Does anyone have suggestions for cars that can fit 3 kiddie car seats/booster seats across the back seat, but are not people movers/very expensive?

I dont know if it would fit or not, but we have a camry, and they are pretty big maybe you should check them out?
What do you have at the moment?

We have a Lancer and fit a booster chair, maxi rider seat and convertible carseat in the back....is a tight squeeze, but they fit.....a slightly bigger car would be great, but it is quite easy to get by with the one we have....good luck

Soph~28 * DH~35
*Meg~Aug'99 * Zach~June'01*
*Ethan~Nov'04*

We had a 1996 Holden Commodore Stnwg before we got the people mover. Very roomy. HTH


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Thanks for your responses. We have a Nissan Pulsar, which definitely cannot fit the third child seat. My friend has a Ford Falcon Station Wagon which fits three child seats but she has bingles all the time as it is such a big car (I'm so scared to think of parallel parking in it). So that's why I am looking into other options, especialy other station wagons. It's hard to know how to assess what will fit without actually fitting all three seats. Funnily my MIL just bought a Lancer so I'll check it out!

Or is it better to just look into a station wagon with extra seats in the boot?

Chant - we've found that either a newer model Camry or an Avalon will fit 3 car seats with a fair bit of room. Even if you were to go with a 90's model camry as long as it's a wide body one it should be fine.

Me- Gail 25
DH - Richard 32
DSD1 - Kristen 9
DSD2 - Phoebe 5 1/2
DS - James 14/6/05 10lbs 12.5ozs

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I think a medium size family car would do the trick. Like the Camry (already mentioned..) or a Magna.

You would probably pick one up, second hand but under new car warranty for about $20K or so.

Good luck,

SuzyK

Me 28
DH 27
DS 30 August 2004

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I know you said you didn't want a people mover, but....

I have (about 3 months ago) brought a KIA Carnival, still under new car warrantty.

I live in canberra and I'm very much a traveller - its not uncommon for me to do 250kms a week and i pay about $50 per fortnight in fuel.

Only problem I have found with this car is that my partner can't drive it. Mind you he has an accent and its a manual so I can understand how his done all those scratches that my car is currently sporting.

I do find it hard to park in small parking spots (ie underground parking) and its like driving a small bus. But I love my car and if needed it can carry 5 car seats. Oh and a booster in the front seat, but you'd have to check with your states rules on this. As I do know that NSW have a law that states children under 12 can not be in the front passager seat.

Oh and I've (sense buying my car) seen second hand KIA carnivals for $13,000.

If your emphasis is on "economical" as well as fitting the car seats, I would steer away from the big stationwagons. Yes, you can fit the carseats more easily, but they're not particularly economical, especially ther older model ones.

I don't know how old your kids are, but you can't put booster seats in those seats. They are for older kids who can sit without a booster seat (they don't generally have bolts for carseats and because of their height, ie they're sitting up in the boot, if you put a booster seat on the seat it's too high and hits the ceiling). This is certainly the case with ours and other seats that I've seen that friends have. It might, of course, not be the case across the board.

I would look more at a Camry or a Magna, as suggested, which have smaller engines and are therefore more economical. My understanding is that in the stationwagon versions of these cars you can have seats put in their backs as well.

I have a Tarago peoplemover at the moment which I love, but it has to go back to its rightful owners when they return from overseas. It's been fantastic, very economical (for a big car, it's only 4 cylinder) and being able to take other peoples' kids is terrific (once you're into the school/kinder runs).

HTH, Cas xx