Cars for 4+ kids

[RuthK]

Hi all

My DH and I currently have 3 gorgeous kiddies (under 4) and would love to have 1 or 2 more before I hit 40, in a few years time. Apart from the fact that I would like at least 1 year of wearing my normal clothes, the only factor that's preventing us from going again is the need to get a bigger car.

We love the Honda Odyssey, but unless we win Tatts in the next few years, getting one will not be a reality. Can anyone recommend a great 6+ seater car that doesn't cost a fortune, looks good (ie: not a bus) and is great to drive?

Cheers

R

[InSaneOne]

we have 3 teenagers and a new baby. we got a kia carnival second hand for $15000. it is an older model 2001 but it is going great. we have had no problems with it except when all the seats are full and you have a pram in the back there isn't a huge amount of room left for luggage. but then again we did fit a weekends worth of camping gear and food and the pram and us and all 4 kids in it - wit a little bit of room to spare. it is very good with fuel especially on long highway trips fully loaded. we did over 640kms on a full tank of fuel. ours can sit 7 but the newer ones are slightly larger and can sit 8.

if you have any other questions feel free to pm me.

[CJJHRA]

We had a tarago, and I liked the feel of them better than the carnavals, the (to me) just felt more solid.

Very easy to park too!! Great turning circle.

as for fuel, it was great long distance but stopping and starting all the time, used more.

Loved it, but went the landcrusier instead just a few weeks back.

Just test drive a few and see how you go.

[Blessed Mum]

We have a toyota landcruiser - love it, love it, love it & heaps of room.

Good luck & definately test-drive a few like Alannah's Mum said :thumbsup:

[Rhoxie]

I'll be watching this thread too :)
We will be purchasing a second car in the next month or so as we desperately need more room - we currently have an older model falcon and three children - however the kids are getting bigger and there just isn't enough cargo space for long trips and we do a lot of sport stuff and I need to be able to fit in an extra child or two so I can car pool. Our budget is around $10-$15 000 and I'm so far thinking of a a used Tarago or voyager - 93-97 models.

[Sandra/Paul]

Hi, we have a Toyota Torago. We have had this car for about 10 years now and its still going great. We have 3 children and are hoping for a 4th soon, so if we were to get another car it would be the same, just an updated model maybe.

[StormAngel]

We have a Carnival, & we love it (even farmer DH! LOL!) with 4 kids it's got heaps of room, and room for one more too ;)

[Mamaduke]

Yay girls! Go the Toyotas!!! Jesse & Lukey's Daddy builds them!
We've got a Toyota Kluger with the extra 2 seats which fold flat to the floor when not in use. I love this car...as much as anyone can love an inanimate object...:o
:smiliedance: Oh what a feeling!

[StormAngel]

We like toyotas too (hubby has a hilux work ute) we originally wanted a 4wd but they were way out of our price range (even the 2nd hand ones) So we went the Carnival!

[Mamaduke]

We like toyotas too (hubby has a hilux work ute)
Every time Jesse sees a Hilux he shouts...
"Get in...or get out of the way!"LOL:laughing:

[Fairyfloss]

We had a tarago, and I liked the feel of them better than the carnavals, the (to me) just felt more solid.

Very easy to park too!! Great turning circle.

I agree Trago is teh way to go, I have driven my dad's a few times and it is great handelling, even for someone hopeless like me:yes: very comfy too:yes:

[MummyCharmzy]

We've just bought a Chrysler Grand Voyager (as in JUST bought it... we get it tomorrow hopefully).. its got a 'long wheel base' so almost twice the boot space of a kia carnival and tarago which I think is PERFECT because the Kias really worried me about fitting the pram in the boot, let alone the pram plus our groceries!

Having not actually had it in our possession yet I cant comment on anything else about it but we will have 3 in carseats and 1 in booster seat, wealso need the twin pram with toddler seat to hold the 3 youngest to fit nicely in the boot and it seemed the only truly practical option!

I can't wait to get it :D

[StormAngel]

I've seen the grand voyagers, they look great :thumbsup:

[MummyCharmzy]

we got our new car yesterday, its brillianttttt.. much easier to drive than i thought (i was worried as I'm used to driving manual and its an auto with column-shift) and though parking it is still a challenge... im not going to hide the fact i was never any good parking in my camry either :P lol

theres SO much space! I'm so glad we went for this one and not a tarago or kia because there is no WAY my pram would have fit in the back of either of them, yet it fits in the boot of the grand voyager and so do all the nappy bags and with a boosterseat in there too and a few other bits and pieces! There is storage galore through the whole car... i keep finding new compartments for things lol

Seems pretty good on petrol so far too.. not much difference from our wagon and its been drivin quite a bit already!

[Rhoxie]

We too bought a chrysler voyager last week :D Mine's a 97 model SE (so not as swish as the Grande - no LWB either :( ) But it's gorgeous to drive. Love the TWO sliding doors - it makes getting the kids out very easy. Mine seats 7 and is also an Auto column shift (american style so it's on the right and the indicators are on the left).
It's a V6 3.3L so it has a bit of power (more than the 2.4l 4cyl Taragos) and it's very comfy.
The one bad point is the parts are very expensive -eg we had to get another child anchor bar and the cost new was $493 :eek::eek:. For a piece of metal that the baby seats anchor to!! but as mine is a few years old now I've found a good source of recond & 2nd hand parts for it so I won't have to spend a fortune on it.

Just like Charmzy I LOVE my car !

[kymmy]

My hubby is keen on a 4x4 that they use for outback tours
They seat 9 people

[MummyCharmzy]

OMG YOU PAID $493 for the child restraint bar!!!! I thought we were getting ripped off paying $220 for ours!!!!!!

[bearsmummy]

hi girls, we are looking at a new car soon as we have been thinking of having our fourth sometime soon.
my hubby came home from work the other day with a brochure on the new chrysler! (i thought he went to work not lookin at cars!)
but yeah its very very nice! i think thats is what we will go with considering the price of petrol these days!
let me know how yours are goin girls :)

[Pippi Longstocking]

Be careful with the carnivals. My brother is a car salesman and he said the number of them that blow a motor in the first few years is phenomenal. I have also heard of heaps of people who have blown the motors in theirs.

We have two family friendly cars - a '96 7 seater commodore wagon and a '99 Tarago. I love them both, to be honest. I love the power of the c'dore but the spaciousness and comfort of the tarago rocks. I love my brother's job - we got both cars from him dirt cheap and both mechanically byoodeeful :D

[Rhoxie]

charmzy - nope I drew the line at $493 for a metal bar (eek!) I paid $100 and got one second hand ;)

Two things we got told about the voyagers from a friend who has one (same model as mine) The front brakes usually need doing every 9-12m and the rear brake pads (drum with pads) are rivited on so they need to be changed immediately after they have worn down or the metal rivits will wear grooves in the metal housing and you'll end up needing new drums.

Spark plugs are also fiddly to change but they take platnium ones so they only need doing every 4 years.

Charmzy I can't figure out where to put the restraint bar if I want to use it for the back seat . I've got it clamped to the floor behind the middle seats at the moment but I'm trying to figure out if I can put it in the very back. Do you know if/where it goes?

[MummyCharmzy]

We've got ours in the very back and are getting another one put in the middle later this week as we need 4 bolt spots!

Thanks for that info on the voyagers, I'd guess its the same with the grand voyagers so ill be looking into that a bit more and see what else i should 'watch out' for with them

Its soo brilliant to drive and so spacioussss, I love it!

And I'm amazed at how well I can park it already... it just slots in nicely lol :)

[Rhoxie]

Charmzy - exactly where does it bolt on in the very back ? as there aren't any spare rungs in the floor seat tracks in mine ??

[thenfour]

Where did you get the child restraint bar from

[Rhoxie]

I got my second bar from a wreckers yard but you can buy them new from any dodge/chrysler dealer.

Be warned they are pretty darn pricey - the new one is over $300.00

[mbrbbt]

We've just been looking for a new car for our huge family (we have 5) and also need room for a big pram (jogger with toddler seat on). They are so expensive and still don't really have enough room. We found as the middle seats have to fold forward to get into the back row you could only put 1 child seat there or else the seats wouldn't fold to allow access to the back row and then when you put child seat straps in the back row it makes is impossible to fit a pram in the back with the straps. At present we've got a Ford BA station wagon and had a 3 seat bench seat installed in the back. We purchased it 1 year old with only 30 000km from the auctions for $17000 and paid $800 for the 3 seater in the back, it's easy to drive but only good if your children in the very back are old enough to get in and out themselves as they have to go through the back stationwagon door and can only use the rear seat until 12. I think us ladies with big families need to design a car to accommodate everyone and everything we need in it!

[tommylu]

I LOVE MY CHRYSLER GRAND VOYAGER !!! its so nice to drive,very comfy for everyone,lots of room everywhere,not too hard to park( im not a very good reverse parker) :o and we've only had it for a months so im still getting used to it.
We too had a ford station wagon with the 2 extra seats in the back but my boys were getting a bit big for them so we upgraded to the chrysler.

[karcarcor]

We've not long bought a Grand Carnival - bigger than a normal carnival with extra boot room.
I love it!!! Spent more than we were going to, but well worth it.There are 5 anchor points(yes 5!!!)Although to get into the back you could really only use 4.
I can easily fit my pram and a fortnights groceries in the back. It's got so much room!!!
Love it!!

[Moorish]

I too just purchased a brand new Kia Grand Carnival (2 weeks ago!)

By July we will have 4 kids aged 5 and under so I needed the "growing space" and the anchor points. Our is the long wheel base version so even with all 8 seats up there's plenty of room for a pram & groceries - the boot dips down providing sort of a cavity so it's lower than the rest of the car - got to check it out! There's just SO much room in them and I like the look of them WAY more than the newer "space age" looking taragos. (Plus I'm not a "tarago" person!) There's heaps of gadgets inside, air con all through, controls also in the roof in the middle row of seats, special mirror to see right to the back, LOADS of cup holders, flip up trays on the back of the two front seats - never seen so many wonderful extras!


Be careful with the carnivals. My brother is a car salesman and he said the number of them that blow a motor in the first few years is phenomenal. I have also heard of heaps of people who have blown the motors in theirs.

We researched this for weeks before we made our purchase and the models that did this were 2000-2002 standard models. These are the 2.7litre models and it was determined that for the size of the car, the engine was simply not large enough to cope so hence they blew up. The Kia Grand Carnival is a 3.8, heaps more power to them makes them run a lot more smoothly and reliably.