[k_mac]

Hi!

We are looking to upgrade our camry for a 7 seater car. We are looking more towards the 4WD's rather than the people movers and I was hoping for some advice from people who have these type cars!

We will soon be looking towards having our third child and will need to be able to fit two maxi rider seats and a baby seat in the car (which would never fit in our camry now!)and we want to be able to have the room to take other people with us places if needs be. We also need to be able to fit our Phil & Teds E3 pram in with us all the time!

Any suggestions on which car would suit us best?!?

Thanks heaps!
Kate

[robbo1979]

we just got a kia carnival it has 8 seats and i love it so much room i have 3 carseats in first row and there is plenty of room. only thing is if we put second row up to take other people it is easier to put one car seat in back row to allow the seat to go down to let people in. even when second row is up i can fit my phil and teds easily and extra bags etc. when we have the second row down i have a massive boot

we looked at the 7 seat 4wd options and it is very tight in back row, no boot space and as an adult i would not want to sit there i could harldy even get in and i am not big

[Indi]

We have a Landrover Discovery 3. Easily fits 3 car seats in the 2nd row and the third row is big enough for tall adults to sit in (DH at 6'1" is quite comfortable in it). 3rd row folds fully flat so you don't lose boot space with the seats up. My P&T fits behind the 3rd row with enough room for a few bags as well.

With the 3rd row up the boot is absolutely huge - I often have to climb on to the tail gate to get things out if they are right up against the back of the seat. Has 3 anchor points. Diesel engine - we average 9.5 l/100kms.

[lep_78]

we have the kia grand carnival and it. it has 5 anchor points 3 in the middle row and 2 in the back and is an 8 seater. i think you will find that none of the 4wd version 7 seaters have anchor points in the back row so you would be forced to have 3 car seats in the middle row that would make access to the back row impossible as you wouldnt be able to move the seat forward unless you removed the car seat. from what we looked at the back rows on most were small and boot space with seats up nearly non excistent. these cars are great i would say if you have older kids that dont need car seats but in reality if you have to have anchor points and seats they wouldnt suit.
good luck it isnt a fun process

[4forme]

We have a Nissan Patrol and a Mitsubishi Grandis. The Patrol is a bit more accomodating for adults in the back, but both easily fit my phil and ted with doubles kit in the back.

[Vanessa68]

Hi there,

A friend of mine just purchased a Chrysler.

Link below if you are interested:
http://www.chrysler.com.au/voyager/gallery.html

[k_mac]

Wow! Thank you!

I will show all of this to my husband when he gets home from work later! He's the brains behind our car finding expedition! Thank goodness, cause it boggles my brain with all the different options!

Thats really interesting to hear about the anchor points in poeple movers versus 4WD's - I did wonder about that! It will be interesting to see what we decide. I know I have heard my husband mutter something about not being old enough to have a people mover! Whatever he meant by that!!

Thanks again!
Kate

[JunkandDisorderl...]

Another vote for the Discovery 3.

Great value in comparison to the BMW's, Audi, Volvo.

When we purchased ours (late 2007), I was the only mum who drove one at the start of the school year in 2008, at the end of the year there was 5.

Our suburb is littered with them, we must all have good taste.

[Charmzy]

lol Kmac I was 20 when #4 was born and 20 when I started driving a people mover, at 23 I drive a Transit 12 seater minibus

Anyway I had a Chrysler Grand Voyager and I do not reccomend them, they are very costly to maintain especially when things go wrong and because parts are from the US if something does go wrong you can have very lengthy wait times. I was off the road for 6 weeks after being hit by another car and pushed into the car in front.. the damage total was $16,000.. thank god for insurance but insurance did not help us with a rental car as you can only rent a car the same as the one that was in the crash and as I was 20 I was too young to rent a people mover lol Go figure!

I have heard nothing but rave reviews about taragos though, if we ever downsize from the bus it will be to a Tarago. Very happy with our bus for the next 5-10 years though lol

[azalia]

If you are not going to have baby #4 then you could look into a Toyota Klugger, Nissan Murano or Holden Captivo. You *may* (i am yet to go test it out) get 3 car seats across the back and then you have the very back row you can put up if you have extras in the car. The downside to this is, that person will have to either climb through the front or boot to get to their seat!! Also with the backrow up the boot space becomes minimal.

We are facing the same issue atm, but i think ive found a way to fit 3 seats across my RAV4 which will buy us some time. Im hoping that with the demand for it, a car will come out that has all these problems covered.

A toyota Prado or Landcruiser would also work, 3 seats across the back then 2 foldout seats in the boot for adults, massive bootspace as well.

The dodge journey looked not bad for a 7 seater as well.

Your options become a lot more limited and more inclined for a people mover if you are having #4. Goodluck!!

ETA This is a great thread to look over

This post has been edited by azalia: 25/03/2009, 08:45 AM