Good Bye

[duffy78]

After finding out that we are to be joined by baby duffer number three i knew my time in the gti was numbered.

Going to look at three tourans on sunday with a view to buying one of them. All 2.0 tdi sport dsg's

Time to do the sensible thing.

Have enjoyed reading everyones banter on here, and have picked up a few useful tips.

so thanks.

[Hurdy]

3 kidlies, good luck, you'll need it

Not a bad choice, the Touran, but you may want to consider a Passat Estate.....the boot is bigger and with 3 little ones you'll need that too.

[rjwojcik]

TBH I agree with Hurdy, we went for a 4x4 a few years ago but it didn't do that much for me.  Ok, it's nice sitting higher up above the traffic and not having to bend over as much when putting the little ones in car seats, but the road holding just wasn't the same.  The only real benefit was when we had loads of snow 2004/2005.  We now have an estate (with a little more room than the 4x4) to do the family stuff...

[duffy78]

its one of the few cars that can get 3 child seats in the back.

other contenders were ford smax, c4 picasso, toyota verso and honda frv.

[rjwojcik]

Not much of a choice, then... 

[duffy78]

 i liked the idea of the picasso, sat in a fully loaded one with air suspension and arm chair front seats. Really suited to its purpose, ie family bus.

But man, what a shyte drive, it felt like you were not connected to the car. And the auto box literally took 2 seconds to change gear, no joke.



The smax is about as good looking as an mpv can get imo, also nice and roomy inside and with an ok looking dash. very pricey with an auto box though, and drove a bit like a transit van. I did find a nice white one with the focus ST engine in for 12k, i would have been really tempted but it had been spec'd up with a sliding load bay rather than the 6th and 7th seat., plus my wife is after an auto.

the verso was the surprise, how somthing that small fits three kiddie seats in the back!, not a lot of boot space though, and no interior cubby holes. the 2.2 turbo diesel i drove was a bit of a flier though.

I always wanted to get the touran, but my wife hates the look of it, which is a bit industrial i must admit. I just like the overall finish and feel of VW's. I had plenty of space in it and pretty much drives like a golf, just a pain having to drive a round trip of 300 miles to look at a dsg one. Got one to look at in harrogate, then one in sheffield. We are in manchester this sunday to see pink so at least those two are sort of on the way. The other, the cheapest but same model as the others is in shrewsbury.

She agreed if i could find a decent spec sport one with a dsg box then we could get it. Low and behold i found three so she now has to eat her words.

[JC]

its one of the few cars that can get 3 child seats in the back.

other contenders were ford smax, c4 picasso, toyota verso and honda frv.

passat R36 Wagon 

[duffy78]

its one of the few cars that can get 3 child seats in the back.

other contenders were ford smax, c4 picasso, toyota verso and honda frv.

passat R36 Wagon 

not a chance. ive got a 1  year old in a maxi cosi priori isofix and a 3 year old in a britax Evolva 1 2 3 lux. To be added into this mix will be a newborn that will sit in a maxi cosi isofix baby seat ( i already own this seat from my second child)

I did a lot of research and then spent a lot of time lugging those seats around car showrooms, the isofix ones are bloody heavy. The only ones that can due the job are ones with three distinct seperate seats in the back.

Take isofix out of the equation and it may be able to be done on certain cars with bench back seats. But the seats would not be fitted inline with manufacturers instructions.

The three seats i have listed above are about as safe as you can buy. My childrens safety comes before my own pride in what kind of car i drive.

If anyone ever ends up with a similar problem to mine (3 kids all in child seats) i would be more than happy to advise what cars will be the ones to look for and the pros and cons of each.

duffy

[FamilyDub]

Passat R36 Wagon 

  Yummy

[AlanD]

Best of luck and congrats on the little'un.

Stick around, there are plenty of idiots with passats and the like on here