Which cars can fit three child car seats in?

Earlier this year, my wife and I found out we were going to be having a third child.  Now, knowing that there isn't really enough space for anyone to sit in between the two car seats in the back of our Focus (not comfortably anyway) there was no way a third child seat was going to fit in the back.  So, I set about trying to find some advice on which cars were best for fitting three child seats across the back... and struggled to find anything!  I've put this blog together to try and help other people in a similar situation.

What I'm going to do is separate this into three types of vehicle, large family cars (predominantly estates), MPVs and 4x4s.  All have their strengths and weaknesses and people will also have preferences as to what they'd rather own so I thought I'd try and cover all bases.  I'm basing this on the assumption that at some times there will be two adults in the car in addition to the three children.  I'll also add the caveat that I haven't personally gone out and tried all of these cars so the information is based on a combination of cars I've looked at, tests done by others and advice from child car seat experts.  There will also be certain car seats that are not compatible with the cars I've picked out, or with specific seating positions, for various reasons, but I've tried to include things to watch out for.

Large Family Cars

For many families, a large estate car provides a good balance between practicality and performance... until you need a third child car seat that is!  Frankly, there are very few that can fit anything other than a backless booster cushion in the middle which, while meeting basic safety and legal standards, offers far from optimal protection in the event of a collision and is not recommended.  For some cars the manufacturers specifically state that any child should not sit in the middle seating position e.g. BMW 5-Series and Peugeot 508 SW.  You could, however, opt to put one child in the front seat, providing you have the option to deactivate the front passenger airbag.  My personal view is that this is not ideal for journeys where two adults are in the car, with one having to sit in the rear, but if you really want that Audi, BMW or Mercedes estate it's a compromise you will have to make.

The only large family car I'm aware of that is likely to fit three child seats across the back is the Peugeot 307 SW - some also have an extra two seats in the back too.  Its not quite your typical family estate, but it definitely isn't an MPV, so it comes top of the pile in this section.  One note of caution though: you do have to watch out for the curve of the roof if you are using high back boosters towards their maximum height.

MPVs

MPVs have really taken the world by storm over the last decade or so.  With lots of space and storage they are seen by many as the most practical of family car options, but often at the expense of performance, with poor handling and some of the smaller engine models lacking power.  With practicality top of the agenda for these cars you'd think that fitting the car seats in would be a doddle across the range... but you'd be very wrong!

A number of the smaller MPVs, e.g. the Ford C-Max, Mazda 5 and Vauxhall Zafira, suffer with the same middle seat issues as the large family cars where three high-backed seats will not fit side by side.  In models with a third row of seats you can utilise them to overcome this, but it is far from ideal as you lose precious boot space and in most cases only universal child seats will fit in the third row.  There are other problems too, like all those handy little underfloor storage compartments that aren't so handy when you can't put a child car seat support leg on them!  The only manufacturer I know of that offers a solution to this is VW, who can supply foam inserts for the storage compartments in the Touran and Sharan to allow support legs to be used (the Britax fit list for my Maxway identifies this but worth checking your own seat fit list to be certain).

However, if the storage isn't going to be a problem, and the performance isn't a high priority, there is certainly far more choice in this class than any other including both 5-, 6- and 7- seat options.  The main choices really are as follows:

• Renault Scenic/ Grand Scenic
• Peugeot 807/ 5008
• Toyota Verso
• Citroen C4 Picasso/ Grand Picasso
• VW Touran/ Sharan
• Seat Alhambra
• Ford S-Max/ Galaxy
• Fiat Multipla (3+3 seats)
• Honda FR-V (3+3 seats)

Personally I rather like the VW Touran and both Fords, the build quality feels solid and there are a good choice of engines with some good performance figures.  The S-Max is labelled as the MPV for drivers who don't like MPVs and is said to handle a lot more like a medium sized hatchback than others in its class.

4x4s

Certainly in my mind, I'd never thought about owning a 4x4 as a 'family car' before, although I know many people do, and the more I've looked into this the more I've started to seriously consider it as an option.  Again, there are some that will not fit three high-backed seats, e.g. the Nissan Quashqai, but the +2 version offers the same possibility of utilising the third row of seats.  The real contenders though are the bigger beasts, early Mercedes M-Class models have three separate seats in the back and the Volvo XC90 and Land Rover Discovery both have ample room and the bonus of 7 seats.  

However, they are not without their drawbacks, with lower mpg and generally higher tax bands they aren't cheap to run, but as a result the second hand market is rather good and there are many bargains to be had.  They may not be everyone's cup of tea but I've certainly found it useful to at least consider the pros and cons.

I am now going to throw one more spanner in the works, and its only something that I've come across in doing some additional research for this blog post:  the Multimac.

It is basically is an all-in-one seat for three or four children that can be fitted straight into most cars, converting your small family car into a larger one, or your large family car into a 6-seater.  The company offers plenty of assurances on safety, and it passes all the necessary regulations, but at a starting price of over £1000 it certainly isn't cheap... but could be cheaper than a new car???

If anyone wants to look at some further stuff (that I did manage to find!) try this section of the Which? website - it doesn't cover a lot of vehicles, but it gives a good idea of the things to look out for etc.