What family car do you guys own?

[kaanage]

too bad the Routan isn't coming to Australia.

That looks awesome! The sort of car that makes perfect sense for large families (a euro Odyessy).

Too bad Australian conditions require HULKING GREAT SUVs with low profile road tyres to get safely to the school drop off

[Cookie28]

You should see the cars in NYC, my dad lives there with my step mum and their two kids and at their school pick up it's all Chevy Suburbans and Escalades on 20's or some s-class merc's. It's ridiculous!!!

[pommy_golfer]

My initial thought was safety so i wanted to buy something slightly bigger for a bit of road presence and something slightly raised like an SUV type vehicle, so that the family are slightly more protected against side impact etc. The Touran would have been ideal, they are everywhere here and only realised they were not in australia when i looked for them on car sales. Other than that practicality, comfort and space was next on the list. I cant decide until i get up close and personal with a few of them before I buy.
Thanks everyone for the input, it has been most insightful! I will let you know how i get on next month(ish)....

[xlr8it]

Audi Q7 4.2 TDI, almost a VW, My dad just bought a new Tiguan thou, that's why I'm lingering here, great forum, well done everyone.

Just installed a new deck and reversing camera in his Tiguan and ordered a set of genuine fog lamps to go on it , will fit them next week.

[brad]

Had the latest Mondeo wagon up to a few weeks back & it fitted family duties well.
Currently have a Gen5 Subaru Outback - ugly but the wife likes driving it.
My Octavia works as a family car but my girls (10 & 14) both have big feet & reckon it could be a fraction easier to get in & out. The Skoda would work well for a younger family.

[woofy]

I have a Mazda 6 hatch and a RS Octy Hatch, we have a 3.5 yr old and a 7mth old, had the 6 for just over 5 yrs and the RS for nearly 3. Both work well with kids your age, the only catch is with the huge car seats we have noone can really sit in the middle. Because most cars are so narrow now (except Falcon, Commodore, Territory) you won't fit 3. It's a pain in the bum if you have more than 2 kids and part of the reason why so many people get the 7 seater SUVs. Add in that you now have to have kids in car seats until 7 and the seats seem to get bigger and bigger as they grow.

So if you are stopping with 2, or not having another for a few years, go the RS OCty...or a Scout even, hatch or wagon doesn't really matter its just height in the wagon which most people never use, the boots huge in both. Or if you want more boot or legroom the Superb sedan or wagon. Anything with a hatch is awesome. We were looking at the Jetta, but the hatch in the Skoda is probably one of the most underated features when they are compared.

[gareth_oau]

our 4 boys are all older now, with the youngest nearly 16, so we dont go out as a family much these days.

However, for trips to school, the grocery shopping etc, we are using the RS4 as our family truckster!

When we needed a bigger, family car, we got a commodore wagon and stuck a bench seat in the back, converting it to a 7 seater. Throw in the modded 5.7L V8, 6 speed manual etc etc, was the world's fastest school bus! LOL