9-seater van that can tow, prefer 4WD

[newmumof7]

As my username suggests, due to the blending of my own and my partners family, I am now that proud mother of 7 children. Their ages are 15, 15, 14, 12, 10, 9 and 8. 5 boys, 2 girls. 5 are his, 2 are mine. We currently have (or my partner currently has) a pajero which seats 7, which obviously has become unsuitable. Also the oldest boy is nearly six foot, so doesn't really like sitting on the little dicky seat in the pajero. We have been looking the past 6 months for a 9 seater van and am not having too much luck. I moved in in February so it has only become a need in the last month. Love the nissan el grand, but is only 8 seats, one of which is for under 12 years, and an extra seat placed in front would also be for under 12. Then we have considered the delica, which is 4wd, but they seem a little flat on the power, and again only has 8 seats. All cars out there seemed to be geared towards 8 people. We regularly tow a van, and would prefer 4wd to give greater flexibility in snow areas.

What do other people with 7+children use? And has anyone actually converted a delica or el grand to 9 seats?

[Bex]

Voltswagen do a 9 seater. It has a great seat arrangment for access. you can get it in a 4wd and its diesel so economic and gutsy.

[heretothere]

What do other people with 7+children use? And has anyone actually converted a delica or el grand to 9 seats?

Hi New Mum,

The Delica can be converted to a 9 seater, and it is quite effective. I run a small tour business, and have been using one that I registered and had converted only last October. It is RTA certified 9 seat vehicly, has 3 anchor points for child restraints, and is in great condition overall.

I have used it mainly for wine tours to Mudgee, and it is more than capable both on and off the road, plenty of power even with 8 adults and a trailer full of luggage and wine.

I have mine about to go on the market, because the business is getting to a stage where I need to upgrade to the Mercedes Sprinter 4X4, simply because it will carry 12 or 14 people, depending on the model I buy, which makes it more viable for me using it as a business vehicle, in the business of carrying people.

My preference would be to keep it as well, because it is so good around town, being small enough to fit into most carparks, yet big enough for a tribe, but finances will not allow me to purchase the new one, and keep this as well.

Rest assured the Delica is a great vehicle, using the Pajero running gear, it is a 2.8 litre intercooled turbo, and has plenty of get up and go, and pulling power.

Hope that helps.

Rob

[DaddyLarge]

I'll second that about the Delica. The two engines are more than powerful enough for the van, they are extremely comfortable, and they have real 4WD capability in the rougher areas. If you get the long wheelbase model, you'll still have a lot of cargo room behind the rear seats even with all of the seats filled.

I have a 3.0L petrol seven-seater (with two captains chairs in the middle row) but I have seen a few of the eight-seaters converted into 9-seaters around the place. They have a column-shift gear selector, so there is plenty of room in the footwell for a third person. The last I heard to get a seat fabricated, installed and engineered it was around $1500. You can buy a very good Delica for anywhere between $15k and $25k, which makes it a pretty reasonable alternative.

[DQ]

I have just had my seventh bub and we are about to buy a volkswagen Caravelle.

It's a 9 seater 2, 2, 2 & 3 and very roomy, with a good boot space even when full of people.

A bit pricey though, at about $56k on road.