3 baby seats on back seats ?

[peaky]

Help !
We have a 2 year old child and have been planning another one for a while. Thought I had everything covered with a nearly new (56 plate) Leon 2.0 tdi sport as the family car. Had a shock when we found out were expecting twins !
So looks like the Leon will have to go as there is no way we will get 3 baby seats in the back.
Does anyone know if 3 seats will fit in the back of the Altea ?(two newborns and one nearly 3 years old by then).
We also need to consider whether a double buggy will fit in the boot - might have to think about an XL.

 

[megadyptes]

How about taking a test drive in the XL and make sure your route happens to go via the local Mothercare... just pop in and ask if you can test fit the car seats and buggy

I think there are only two isofix points in the back row, so you'd end up with one seat just secured with the belts - could be wrong however, and I haven't actually looked for the fixing points in ours. The middle seat is quite narrow in comparison to the two outside seats so three may be a very tight squeeze. Double buggy in the boot may be a challenge depending on whether you go for the side-by-side or back-and-front style, not to mention all the other paraphinallia that'll need a home! Our single buggy fits quite nicely (certainly better than it does in our mkI leon), but it still takes up a reasonable amount of space.

 

[TDI_luver]

Virtually impossible to get three baby seats in the back of the Altea/Toledo - the middle 'seat' is too narrow and the two main seats are bucket shaped, so there is little room for manoeuvre - unless your kids like sitting at a 30 degree angle. If they're isofix seats, you have no hope.

 

[peaky]

Oh dear - looks like I'll have to look for something else.
Any suggestions for something that'll do the job without being too "bus" like ?
Have thought the Zafira was OK, but have never really looked at MPV's so don't have much to go on (we always said we wouldn't have one !)

 

[TDI_luver]

What about the VW Touran (6/7 Seater)...plenty of room for 3 baby seats, although could be a bit tight on 'boot' space for a large pram + accessories etc.
Maybe you're looking at Alhambra / Sharan territory for comfort...??

 

[megadyptes]

Out of interest, are there any cars that have isofix points for more than two seats? Most of the stuff I've come across tends to have them on the outside seats and not the middle seat. Don't reacall seeing them on any of the thrid-row type seats, but admittedly, I wasn't specifically looking for them.

 

[Armitage SHanks]

Out of interest, are there any cars that have isofix points for more than two seats? Most of the stuff I've come across tends to have them on the outside seats and not the middle seat. Don't reacall seeing them on any of the thrid-row type seats, but admittedly, I wasn't specifically looking for them.

I think Honda's FR-V has ISOFIX points on the outside rear seats and the middle front seat (It may have them in the middle rear too but I'm not entirely sure.)

You can't use a rear-facing seat in the front centre seat of the FR-V owing to Honda not allowing you to disable the airbags but the 2 year old could go in the front middle in a forward-facing seat while the twins go in the outside back seats, facing backwards. I think the only other rule is that if you use the front centre with a forward-facing seat then you have to slide it back the full 30cm so that the nipper doesn't reach the airbag should it go off.

 

[banditdog]

Hi there,

Honda FRV has Isofix in the front middle and outside rears as earlier stated.

We bought ours (the wifes) brand new, the 2.2 diesel when launched. Lots of plus points especially the engine (mega quiet compared to the VAG units) and big boot.

Do not buy one though if you want a child seat in the front middle. We tried it, and it does encroach on the driver - gets annoying after 20 mins.

One other point is that you cannot fold the back middle seat down (it tips forward) while having a child in the front middle seat as the front seat is supposed to be slid all the way back due to the airbag.

A great car though - far better than my Altea XL

 

[Armitage SHanks]

A great car though - far better than my Altea XL

To each their own, I guess.

My missus and I test drove an FR-V, a C-Max and several others before settling on our Altea XL.

The quality of the materials used in the interior of the FR-V felt significantly inferior to those used in the Altea, to me - and certainly didn't live up to the very 'finished' exterior.

Looking at an ex-demo at the Honda dealer, the plastics on the dash, the rear arm-rests and the like were all discernibly scratched up giving it the feel of a car much older than 6 months and I just got the impression that the car was a very good idea but that Honda didn't quite see it through.

As new parents, we had the idea that it would be good to put the nipper in his rear-facing seat in the centre front so that the missus could tend to him while we were out and about but owing to the idea not quite being implemented properly that isn't possible. Basically, the front passengers share an airbag which means that you can't put a rear-facing seat there. Therefore, with a newborn baby, the unique selling point (bar the Multipla in which I think you can do this) of having your precious passenger in the front with you is rendered impossible.

I was also disappointed to find that the front centre seat isn't a full-width seat and that if you have it all the way back because you have a front-facing seat in it, the rear-centre is rendered unusable from a legroom point of view

The only point on which I would concede in comparison to the Altea is the engine noise which we have found to be a little disappointing.

 

[banditdog]

Hi Armitage - I will concede to you on some of the interior plastics with the FRV. The area around the ignition key and the folding mirror switch on the door was easily scratched by daily/normal use. Plus we had the "wood" dash inserts which were cheesy but I think these have gone on the newer model.

The paint was thin/poor as well but then again so is the Altea

 

[PDaddy]

I think with the baby seat in the middle with two booster seats each side will work, I'll try this weekend, just heard some good news and dont want to get rid of my altea yet..