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7 seater cars
Hi there
Business is booming which is great! Up until recently I have only ever had as many as 4 children on any one day but I now have another starting in April.. So for the two days I have her we won't be able to use the car. It's not a major problem as the school isn't very far and we can get a bus to other destinations which is good fun. But it's got me thinking about getting a 7 seater car. My husband and I plan to have a baby next year so we'll need one then anyway.
Does anyone own one? Which ones are good and not too expensive to run? I don't mind one that has done a few miles as I can't afford anything really pricey.
Any advise would be great. I've only ever owned a Nissan Micra and a Peugeot 106 lol
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I have a Vauxhall Zafira which lots of minders have - it's proabably one of the cheapest 7 seaters around and I have found it very good in terms of fuel efficiency, servicing costs and its easy to put the seats up and down in the back. You don't get much boot space but i can fit my mothercare double buggy in it. The boot seats are not good for adults but perfectly ok for kids.
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i have a zafira and i don't like it as a 7 seater. if i didn't hav emine and spent so much money on it to keep it running i would buy a SEAT alambra. they have the best review on all car sites. i'll go for this as soon as i win money!!!:D
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I had a Zafira, which I loved.
Now have a Citroen C8, as I am hoping to put 8 seats in. I love it, it is very spacious and the seats are great for the kids, as they are all individual seats.
My advice would be take a few out for a test drive to see which suits you best.
The Zafira is quite easy to drive as it feels like a car but the C8 is a lot bigger and takes a bit of getting used to x
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I love my VW Sharan
I went through loads of info about cars and checked out fuel efficiency, safety records, repairs/servicing costs etc and narrowed it down to a few.
I also checked out potential insurance costs too
I then test drove three or 4 that were in my price range
The only down side is that if I have all seven seats in use, I can only just squeeze my little maclaren double in the boot and nothing else. But its easily wide enough to have 3 large carseats in the middle row and have the back row folded down for extra space
Mine is an 03 model but low mileage
Quite a few people love their Toyota Previa!
HTH
HX
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I brought my Galaxy when i was expecting my son as I now have 4 of my own children (all older apart from baby) and I love it :)
I have now got to have 3 car seats in it for my mindees and they fit in lovely without taking up any more leg room from the back 2 seats.
Also I can fit in a double pram quite easily in the (boot) with bags on top.
Its also a diesel so its economic of fuel :)
Lorraine xxx
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My advice is shop around, and take car seats with you when you try them!!! And your buggy too!
I have a Mazda 5, which is nice, but it's a bit too much of a squeeze as a 7 seater - I can't fit 3 car seats across the middle row which I would like to do. I would go for a slightly bigger car next time - I like the ford s-max!
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I love my zafira and am looking to replace it with another zafria when i can afford it but this is only because i have the older style where the middle seat belt is a lap belt and I dont particuarly like them and as i broke my only carseat that will go on a lapbelt and the children have grown out of this seat i thought it time to replace the car and also i want to update anyway.
there is small boot space with all the seats up but then you can always get a roof box which is also somthing i am looking in to.
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I have a Mazda 5 which i bought second hand about a month ago. Been going great so far. Like the fact that the back doors are sliding so don't have to worry about opening them into traffic and easy to get on and out. Back seats fold down flat too but not much of a boot when they are up. Is a lovely drive tho and not huge as I went to this from a Chevrolet Matiz which is tiny. Does apparently drink fuel as mine is petrol version (do diesel too) but as o don't go far it's not really an issue. Hth
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I have the Seat Alhambra - 10 years old now, 80,000 miles. It's fab for childminding, I can get the 3-wheeler double nipper in the back. Unfortunately the automatic gearbox has just given up so it's costing £2500 to get it reconditioned. I looked at other cars to replace it, but the other 7 seaters have smaller boots and we can't really afford anything decent, so going to spend the money and get it fixed. The Galaxy, Alhambra and Sharon are all the same body types, so all have decent boots.
Linda.
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I love my Grand Scenic. Comfortable and easy to drive. A bargain too at the time. Fits a phil and teds or out and about double in the back. Not much room for anything else and bags are stored all around the feet of the kids.
However, iIf I had a crystal ball when I bought it (business has been good and I now have an assistant), I would have got an 8 seater and a sliding door! Or a mini-bus - LOL!
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I love my Grand Scenic. Comfortable and easy to drive. A bargain too at the time. Fits a phil and teds or out and about double in the back. Not much room for anything else and bags are stored all around the feet of the kids.
However, iIf I had a crystal ball when I bought it (business has been good and I now have an assistant), I would have got an 8 seater and a sliding door! Or a mini-bus - LOL!
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I don't really like my Zafira. I need a large double buggy with big wheels as we walk through woods and over fields most days.
I don't like having to take the car seats out and move the middle seat to access the two rear seats.
I have been driving my dh's ( very ) old Volvo recently and it is so much easier to just open the boot and the rear facing seats are readily accessible.
Just wish I could fit my double buggy in somewhere.
Maybe I should get a trailer for all the 'cargo' I feel the need to take around with me !!
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I have a zafira and its the best car Ive ever had, very spacious inside, doesnt feel big to drive :) :thumbsup:
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Renault Megan Grand Scenic :) Most of the childminders in my area have one :) x
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Traded in rubbish Zafira for brand new Citroen Berlingo Multispace, with 7 seats and sliding doors.
Can fit 3 car seats accross middle, and enough room to access rear 2 seats from the boot (otherwise you'd have to remove 1 car seat to get to rear from the side door IYKWIM)
Boot space is a squeeze with only skinny Mclarens fitting - with shopping on top and in foot well.
Can remove all seats to make it van like - which is fab when you make a visit to IKEA :laughing:
Highly recommend it - and was the cheapest 7 seater at the time (14 months ago).
Good luck with search and decision.
nickyx
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We have a peugeot 807. I personally don't like it but only because It's too big for me, i'm always nervous driving it. It does have heaps of space though, even with all 7 seats up you still have a decent boot space. I usually have 6 seats in and then have extra boot space- makes it much easier to fit the jane powertwin in the back. You can easily fit 3 car seats in the middle row, and you can get to the back seats through the boot if you need to. The automatic sliding doors are a real bonus (as are the rear parking sensors!!!) Ours isn't good on fuel but thats because it's a 2.2l petrol- diesels are much, much more efficient.
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Hiya
I have owned and certainly put to the test quite a few cars during my childminding time! The first 7 seater we had was a Sedona and it was amazing! Cheap to run, the seat lay out was brilliant and the boot space was certainly big enough!
We then moved to a Citreon C8 with 8 seats and it was ok but it was way to technical and so electonic, everything would go wrong and I would have flashy warnings gong off all the time and because the Peugeot 806 is basically the same car, my freind who owns one has exactly the same problem.We got rid of it asap!
We are now the very proud owners of a year ols Transporter with 9 seats and I love it so much and hope I never ever have to chang it for the rest of my childminding days!
Good luck!!!!
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We are just about to buy a Toyota Corolla Verso after months of pondering over which one to get. id defo reccomend it x
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I am on my second vw sharan, it is so versatile, all seats are individual, the back ones all come out - great for transporting things and also when I have less children I take the middle seat out which makes it easier to get in and out. Mine came with two built in baby seats which convert to booster then adult seat, so no need to worry about fitting seats for different sized children.
Phil and teds fits in the boot but I have to take the wheels off. Front passenger seat swivels round, great for picnics!
I find the turning circle small and find it easier to reverse for parking.