# Which 7 seater?



## mildew (31 Dec 2008)

I know there have been threads here before about certain models, but has anyone here got an opinion on which 7 seater would be most suitable for:


a. Three children, two new born and one five year old (all in car seats obviously) plus two adults.
b. The main driver will be my wife who, up to now has only driven a Punto.
c. Enough room for a double buggy and associated stuff!!!
d. Will comfortably seat all five PLUS Mother in law... or a couple of friends of the five year old.
e. Does not break the bank.
f. Has a good reliability record.
g. Is not French....................
h. Fuel efficient.

I think that covers it all???? 
Looking forward to your educated replies,
Thanks


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## heretohelp (31 Dec 2008)

Im interested in the replies to this thread, im also looking for a seven seater and the best we have come across so far is the mazda 5 7 seater, 30k new but nice 2007 ones around for 25 k. my existing car was purchased for 25k so repayments on that are 483e a month over 5 years at present so presume a 2nd hand mazda would be around the same


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## Bell Butts (31 Dec 2008)

The Ford S-Max is generally considered the class leader (won car of the year about two years ago)

[broken link removed]

A recent thread I read on this also recommended the Toyota Corolla Verso

[broken link removed]


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## westside (31 Dec 2008)

Hi there,

I have an S-MAX 1.8 TDCI Zetec. I have two kids under 4 and often carry 2 grandparents.

a. Three children, two new born and one five year old (all in car seats obviously) plus two adults.
** should not be a problem. The S-MAX has 3 full size seats in rear. All 3 car seats will easily fit. You should also be able to fit the 2 new smaller baby seats in the 2 extra seats in boot. My wife has sat in one of those without and been faritly comfortable.

b. The main driver will be my wife who, up to now has only driven a Punto.
** Its a fairly big car but has food all round visibility.

c. Enough room for a double buggy and associated stuff!!!
** This is where the S-MAX is fantastic. There is vast amount of storage (unless all 7 seats are in use). You can fold flat all 5 rear seats it becomes a mini-van.

d. Will comfortably seat all five PLUS Mother in law... or a couple of friends of the five year old.
** Yes. but remember no space for large buggy with all seats in use.

e. Does not break the bank.
** Not sure what your budget it but it seems the S-Max do hold their value pretty well.

f. Has a good reliability record.
** Have had a couple of warranty issue fixed by dealer. Rattle from handbrake and aircon problem.

g. Is not French....................

h. Fuel efficient.
Official combinded figure is 47 mpg. I get this quite easily. It has a very large tank and I generally fill up every 3-4 weeks after approx 600 miles.


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## westside (31 Dec 2008)

Forgot to mention the s-max is an excellent car to drive with really good seats. My kids love sitting up high and being able to see out.


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## ajapale (31 Dec 2008)

The smax is an excellent 7 seater.

Just a few negatives.

There is no spare tyre - solution join the AA!

I experience intermittent weird electrical problems, for example:

-the left or right lights stay on occasionally for some reason.

-the buzzer to warn you that you have your lights on does not sound but starts to sound several minutes after you have left the car.

-the air bag warning light lights up occasionally for no apparent reason.

When you are using all seven seats the boot space is restricted to one standard buggy and a few small bags. Im not sure that a double buggy would fit.


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## muno (31 Dec 2008)

Sounds like u need a minibus!!!


The Versos arent " proper 7 seaters" , have no boot when all seats in use.

Trajet is good, not great boot space but very roomy inside.

Toyota Picnic? Bit like a mini bus but plenty of room !!

Its very hard to find a decent 7 seater plus boot in my opinion....sister has the trajet, she has 4 under 6 and one spare seat. The dbl buggy could go in with the passengers if the spare seat wasnt in use.


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## suzie (31 Dec 2008)

alternative is the C4 7 seater...


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## Bell Butts (31 Dec 2008)

suzie said:


> alternative is the C4 7 seater...


 
OP doesn't want a french car I'm afraid.


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## mosstown (31 Dec 2008)

french again ! we have a peugeot 807 2 litre HDI 136 SE (2007 reg).  extremely happy with it, paid £13,000 in the UK eight months ago with 12,000 miles on the clock.  good around town and even better on the motorway.  drove from London to Midlands in Ireland and it was grand.  fuel efficiency seems fine and feels solid on the road.  what i do like in this 7 seater is the sliding doors, they are great when you are trying the get the kids in to seats in tight car park spaces.  you also dont have grannys and kids swinging the doors open bashing cars beside you when you visit the supermarket !


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## Frank (31 Dec 2008)

These cars are generally heaving and have aerodynamics of a brick.

With that much glass AC is not an option it is a must.

Only go for diesel, my sister has a 1.6 zafira it is a thirsty beast and not even the biggest of them.

All will be very van like to drive. High centre of gravity.


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## mosstown (31 Dec 2008)

actually must add that i never experience any back problems since starting to drive an MPV. had a toyota avensis before this one and the seat was armchair / relaxed style which used to kill my back.  i also think that women really like these style cars more so than men.  i suppose they are not that cool but i am passed worrying about cool !


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## mildew (31 Dec 2008)

muno said:


> Sounds like u need a minibus!!!


 I am begining to think you are right...

Budget is around €25000.. and I would expect to get a good solid '08 for that price in these economic times.
I had already discarded the Zafira and Corolla Verso purely for the boot space. The Trajet is not bad if you remove one of the rear back seats. (Brother had one)

When I said not French, I was really talking about that Albatross known as Renault... Just from some very bad experiences.

I like the look of the Mazda 5, has anyone got direct experience of one of these??


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## AlbacoreA (31 Dec 2008)

A VW Touran is another option.


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## irishlinks (31 Dec 2008)

The Zafira has back row seats that easily fold up and down - giving fair bit of boot space with 6 occupants. We are on our second - and they may not be the best (probably Ford Galaxy is) - but they are one of the lower priced 7 seaters and Opel still do 3 years interest free credit on 50% of the price.


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## ted (1 Jan 2009)

[HTMLim also looking for a seven seater and the best we have come across so far is the mazda 5 7 seater, 30k new but nice 2007 ones around for 25 k. ][/HTML]

I was offered a 5 for 26500 in July 08. A 2007 should be had for 18 to 20k surely.


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## popol (1 Jan 2009)

My profile is very similar to the OP's although I have nothing against French cars.
We have a 05 Galaxy and its a great car. Took out one of the back seats and have had room for double buggy's, single buggy's, golf clubs etc with plenty to spare. At one stage we needed 3 full baby seats across the middle row and they fitted comfortably. We will probably change this year and might look at the S-MAX but the Galaxy isnt that much more expensive. I don't think I'll even bother looking elsewere to be honest - I have no reason to.


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## carrielou (1 Jan 2009)

I have 5 children, 1 x 15 yrs, 2 x 11yrs, 1 x 3yrs, 1 x 18months!  Had a Trajet and fancied a change but after so much searching ended up with a Trajet again.  It has 7 full size seats with plenty of space.  I use those collapsible crates in the boot for my shopping, they stack neatly on top of each other and then the double buggy sits neatly on top of these.  

I will be honest and cant wait til a few grow up and I can go back to a car, but I could not find anything better than the Trajet in terms of space!


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## tosullivan (1 Jan 2009)

We have a Verso but I would have to say the S-Max is better.

Read a few horror stories about the Mazda 5.  Zafira has a slighltly bigger boot than the Verso but the missus loves the Verso.

My vote is the S-Max


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## aman (1 Jan 2009)

I have a Mitsubishi Grandis. They are not mentioned very often when someone asks about 7 seaters but I love mine (bought in July 08). There is space enough for my umbrella buggy & a few bags of shopping in the back with the 7 seats up, it's got great visibility & the kids love it too. The middle seats have 3 full seat-belts although I do have to say the third seat in the middle is not huge. However I have put a (skinny) adult in along with 4 year old in a high back booster & a baby in a rear facing seat.

I know I'm biased but I think it's the best looking 7 seater around too.


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## CrazyWater (1 Jan 2009)

I have an S-Max which is my first ever Ford and I have to say I love it. Did have one or two of the small issues stated above but with 3 under 5 it is IMO the best of the bunch. Great drive and massive room in the back. I had planned on changing for a new one this year but not a runner in the current economic climate :-(


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## tosullivan (1 Jan 2009)

just thought I'd add that my sis also has a Grandis...

She's had a couple of Avensis Versos before but thinks the 2.0 diesel engine in the Grandis is superb...preferes the car aswell


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