, front seats on swivels for eating as a family when out and about)
@keithb - ours is a Karens, doesn't seem to be in the current range now i've bothered to look, so no good if you want a new one. 7 year warranty though, mine was second hand, now @ 130k miles without problems. Think some other models had the same seats but the kia website isn't helping!
ours is a Karens,
mpv in "having seats like an mpv" shocker..