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Apr 12, 2017 18:09:19 GMT
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Altea XL looks a good choice, don't forget the Touran as those seem a decent price as well. Free bit of advice, ditch the travel system as soon as they are big enough to go in a normal pushchair & get a Recaro car seat. Travel systems are great when they are tiny and you havent got a clue what your doing (My sons 3 next month and still don't, I think parenting is pretty much winging it lol) but they take up so much room in the car & house that you wont miss it when you stop using it. This was ours: In works mk2 Skoda estate: In my MK5 GTI before I thought I had to be all sensible and get a CRV lol
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Last Edit: Apr 12, 2017 18:15:04 GMT by joem83
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Apr 12, 2017 18:18:04 GMT
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9-5 is miles bigger than the 9-3ss, I'm 6'1 with 34" leg and can fit in front of the maxi cosi pebble on a familyfix base.
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mgmrw
Part of things
Posts: 701
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Apr 12, 2017 18:39:37 GMT
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9-5 is miles bigger than the 9-3ss, I'm 6'1 with 34" leg and can fit in front of the maxi cosi pebble on a familyfix base. 9-5 aero estates... Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. I may have already looked into them. Isofix ready too on the most part. Two Saab's... Heaven.
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mgmrw
Part of things
Posts: 701
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Apr 12, 2017 18:41:47 GMT
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Altea XL looks a good choice, don't forget the Touran as those seem a decent price as well. Free bit of advice, ditch the travel system as soon as they are big enough to go in a normal pushchair & get a Recaro car seat. Travel systems are great when they are tiny and you havent got a clue what your doing (My sons 3 next month and still don't, I think parenting is pretty much winging it lol) but they take up so much room in the car & house that you wont miss it when you stop using it. This was ours: In works mk2 Skoda estate: In my MK5 GTI before I thought I had to be all sensible and get a CRV lol Cheers for that, pics are helpful. We're using an icandy peach all terrain. It's sizable. CRV boot us good. As a beater it makes sense. However, i too discovered modified Altea XL on Google. MPV vag porn. I may have even checked out lowering springs etc
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mgmrw
Part of things
Posts: 701
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Apr 12, 2017 18:42:35 GMT
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P.s. anything looks amazing on Mercedes Benz Alphard's. Beautiful wheels.
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Apr 12, 2017 19:02:20 GMT
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Last Edit: Apr 12, 2017 19:04:10 GMT by joem83
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garf
Part of things
Posts: 10
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Apr 12, 2017 19:58:03 GMT
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2.5T Engine from Focus ST/Volvo T5 too!
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mgmrw
Part of things
Posts: 701
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Apr 12, 2017 20:17:11 GMT
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Hadn't seen the fast Altea. Bit over the spend limit. As for the tape measure idea, Mrs suggested that lol
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mgmrw
Part of things
Posts: 701
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Apr 12, 2017 20:17:49 GMT
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2.5T Engine from Focus ST/Volvo T5 too! May have seen those too
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vertex
Part of things
Posts: 919
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Apr 12, 2017 23:20:49 GMT
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We were after an altea for a while, got let down with it, so carried on the search & picked up a golf plus GT TDI basically an altea anyway. in dash sat nav, dvd player, The boot has a false floor with more storage underneath. Pull out drawers under front seats, adjustable rear seats as mentioned in a previous post I'm 6"3 & 20stone & don't have any issues with comfort/headroom.
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mgmrw
Part of things
Posts: 701
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We were after an altea for a while, got let down with it, so carried on the search & picked up a golf plus GT TDI basically an altea anyway. in dash sat nav, dvd player, The boot has a false floor with more storage underneath. Pull out drawers under front seats, adjustable rear seats as mentioned in a previous post I'm 6"3 & 20stone & don't have any issues with comfort/headroom. Cheers, will check them out. It'll depend on how well the baby seat fits behind
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Stu
Posted a lot
Posts: 2,913
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Apr 13, 2017 13:58:54 GMT
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I remembered I had some pics I took when selling my old V70. This was the rear space with the front seats set for my driving position. Also, may be useful to know that like a lot of Volvos, two little catches under each front seat allow them to fold flat. Could be handy for fitting baby seat in and out? Not an ideal pic as rear seats folded too, but you get the idea.
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Last Edit: Apr 13, 2017 14:00:26 GMT by Stu
'89 BMW E30 325i Sport, '04 MINI Cooper S, '09 Volvo V70 D5
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Apr 13, 2017 20:17:06 GMT
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Not at all retro or interesting but what about a vauxhall insignia, I am 6'7 and had two car seats in the back with plenty of room for the isofix bases and more than enough for my legs in the front, plus the boot is massive and will take any pushchair buggy combo!
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Apr 13, 2017 20:51:31 GMT
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You know, they're actually a pretty decent car. We had a diesel one as a hire car for a long run south at the beginning of last year, and despite never having been a great fan of Vauxhall's, I have to admit it more than exceeded my expectations.
At 6'3" -with a 34" inside leg- I had the seat at about the half way point in its adjustment, whilst the kids had huge amounts of room in the back, and the boot space was massive. It went like a scalded cat, and returned at least 45mpg, cruising at the national limit and possibly even above when I wasn't concentrating on the speedo and going on the feedback through the drivers seat.
The only real downside (as with every estate car when you're more than about 5'8") was the ducking down to get under the tailgate, and even more of a stretch into the boot to reach things by the back seat.
Long term experiences of them may be different, but having one someone else has looked after fastidiously for a few days was a really positive experience.
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Apr 13, 2017 21:11:23 GMT
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I really liked the Insignia(s) I had as a hire car for the weekend, both were the 170bhp diesels. First one was a Sri amd second was something like a SE.
The reason I had 2? First one broke down after 200 miles of driving (only had 600 miles on the clock!)
Nice to drive anr much nicer inside than the vectras.
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mgmrw
Part of things
Posts: 701
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I remembered I had some pics I took when selling my old V70. This was the rear space with the front seats set for my driving position. Also, may be useful to know that like a lot of Volvos, two little catches under each front seat allow them to fold flat. Could be handy for fitting baby seat in and out? Not an ideal pic as rear seats folded too, but you get the idea. Wow. As vast as i remember. Mrs likes the Ovlov estates, but only with black interior do she says. Since 99% of them had cream leather (which i love) that's an issue. CRV is being serviced today (by me) then gonna run it untill the kid is here, as MOT is due whilst I will be on paternity leave (handy). Then gonna punt it on, and resume the hunt. V70s are firmly on the list. Ideally a T5. Would like fair maiden to consider an auto too. Since all other cars are Manuel. Be nice to have a cruiser.
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mgmrw
Part of things
Posts: 701
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No idea how to multi-quote, so w/r the insignia... They've been suggested, by my parents as family friends have one for this exact reason. However they parted with £10k-£12k for theirs, and it's fairly demanding on maintenance c/o modern diesel issues.
Had a browse for them in the £2k-£3k region, and they appear to mostly be in limp mode with DPF issues or oil pressure issues. Worrying.
Did debate upping the budget and buying "a keeper" but;
Wife's out of work so finances aren't plentiful Wife is also a non-car people. So maintenance and cleanliness are... My job. It'll be used during the week by Mrs exclusively.
So, with that in mind I'm loathed to have a £10k driveway ornament that gets carpark abuse, speedbump wrecked and used as a skip.
With me not "bonding" with the CRV,half tempted to keep it a year, accept the confined space permit requirements... And let her bounce it off curbs/speedbumps etc.
But, if i do that, I'd punt on her Celica, and my 9-3. Then find a clean example of a v70 or such as "my car" which would be better looked after and spend more on.
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The cream interior is surprisingly easy to keep clean, I've got 2 kids and a collie in and out of my 9-5 aero estate and it's still very clean on the inside.
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Apr 14, 2017 22:17:21 GMT
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Regarding Honda FRV's, excellent family cars and great reliability that just about justify the price premium they command but interior space would an issue for those over 6ft with a child seat behind. We have one, kept the budget in check buying a cat d repaired one with a few dents/scratches on it, as such it doesn't matter if a few more are added. 3.5 years and 20k+ miles later it's had 4 tyres, front pads and a battery on top of annual oil changes. Zero worry, it replaced a Seat Leon which annoyed me with it's niggly faults.
Other alternatives are the Mazda 5 (sliding doors are always useful) or Toyota Avensis for the full on dull mini cab experience.
Don't forget a cars external size and the environment you use it in, parking/manoeuvring becomes an issue if you go too mad, as I'm reminded when I try and park my LWB T4!
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I wouldn't rule out 2 door cars...seriously. Ok I can't comment on the talk point (being 5'7), BUT the easiest car we had for getting a car seat in and out was one of our e30's (and we've had some 'sensible' family cars - mk2 mondeo, p1 v70, xc90, etc...) Nice big doors and B pillar not as much in the sodding way as your trying to do a seatbelt up!
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