My quest for finding the perfect MPV for my family

[Ctaiwee]

I don’t see your point, I’m just sharing my experience of why I did what I did.  The title said “My Quest for my family” .

I cannot even voice my opinions, and when I say this is good , you say I work for them.😂

Edited September 30, 2022 by Ctaiwee

[therock]

19 minutes ago, Ctaiwee said:

It’s not the best MPV , it’s the best MPV option for me in my opinion at this moment to cater for my needs and requirements.

 

The chapter was already done at the first post, I’ve already written in down that I went for the Sharan. 

Bro

Thank you for sharing, and it's an interesting journey, which I have gone through in some sense not long ago, and I may look for a small MPV as well when my current car is due.

There are non isofix alternatives for car seats that secure very well, and retrofit examples, but YMMV:

https://www.kodiaqforums.co.uk/threads/isofix-3rd-row.2297/

Is the Skoda Kodiaq suitable?

Anyways, it's your money, and your choice. Sometimes you'll need to filter some of the things posted, and don't take it to heart when not everyone feels the same or gives advice.

You don't need any endorsement of your choice, and don't feel bad if you don't get it. Some folks get snarky, but just filter, or make use of the ignore function.. 

Just move on and get what you think is right.

 

When I get a 7 seater, I will prefer a smaller one, even one without a large boot. In Singapore, the chances of me using the full capacity of the car is low, and only you will know how often you need the boot, plus all seven seats.

So again YMMV.

Good luck 

[therock]

No one has to agree with me, but it is human nature to want the best deal, and also seek some endorsement of their choices.

We can offer our opinion, and when it's not accepted, we should move on too and avoid being the belligerent party, IMO.. 

Even if it's the worse decision ever, well, it's not our friend, our relative or even our kid, and actually even if it is, it isn't us, so let's keep it civil, I say. 
But hey, that's just me and my wishful thinking, we all have a keyboard and all know how to use it. But since the forum doesn't allow us to change what we post after a short 10-15 min, what we post is stuck here. So even if we change our minds on the tone or what we say, it's stuck here, and sometimes that leaves a bitter after taste.

 

It's a Friday, so TGIF, and enjoy F1 or whatever else that life offers us. Have a good weekend, and c'est la vie.

[Ctaiwee]

@therock thanks for the advice, I’m new here and I didn’t know that written about my experience would have such a negative impact on some. All I want to do was to share my experience based on some facts that thoughts and needs. why I did and think that this is the best choice for me. It’s for people who are like me thinking about getting their first MPV .  But well , you are right, use the ignore features. 
 

I was at Skoda too, they share the same show room with VW, I’ve tried the kodiaq, there is not enough boot space for my stroller  and their is no Isofix and the 3rd seat too.

[Ct3833]

12 hours ago, Ctaiwee said:

@Estrangable the sharan was or the Alhambra quite ideal to my expectations. It has self parking functions too, road tax for a 2 liter is not over the top and the 1.4liter is just as cheap 

Sharan 2.0L turbo will provide a balance of both power and cheap enough road tax. Not too big yet provides comfortable space.  

Some of the HDB and even non HDB car parks have the height limit of 1.9m or even 1.8m, if you are considering Kia and Opel, then you have to take note of the height limit, Sharan will not have this problem.

[Ct3833]

12 hours ago, Ctaiwee said:

@Freeder  we didn’t like the non sliding doors at the back, the gap to get into the 3rd row back seats are smaller that the sharan, 

Yes for a full size MPV with 3rd row seats, sliding door is a must.

[PSP415]

23 hours ago, Ctaiwee said:

I finally realized that fatherhood had taken over my life. It’s the cycle of life that I thought I’ll never be in. 

Happy being a Bachelor for more then 40 years till I met my wife. I thought , sure, we can still survive with a Coupé . Then came baby 1 and we changed to a five door hatchback ( Have your tried putting a baby in the back seat of a Coupé, I’ll spent more $ after to see the chiropractor for my back). But when baby 2 came along, suddenly with two child seats at the back , there is no room left to put anyone else, the maid can’t even fit in between.

There are days when we have to go out with the elders. (luckily we only have two of them in singapore). Don’t know where to fit if there are all 4 and 2 kids and my wife and me.  I need a V class Mercedes or a Toyota HiAce van for that.

I know many people will say “Hey, we can manage to squeeze up to 8 in a SUV or MPV”. They can sit on laps and the adults can sit “one in one out” seating positions. 

First it’s so uncomfortable, after even a 30mins drive . As an adult, I can’t seem to feel my legs if I’m in the middle or 3rd row after the squeeze. 

Good luck trying to ask two 80 year olds to do that, you will never hear the end of it. 

Secondly, legally you are only supposed to have the right amount of people per seat belt. So our quest was simple, or so we thought…

My wife and my needs were simple.

1) Safety first for the kids. (Who cares about looks😂 that is when Parenthood hits)

2) Comfort for everyone in the car.

3) Have enough booth space at the back to at least put 1 stroller with all rows of seats up.

4) Reasonable size and height that can go into most car parks and easy to drive. ( if it’s huge, I’m sure someone will ding the car on the first day of driving it)

5) As cheap as possible with all those needs.  well, this is abit of an option point. Good to have , but with COE at this price, it’s a tall order.

Our little adventure started one sunny Monday morning. We have mondays off (lucky us)😝. We visited, I can’t remember how and dealership and Parallel importers, second hand car dealers too.

To make it short, We did not  see the  Rolls-Royce , Ferrari, Lamborghini, Bentley , Porsche,Aston Martin ,etc…

So after seeing a lot of brands. I can tell you we learned a lot. As our priority was safety first for the kids. They are at 7 months and 2.5 years old of me writing this . They both need a properly child care seats . The youngest one needs a back facing type as he has not fully developed his core and neck muscles to fit front facing child seats.

So we needed seats that have Isofix features, ( I’m not going back to the dark ages especially when it comes to the safety of our kids)  if you know, most 7-8 seats have 3 rows of seats. And there are two types of configurations. The ones with the opening in the middle of the 2nd row ( eg: Toyota  Alphard) and  the ones without the opening. 

And if you decide to choose the ones which have middle opening to walk to the 3rd row.  The easy part is that you don’t really need to move anything or seats, You just open the doors and the walk into the car and go to the back from the middle aisle. It’s not very wide, but an adult can squeeze through. 

Here comes the question. Generally , the most comfortable and expensive seats are the 2nds rows, with the leg and arm rest  and some even comes with massage options. Good points to score points with the elderly on the massage options.

But no, most car makers don’t think this way, they don’t have isofix at the 3rd rows and they want you to put your kids in the 2nd row after you spend buckets loads of $ on those prized seats. How is my child going to enjoy the massage or leg rest when the child seat is a buffer between them. And I rather score points with my mother in law then make her climb into the 3rd row back seats😅.

If you chose the other configuration without the middle opening at the 2nd row seats. You won’t be an able to get to the 3rd rows with two child seats fixed into the 2nd row seats. Maybe some cars can , but the gap is so small when you can’t fold the seats down to access the 3rd row seats. 

Only a few cars made it to our list because of the isofix at the 3rd row seats.  Sad to say the popular Toyota Alphard didn’t made it , they don’t Isofix at the 3rd row, even the Volvo XC90 ( known for its safety features) doesn’t come with it at the 3rd rows, all Japanese brands don’t have it at all. and some other  continental brands too, like Mercedes MLB20, BMW 218GT, Citroen, Peugeot, Alfa, Fiat, Skoda and Korean brand Hyundai and Chinese BYD M3e both didn’t have IsoFix at the 3rd row too.

 Audi and Renault didn’t have anything in their show room at Leng Kee as of now. 

If you are still with me after my long rant, here is our list of cars that made it. 😂.

Kia Carnival

Opel Zafira E Life 

Seat Alhambra

Volkswagen Sharan

(The VW Touran didn’t make it as it has no booth space for my stroller after all 7 seats are up)

With every list there can  finally only be one left. How we came to the one was pretty easy.

 Kia carnival is huge at 5115mm long. Parking it is going to be a challenge at older carparks and I’m sure one of us will ding it. Also the engine is a diesel 2.2L and our government tax on diesel is not something we want to consider.

Next off the list was the Opel Zafira E Life. With a range of only 230 km range after a electric charge, going up north for a family holiday is going to be a challenge.

The two horse ( Alhambra and Sharan) race to the last comes built from the same factory in Portugal, and they are under the umbrella of Volkswagen Group.

Volkswagen “The people’s car “ in the English and kudos to them for designing  this for the normal people in mind, it is the perfect made for the family like mine, two or more young kids with elder parents.  They have integrated child seats for those with kids from 3-12. Saves you spending more money for buying boaster seats for the older kids or when your young kids gets older. Have enough space to put the stroller at the back with all 7 seats up.  Not as easy to get to the 3rd row back seats as the ones with middle aisle configuration.  But it’s not hard either to get to the back with its sliding door and  reasonable gap ( I’m 1.78m and I could climb in with easy). Yea I have two kids, and “IF” (please note on the word “IF”) I  decide placed both the kids in the 2nd middle row, just to take the piss out of my in-laws…😅

I can put one in the middle and one to the side of the 2nd row (because they are all 3 individual seats in the 2nd row and they all have Isofix on them), while the rest of the adults can still go to the back from the other side. If when my wife is willing to give us another bundle of joy or the agent of Chaos depending on the kids mood. But she said, her factory is close. 
 

 it really spacious in the middle row, I can have three adults sitting side by side without feeling squeezed not like my BMW 216AT back row seats. But I would like my elders to be comfortable, so putting the youngest  in the middle seat on the 2nd row and having two elderly flanking that child and have my helper at the back with the older child works best for us.   

But there can only one car “to rule them all”. we went with the Sharan based on the badge the power of the engine. Well first it’s a VW, and I was told that the whole singapore market for Seat’s  last years new car sales was less then 100 units, somehow no one’s wants a Seat, I’m not sure if this report is true, but yes I don’t see a lot of Seats on the road compared to VW. So resale for the Seat is not ideal. The Engine for the Seat Alhambra is a 1.4 and the VW Sharan a 2.0, they are both turbocharged and power is more then 110kw and hence they fall into category “B” for the COE.

The Sharan has all the extras and nicer interior, like the sun roof, yes it’s nice to have but not a need. The difference with its current discount on both cars in $ was not significant large. (Out goes point 5 on our list) But in return was neutralized by the  better resale value and VW brand, but the one that closed the deal for me was being able to have the same engine (EA888) as the Golf GTI with a 7.8 seconds to 100km, making my dreams of me going back to being the young bachelor I was at heart. 😎 Even though my wife thinks I’m already an old uncle in my late 40’s 😆. I still want to put the windows down , have the sun roof opened and blast my music from Gold 90.5 (boomer station) and feel the wind in my face while I hand surf with my arms hanging out the door ledge.

Hey , you are never to old to still be an young Ah Beng at heart.

Your sincerely,

Ctaiwee

 

 

 

 

 

I am happy for you because you put much effort and thoughts in selecting the mpv that ticks the most boxes with the all important presence of the IsoFix for all seats cos every passenger life's is just as important as yours. 

Unfortunately, not everyone is bothered or can afford the rides that have it or really think an accident will happen. Some will say, out of the hundreds or thousands of accidents, which one is solely due to absence of an IsoFix. 

Hope you went ahead with your selected ride and just enjoy the peace of mind it brings. 

Your money. Your family. Your kids. You have the final say. 

Thanks for sharing. Someone may be in the same dilemma and you may have helped with your homework done. 

Stay safe 

Cheers 

 

 

[therock]

4 minutes ago, Ctaiwee said:

@therock thanks for the advice, I’m new here and I didn’t know that written about my experience would have such a negative impact on some. All I want to do was to share my experience based on some facts that thoughts and needs. why I did and think that this is the best choice for me. It’s for people who are like me thinking about getting their first MPV .  But well , you are right, use the ignore features. 
 

I was at Skoda too, they share the same show room with VW, I’ve tried the kodiaq, there is not enough boot space for my stroller  and their is no Isofix and the 3rd seat too.

In a public forum, expect supporters and detractors.

But if you've decided on the Sharan, then don't look back and there's no need to defend your decision, and just enjoy it. 

 

[Ctaiwee]

@Ct3833 I agree with you, and hence my choice. It’s a everyday problem I have. At times I have to drive the company truck and looking out for car parks to fit it is a pain. So if I’m going to drive this car everyday. And if the palace you live in or the place you visit offen has “Height Restrictions”, you better get what suits you best. 

[Ctaiwee]

@PSP415 thank you for the encouragement, I do hope that someone do learn from this and can save lots of time instead of visiting most show rooms.

[Ctaiwee]

@therock much appreciated, and yes , I’m looking forward to having the new car and  not having to squeeze the family at the back in the current one.

[Sinicker]

the Sharan is a good MPV with what's under the bonnet. I recommend the Sharan to my friends too who ask for my input.

I, as a family man, cannot see myself driving an MPV.

happy motoring!

[Ctaiwee]

@Sinicker I never thought I would too 😂 coming from  a Coupé to a five door to a MPV.

[Ct3833]

1 hour ago, Sinicker said:

the Sharan is a good MPV with what's under the bonnet. I recommend the Sharan to my friends too who ask for my input.

I, as a family man, cannot see myself driving an MPV.

happy motoring!

I went through that stage of MPV for 15 years when my children were younger, it is a decision of no regrets but a lot of fun, convenience and happiness. Enjoy guys 

[Benarsenal]

Chill la everyone. He just sharing his car buying process only what. Why must question him so much?

Some people really 🙄

[Thaiyotakamli]

Can consider this too

https://m.sgcarmart.com/used_cars/info.php?ID=1136287

[Carbon82]

Siang kar pager? @Ct3833...

Before I dig out some posts I have made on my Sharan, I would like to point out that this car is the longest I have kept, 5 years 9 months to be exact. 

My criteria is much more simpler back in 2016, able to allow my wheel chair bounded dad to gain easy access into and out of the car, comfortable sitting for up to 7 pax, enough space for wheel chair when all 3 row of seats are occupied, and last, not to sluggish to drive around. 

After some research and test drives, brought my parents to check out Sharan and Odyssey. In term of ease of access, Odyssey win hand down with it low floor bed, but the drive is just too boring (I was driving a turbo-charged 2.0L sedan then). Sharan won us over with the more comfortable seats (from 1st to 3rd row), and the sub 8 sec century sprint time is my cup of tea. 

No regret till date, and in fact I had a hard time finding a replacement for my high mileage ride (clocked ~175K km). With the passing of my dad few years back, i not longer need a 7 seater, but I will miss the boot space of my Sharan (I have helped my sis when she shifted her house, as well as my wife when she is shifting to her new office, cabinet, fridge, 42" TV, office furniture, etc. all can be loaded into the boot with ease). 

OK I better stop here before someone thought I am trying to steal the limelight from TS.

[Thaiyotakamli]

11 hours ago, shrjun said:

It's just for that % chance in case of an accident . Who knows how an accident will play out . Doubt manufacturers whack the car during testing of safety from all directions and at all speeds . 

If want safe then xc90