What 2nd hand car for 3 under 3 in car seats?

Will soon have 3 kids under 3 and current large family saloon won't take 3 seats in the back. We are looking to spend 10k but preferably less and get something reliable. I want to fit the 3 seats in a line across the back so need something with 3 individual seats i'm told, without this putting 1 kid in the 3rd row we won't have the boot space we need to go anywhere.
Would prefer maybe a 2l diesel or similar, I don't want to end up with a 3l car with massive road tax. I don't care about driving experience etc but would prefer it to be reasonably efficient.

Options so far are:
Ford S-Max: Probably too new for my budget
Ford Galaxy: Seems ok, lots around but seem to be quite expensive
Toyota Corolla Verso: Looks a little tight but should fit the 3 seats across. Would have to double check though.
Honda FR-V: 6 seater, 3 front 3 back seems ok.
Citreon Picasso: Not sure what type
Hyundai Trajet: Haven't seen one in the flesh yet though.
Renault Scenic: I think some of the models have 3 seats across but the Renault garage (of a well known master) were wonderfully unhelpful. The guy in reception handed us a price list and told us to walk around the lot until one of the sales men sees you.

What am I missing and what are the opinions on the above?

Thanks
Tipping

The citroen picassa xsara and C4 are both good cars.
There are three individual back seats, which fold completely flat in the C4 picasa anyway.Three child seats do fit across the back, but you do need to be careful to get ones that fit as there are lots of big giant comfy car seats now, which you probably won't fit 3 of. Grand for getting the kids in and out of too.
1.6 Diesel has plenty of power for the size of the car so good for costs too.

Any car you get you need to ensure its registered after july 2008 to save road tax on emissions.

Once its a 2008 car its goes by co2 emissions.....

S.

good value to be had on pre 2008 cars.....if it is a 1.6 diesel you are looking at, savings on tax would be (for example) 471 - 156 = 315 per year. Weigh up the differences in cost between a 2007 and 2008 car. If you keep the car for 5 years, you will pay an extra 1500 in car tax. If the 2007 car is more than 1500 cheaper than the 2008, then personally I would go for the 2007. If it is a larger engine e.g. 2.2 diesel then I would probably go for the 2008.

Fiat Multipla would also fit 3 seats in a row behind. Horrid looking yolk though.

If I can't stretch to a 2008 car with cheaper tax I'll probably just go for something a bit older (2003-2004) and trade up to 2008 again in a few years time. Most of the larger cars at 2008 are probably out of my price range.

The citreon options seem to be potentially the cheaper options so I'll go and have a look at some at the weekend.

[broken link removed] is a good place to check out how older cars are for reliability

and this can open up a whole new world of cars without going for MPVs etc.

A guy in work got one of those and didn't like it at all.

If you are looking at pre 2008...

If you want diesel small engine your options are limited, my choice would be the Renault, even though I'm not crazy about the reliability. The C-Max is a bit small, but there are some good deals on these in diesels 1.6. I didn't like the older Picasso's. Almost no Fiat Multipla around when I was looking, but I really wanted a 5+2 and its a 6 only. All the other MPV's especially diesels I looked at were high milers and scuffy. If you don't do much mileage and get a petrol then you have more options. If I was looking again I'd look at the Hyundai Trajet more, lots of space for the money. There the Opel XZafira, but its a but narrow, and I'm not mad about Opel dealers.

One of the smaller mpv's should do with such young children. ie s-max (verso, vw touran) rather than galaxy. The s-max size mpv gives plenty space and you have the option of carrying your child's friend in the 3rd row if the need arises.

I know that, with such young children, you may have large buggies. We have a child who is not yet 1 and I just keep an umbrella-type buggy in the boot for going to the shops and short trips.

I did not want to be driving a big bus of a trajet or galaxy around for the sake of a large buggy. Or for giving extra leg room on the few trips when we had an extra passenger.

Maybe you do not live in the city and having a smaller vehicle is not a necessity for our narrow car parks.

Look out for isofix - Some mpv's have 5 isofix in the 2 rear rows, others have 3 (middle row), others have only 2 (outside seats in row 2).

We were in same boat 2 years ago. Likes of Verso, Scenic etc middle seat not big enough for three full car seats and don't forget that even if you can squeeze them in you have to be able to access seat belts etc (in due course even if they're all Isofix to begin with). So while they may look like they fit they have to have a little gap between them or else they won't restrain properly in an emergency.

Having looked at them all, Citroen Picasso etc, the only three that really fitted all 3 were the Ford S-Max and the Honda FRV and the Fiat Multipla each of which have 3 full seats in the second row. S Max has benefit of 3rd row when needed but the Honda FRV always has a full boot available at all timeswhich is necessary for buggies etc.

In the end, we chose the FRV as the S-Max was more pricey and we wanted Honda reliability (FIAT didn't really fit the bill there). We have been happy with it. Good to drive, not too long. It is quite wide though. The middle seat at the front has Isofix Points and has come in handy from time to time (transporting Granny etc). Most of the time though it's folded down and we benefit from very wide access to the 3 in the back. They also have a better view of the road as a result.

We read lots of opinions of Passats, etc being able to fit 3 car seats but they can't. The choice is as above if you want all 3 in the second row otherwise one of them will have to go in the boot !

The Honda FRV is no longer being made new (2010 was last year) but there are a few '05 models on Carzone. It's well worth a look, you might get the '06 or '07 (facelift model) for your budget.

Sorry, of course should have clarified, that the S-Max, FRV and Multipla are the SMALLEST cars that will fit 3 across, the larger Ford Galaxy, Sharan, Alhambra, Espace etc will fit them but I sense you're not into them.

By the way, I think far too many people are obsessed by getting an '08 car for the lower tax and Diesel etc. The Diesel premium makes sense only if you're going to do a lot of mileage. The tax payable does grate, but don't forget your paying a premium in the asking price for the saving you're going to make in future years, so I think people often overpay now to get this saving in future !

Any questions, feel free to ask.

Sorry, of course should have clarified, that the S-Max, FRV and Multipla are the SMALLEST cars that will fit 3 accross, the larger Ford Galaxy, Sharan, Alhambra, Espace etc will fit them but I sense you're not into them.

+1 on the FRV - bought one recenty and am very happy with it. It's no longer than a normal car so easy to park, it is wider but you get used to that. The big thing for us when buying was the boot wasn't compromised so you get three full seats in the back plus a decent boot. It is quite heavy on petrol though.

Thanks for all the help to date. Just to update:

Drove a 2005 Honda FRV today and there is a lot to like about it. The guy was looking for about 7k along with my own (as an opening shot, that is offering 2k for a 03 Octavia diesel) as a trade in. Felt the 1.8 petrol is a little underpowered on the motorway but definately could fit the 3 seats and have a spare just in case!! Disadvantages was high(ish) mileage approx 130k (km), but it is a Honda so probably should be ok, also think it's probably due a timing belt which would add something to the cost.
Overall nice car but possibly a bit on the pricey side.. It seems like these are relatively expensive 2nd hand in general. Probably MPG wouldn't be great either.

Also saw a 2007 Citreon Xsara Picasso, clean car with approx 30k on the clock, 1.6 petrol and took the 3 car seats and has a generous boot. Main dealer was looking for 5k (8k-3k for my own) again without any attempt at negotiation. Seems like a pretty good car and seems like relatively good value for money. Not sure about Citreons in general though but it does come out well on the reliability index. Also there are 2 2007s Xsara Picassos with the 1.6 diesel engine at a dealer in wexford so might prefer one of them.

[broken link removed]

Of course the disadvantage of this is the lack of future proofing, any little incident in the future and I'm off buying a big car again!!!

Other than that saw some Hyundai Trajets (but didn't drive one). They seemed in general to be fairly battered.

Saw a Renault Grand Scenic (7 seater) 11k for a 2008 1.6 petrol with 60k miles.

So to sum up after a few more hours of trawling through the dealers I'm leaning toward a 2007 Xsara Picasso. Anyone want to talk me out of it??