Do you Need a 7 Seater Car (People Carrier)?

Car manufacturers wouldn’t go to such lengths to design and create cars that the public don’t want. There are way too many manufacturers that have seven-seater cars as part of their model line-up that it begs the question: do you need a 7 seater car?

The law on child seats states that any child as a passenger in a car must be sat in a child seat or booster seat, as they are sometimes called, if the child is under 135cm in height or up to 12 years old. It’s because the seatbelt itself can dig into the neck and doesn’t offer the same level of safety as it does to an adult, despite being able to adjust the height of the seatbelt in most cars.

This leads us into needing a seven-seater car because most child seats are bulky and in a regular four-seater car, two child seats in the back of the car are the maximum you can carry. What if you have three or more children? Or their friends want to ride in the car? This is why there are so many 7 seaters on the roads today. Yes, there are seatbelt clips that can help the seatbelt stay below the neck/shoulder of a child but they fit into a small loop-hole in the legislation and could be outlawed at any time.

You’d expect a car with seven seats to be enormous but there are many mini-MPVs that can carry seven without too much difficulty. Cars like the Vauxhall Zafira, Ford C-Max, Mazda 5 or the Fiat Doblo Family are worth a look if you’re after a more compact MPV. Of course, there are larger cars available such as the Renault Grand Scenic, Mitsubishi Outlander or the Ford Galaxy, which are more suited to long road trips.

Toyota Prius People Carrier 7+ the Hybrid Seven Seater

With fuel prices reaching dizzying heights, it’s important to look for an MPV that offers decent fuel economy. The Toyota Prius +7 offers hybrid technology as seen in the regular Prius and will most likely be on the eco-friendly side of 60mpg when it hits the UK’s shores in 2012. Other manufacturers such as VW’s Bluemotion range with the Sharan already have a 50mpg model and that takes some beating in terms of size, versatility and usability. In most cases, opting for the usually more expensive diesel engine in the range will pay dividends when it comes to day-to-day running.

Getting back to the original question of whether you need a 7 seater or not, it pays to evaluate your driving habits and uses for a car. If you’re an avid DIYer and spend more time buying timber than you do electronic gizmos, then a 7 seater can be a god-send. Many cars, such as the Ford C-Max or Kia Carens, have seats that fold down flat which enables it to really live up to the multi-purpose vehicle moniker. You can carry long items, heavy ones, and odd-shaped ones more easily, just as you would in a van.