The right SUV

[web]

Thanks all

web - the option of the station wagen is probably a good one, and something to consider too from a space perspective. Yeah, the MTB... and the ps4 may see less action from May next year

Trust me the twins will make it all worth it in the end.

 

[Trompie67]

Tuna. Cannot go wrong with them. Solid, dependable & fantastic resale value.

Get a quote from Alexander Forbes on the insurance. Our excess is 5% min R5k. No tracking device needed.

 

[ToxicBunny]

Actually a Caravelle is a bloody good option that I hadn't thought of.
Nice cars, and LOTS of space.

 

[BigAl-sa]

On your list, the X-trail followed by the Everest.

Do also consider a bakkie. They drive like cars these days. Amarok or Ranger would be on my tryout list. In-laws would do well in the back

Go and drive the things before you make a choice, then keep in mind the insurance.

 

[bumblebee]

Think carefully whether you really need 7 seats. It really limits the options for your day to day comfort to cater of an occasional use case.
I will add a vote for a wagon. I drive a Subaru Outback and while not a beauty queen, the boot space is huge, which helped a lot on weekend trips and shopping runs with kids in tow.

 

[SauRoNZA]

How the **** can a Q5 not be big enough?

I have a Golf and find it actually too big and strongly considering an Up! at this point because it’s a waste of space and car for the travel need.

Honestly don’t see any need to change the car at all.

A Pram is a waste and you’ll probably never use it anyway.

Much simpler solution is to leave the wife and kids at home when you go grocery shopping or just send the wife. Utterly pointless taking the whole lot along and making it take three times as long.

If it’s a case of just wanting a new car and looking for an excuse to buy one...get an Allroad Quattro.

 

[Lupus]

Congrats on the twins, in all honesty you don't need an SUV. When I had my first I only drove a Polo and we managed, a friend of mine has three kids and they drive a Sandero.
Your Q5 is fine, my experience and theirs was similar to Saurons, you will probably more than likely never use the pram (I think we used ours twice), shopping for groceries while they are young, do it weekly and by yourself or your wife, trust me you do not want to take kids shopping.
I'm still trying to get this fascination with SUVs on suddenly becoming family cars, a station wagon or an MPV would be far better and safer, but somehow or other SUV became it. They don't offer that much space in reality over a normal sedan and when they do it requires the seats to go down, which defeats the purpose of having more seats, the Santa fe 7 seater has 515 liters of boot space, the Chevrolet Cruze has 450, so the higher insurance premiums, the more fuel, less comfortable and harder to park, sure you get a bit more cabin space but yeah cost vs practicality. Yet somehow the SUV wins.
Oh and taking a look your Q5 has a bigger boot then most SUVs??

 

[alqassam]

Honda brv is a 7 seater

Anyway sticknwith the Audi, my buddy recently had twins and they have a A class and golf 6. The A class boot is the size of the Q5 cubby hold.

They still manage to get the double pram in.

SAVE those dollars for the kids education, please have a look at school fees

 

[SauRoNZA]

Congrats on the twins, in all honesty you don't need an SUV. When I had my first I only drove a Polo and we managed, a friend of mine has three kids and they drive a Sandero.
Your Q5 is fine, my experience and theirs was similar to Saurons, you will probably more than likely never use the pram (I think we used ours twice), shopping for groceries while they are young, do it weekly and by yourself or your wife, trust me you do not want to take kids shopping.
I'm still trying to get this fascination with SUVs on suddenly becoming family cars, a station wagon or an MPV would be far better and safer, but somehow or other SUV became it. They don't offer that much space in reality over a normal sedan and when they do it requires the seats to go down, which defeats the purpose of having more seats, the Santa fe 7 seater has 515 liters of boot space, the Chevrolet Cruze has 450, so the higher insurance premiums, the more fuel, less comfortable and harder to park, sure you get a bit more cabin space but yeah cost vs practicality. Yet somehow the SUV wins.
Oh and taking a look your Q5 has a bigger boot then most SUVs??

I think the added ground clearance/height probably makes it a bit easier to load kids in the back going by the Daihatsu Sirion I had for a while.

But even so it’s hardly that much of a difference to buy a whole car for and if I had a Q5 I don’t see why I would want to change it, short of just wanting something new.

In my case the wife is rally driving our GTI on construction sites so a more capable off-road includes road car would be beneficial.

But then I would still probably have the smaller Q3.

I really want to go try out an Up! though because the reality is we all buy much more car than we really use or need and it’s just wasteful.

 

[Lupus]

I think the added ground clearance/height probably makes it a bit easier to load kids in the back going by the Daihatsu Sirion I had for a while.

But even so it’s hardly that much of a difference to buy a whole car for and if I had a Q5 I don’t see why I would want to change it, short of just wanting something new.

In my case the wife is rally driving our GTI on construction sites so a more capable off-road includes road car would be beneficial.

But then I would still probably have the smaller Q3.

I really want to go try out an Up! though because the reality is we all buy much more car than we really use or need and it’s just wasteful.

The Q5 should already have a decent ground clearance though?

 

[SauRoNZA]

The Q5 should already have a decent ground clearance though?

Wasn’t saying that it wasn’t.

Just stating the allure of the SUV as a baby wagon.

 

[Archer]

As far as I know, the Fortuna and Everest have a ladder chassis (same as on a bakkie). While this makes them good tow vehicles and able to handle tough conditions, their safety is not up to the level of the other mentioned vehicles which have a unibody chassis. The unibody vehicles have crumple zones and are better able to absorb the impact of a crash and thereby protect the occupants.This would be an important factor for me if I was buying an SUV type vehicle.

Correct, a typical ladder frame vehicle will be less safe than a typical unibody vehicle of the same class

 

[Craig_]

I'm with Web on this one.
I reckon all those cars you've listed are great for the family, and when your kids are a bit older and you can chuck in the back two seats it will make sense. But for the first few years it will mean having the folks right in the back.
A few left field options - the VW Caddi maxi - has two benches rather than just two pull out seats. And then your bigger Combis and H1s.
Otherwise, honestly, stick with what you have for a while, see if you can make it work. I think too many of us automatically change our cars when the kids come and get too much for what we need.

The caddy might not look glamorous, but that thing has so much space, even the short wheelbase one. It's very practical if you are buying on a tight budget.

Don't bother with a seven seater for when your folks visit it will still not be enough space. I have twins so been there done that. You need a Caravalle if you want to cater for your folks as well. I went the station route as it has the biggest load area besides a van. Double prams are quite large and once your wife has packed the daily bag you have to cart along for the kids your car is fill, so the two back seats can never get used.

Congrats anyway there goes your MTB...

Actually a Caravelle is a bloody good option that I hadn't thought of.
Nice cars, and LOTS of space.

Caravelle is nice, but very expensive and even the old high milage ones still cost a lot of money. It doesn't seem to lose a lot of value.

I think the added ground clearance/height probably makes it a bit easier to load kids in the back going by the Daihatsu Sirion I had for a while.

But even so it’s hardly that much of a difference to buy a whole car for and if I had a Q5 I don’t see why I would want to change it, short of just wanting something new.

In my case the wife is rally driving our GTI on construction sites so a more capable off-road includes road car would be beneficial.

But then I would still probably have the smaller Q3.

I really want to go try out an Up! though because the reality is we all buy much more car than we really use or need and it’s just wasteful.

My wife has an Up, and as nice as it is, it really is very short on power. I've done one long distance trip in that car, fully loaded, and it takes long to get up to speed, although, once it gets there it can sit there all day long while still sipping fuel. Just make sure to take a proper test drive to ensure that you can live with it's short coming.

Also, the window switches are not illuminated at night, that bugs the **** out of me. That, and non of the windows had auto up or down. But those are small issues. Overall the car runs well, uses very little fuel and is very reliable and safe.

 

[I.am.Sam]

best 7 seater is a voyager

comfortable seats and enough space in the boot

 

[SauRoNZA]

My wife has an Up, and as nice as it is, it really is very short on power. I've done one long distance trip in that car, fully loaded, and it takes long to get up to speed, although, once it gets there it can sit there all day long while still sipping fuel. Just make sure to take a proper test drive to ensure that you can live with it's short coming.

Also, the window switches are not illuminated at night, that bugs the **** out of me. That, and non of the windows had auto up or down. But those are small issues. Overall the car runs well, uses very little fuel and is very reliable and safe.

Yeah I would never buy anything without a test drive.

But the reality I’m facing is that we actually never do long distance so when you analyse it you ask yourself why are you buying cars for these things you never do.

Literally our car just barely missed the annual service option at this point and on a daily basis it does max 20km round trip with high fuel usage for no good reason at all.

My main gripe with the Up! is the lack of automatic, but again when you face the real world patterns for the mileage done it’s also a non-issue.

I was even looking at the optional cruise control and thinking to myself even that as nice as it is to have never actually gets used.

 

[f2wohf]

I was even looking at the optional cruise control and thinking to myself even that as nice as it is to have never actually gets used.

I actually use it at least twice a day and in mileage, probably 60/70% of my mileage is done on cruise control.

I mostly drive on highways though.

 

[SauRoNZA]

I actually use it at least twice a day and in mileage, probably 60/70% of my mileage is done on cruise control.

I mostly drive on highways though.

Yeah I don’t mean to say everyone will have the same needs as I do.

Just taking an introspective look on our collective habits.

I hardly drive the car. My wife definitely doesn’t use the cruise control ever.

And in day to day hardly opportunity to use it.


Also on a manual box it makes little to no sense to me.

 

[SauRoNZA]

best 7 seater is a voyager

comfortable seats and enough space in the boot

Do they even still exist? Haven’t seen one in years.

 

[Craig_]

Yeah I would never buy anything without a test drive.

But the reality I’m facing is that we actually never do long distance so when you analyse it you ask yourself why are you buying cars for these things you never do.

Literally our car just barely missed the annual service option at this point and on a daily basis it does max 20km round trip with high fuel usage for no good reason at all.

My main gripe with the Up! is the lack of automatic, but again when you face the real world patterns for the mileage done it’s also a non-issue.

I was even looking at the optional cruise control and thinking to myself even that as nice as it is to have never actually gets used.

For driving in town the up is fine. Pulls quite nicely from zero to about sixty and can zip into small gaps and parking quite nicely.
Black on topic, the OP should really consider the maxi caddy.

 

[TheChamp]

For driving in town the up is fine. Pulls quite nicely from zero to about sixty and can zip into small gaps and parking quite nicely.
Black on topic, the OP should really consider the maxi caddy.

Makes sense, most seven seaters are useless without the head room.