Most families of 5 have a number of years where they are not seating "five adults". I drive a sedan and have two kids under 5 years old, a 5th passenger is basically out of the question. If you had 3 kids in car seats, a vehicle with a third row is seating is your only option.
Unless you've got triplets or twins + 1, three kids is a lot easier than two. They help each other out, work together, look out for each other, etc.
Some things are drastically more expensive, others are negligible. What annoys me the most is that most 5-passenger vehicles these days are actually just 4-passenger vehicles with an emergency-use-only 5th seatbelt. You're "supposed" to buy the 3-row 7/8 passenger SUV/Van. But then you have no cargo space because the third row seats aren't folded down.
Anyway, can't you just take your family for a test drive to confirm the seating arrangements?
I only want a 4-seater, I don't need a full 5-seater. Manufacturers can add emergency seat to 4-seater at minimal cost. What's the problem for me and the planet? I'm saying that I want a small (efficient) cars.
The cars with more than 5 seats do exist. If cost is not an issue as you suggest, it is pretty feasible to have 4+ children. It is even easier if you are not aiming to have them born in a rapid succession. Older kids can ride upfront.
No, but I do need to put 3 kids into car seats and carry a lot of stuff at the same time. I don't have many great options. I sincerely don't understand what people with 4 or more children do in these situations, work vans? I'd love to get an 80s station wagon, honestly, but those don't exist.
This is an actual conversation I had to have with my wife, having a third kid definitely requires a larger vehicle as the vast majority of cars today simply don't work for a family of five. Child car seats are too wide and the backseats of most cars are too narrow, and the price jump to a vehicle that would be able to handle three child car seats at once is enormous. Throw in some dogs, a couple pieces of luggage that any nuclear family would have to tote around, plus a stroller and it becomes prohibitively tight.
It took me MONTHS of shopping and playing child-seat-jenga in various car dealership lots before I finally found a sedan that was actually able to hold everything (thank you, Volkswagen, for making an actual family sedan that could fit a family!).
Thankfully minivans and station wagons do not suffer the same enormous blind spot problem the modern American truck is presently facing. That, and the standard five-seat arrangement can accommodate both parents and three kids, which is already a rare degree of occupancy.
If you’re committed to 7+ seater vehicles after birthing a platoon I think the financial penalties of that decision were already understood at child number 4.
That is a wholly different argument from “they won’t fit”.
I absolutely agree that a larger vehicle is more convenient for people with 3 or more kids. But that isn’t the argument people have been making in this thread. The assertions it that you can’t fit 3 car seats in these cars, an assertion which is provably false.
I think there is a difference between 1-2 kids and 3-4 though? If you have 3-4 kids of similar age that needs car seats it becomes quite a bit more justified to get a large car for that reason. Not saying there is a need for a justification to get a large car.
7 seaters are intended for those who frequently do pooled trips with friends or family -- and won't buy a minivan. They're not necessarily much larger than 5-seaters, the extra seats fold down when not needed and use up the boot space.
As you say, 5 seaters are probably fine for most people.
I got three cars so I could be more efficient. Use the right size for the job.
For minor little trips around town, I use the Fiat 500L. It has 5 seats in 2 rows.
For high speed, or a bit more stuff, I use the Subaru Ascent. It has 8 seats in 3 rows.
For traveling with the whole family, I use the Ford E-350 extended-length passenger van. It has 15 seats in 5 rows.
Before I bought the smaller cars, I had to drive the van everywhere. It's a beast, 3 tons empty or 5 tons full. I think I get about 12 MPG, which is efficient per-person when I'm bringing a dozen kids. As a commuter car, the van is horrible.
I’m in the market for one. When you have two kids that are car seat age, two car seats eat up a lot of room in smaller cars. Then when you and your partner need to go somewhere, there’s barely any room for strollers and diaper bags.
If they made roomier cars I’d be all for it, but they don’t. So I have to buy something that offers room.
> Seats though, is it normal to own a bus in Australia?
Two of our last cars have been 7 seaters. Neither have been "buses", just a fold up seat in the boot section. Quite comfortable, even for an adult.
> The people I would expect to own a car with more than two rows of seats are families with 4+ kids, which is nobody here.
We're a family of 5, and whilst we can fit it a standard five-seater, as soon as we have a +1 which is fairly common with friends of our kids you either need two cars, or a 7 seater.
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