Best car for three car seats

[Kiwi Graham:Me]

Got a 2000 land cruiser...................heaps of fookin room and cheap to run..........once you've bought it of course.

[davebullet]

Friends bought a Kia Carnival. Dumb name, but a big vehicle. Odyssey would be my pic for a people mover that doesn't handle like a bucket of water

[roadracingoldfart]

The toyota camry station wagons will fit three carseats along the back row.
Parts are easy to come by, any mechanic can service them

I got a 2000 2.2 Camry S/W and i love it , big car with lots of room , air bags for cockups ABS , Immobiliser, CD , A/C, and a towbar for the racebike trailer.

Ohhh , and i am a Foreman / mechanic at a Ford dealership lol.

[ducatilover]

I know of a nice vx commodore wagon that could be had for less than $15k with 90k on the clock. Very nice wagon as far as sensible vehicles go and very tidy. Roomy and contrary to popular belief the good ole 3.8 is good on gas

[MaxB]

Since you don't want a people mover or SUV then might I suggest a Nissan Maxima? They are bigger than you think inside, have all the kiddy seat anchorages built in and have exceeded the power to weight of the equivalent Falcons and Commodores since the mid 90s.

The VQ30 and 35 motors are the ones to go for. The only thing against them for you would be the boot (no tailgate) but you can fit all three kids in there if they are naughty. The leather interior is good against the usual coke spills and vomit.

If you are stuck on the Scenic shape. What about a Toyota Ipsum? They are the same size as the Renault but won't break down.

[ducatilover]

Since you don't want a people mover or SUV then might I suggest a Nissan Maxima? They are bigger than you think inside, have all the kiddy seat anchorages built in and have exceeded the power to weight of the equivalent Falcons and Commodores since the mid 90s.

The VQ30 and 35 motors are the ones to go for. The only thing against them for you would be the boot (no tailgate) but you can fit all three kids in there if they are naughty. The leather interior is good against the usual coke spills and vomit.

If you are stuck on the Scenic shape. What about a Toyota Ipsum? They are the same size as the Renault but won't break down.

The vq motors are very nice, very flexible but so are all the other reasonable sized motors out there. The vq has a higher specific torque to cc output than both the holden and fords of the era, it actually makes more torque in the vq35de/ve form than the buick lc series motor [ecotec]

[Bytor]

Ok thanks for the suggestions, but the main need for this car is for the school/kindie runs, and shopping trips. However we do want to start going on holidays, hence a decent luggage space. The missus will be driving it and she loves the high up driving position of the Scenic and the compact dimensions compared to the Legnum VR4 SW we had before that she hated driving - so no Commodores or Falcons. She specifically detests 4WD and people carriers - they may be practical inside but the number of times she has seen kids nearly run over by them reversing out of school coz the driver can't see behind them. I have driven an Odyssey and hated it, felt like a bus. I noticed a Ford Focus C-Max at a trader in Penrose which was perfect but Ford Aus/NZ never thought a mini-people carrier would sell here! Doh I know so many three kid families who love the compact size of our Scenic and 1.6 engine size whilst hating that they have to drive a Odyssey/MPV/Previa coz the trade here only think that we want fricken huge 2.5, 3L cars! Sometimes bigger isn't better!

[Mully]

Send Frosty a PM - he may be able to source a Focus C-Max thing direct from Japan for you.

Failing that, he make have some ideas (Toyota Spacio, mebee?)

[slowpoke]

My vote is for a '65 Chevy Impala

[rebel]

Driving it like a nana (which coincidentally is how I ride also) regularly saw me getting less than 8l/100kms around town. That's pretty good for a 3.8l V6. I understand the Alloytech (3.6) V6 in the VZ models is even better at economy (and moar power too).

I would dare to suggest that that is comparable economy to what a people mover would get.

You'd never get 8l/100km in town in a V6 Commodore or similar. The best I got in my old AU Falcon was consistent 7.5-8l/100km on a trip... cruise control at 110kmh.
Yeah, the old myth of Falcons and Commodores are gas guzzlers are just that. Compare them to an Accord, Legacy or Galant 4 cyl and they will get just as good results, except the bigger cars can tow 2 tonne, seat 5 in decent comfort and have enough balls for over taking. Ohh, and its not a jappa.

I'd check out the Peugeot 406 HDi, 1995 onwards BMW 5 series (528i), Volvo 850/V70 wagon (7 seater option). We're pretty lucky in this country, we have such a huge range of used cars you can't go wrong.

[nallac]

The coolest car i've seen with three cars seats in the back was a 69 Dodge Challenger...

Not an economical car for the kindy run tho...

But man how cool would the kids be getting dropped of in one of them..

[JayRacer37]

My vote is for a '65 Chevy Impala

MMM, there is one of them parked just down the drive from us...I've no idea how he got the bloody thing down the gap and lined up with the garage...as Rache said, "It must have been like that bit on Austen Powers' where he gets the cart in the hallway..."

Beautiful car though!