[matt-b]

Hello

This is my first message on here so please be nice! 

Me and the wife are expecting our first baby in July and require a car that is suitable for the bags, pram etc that come with having a little he or she.

The model we are looking at is around a 2013/2014 i30 version.

Does anyone have any experience of what prams fit and don't fit in the boot and how people find using the Isofix seating?


Thanks for you're time, any help will be great.


Matt

[xiziz]

 

Ive got a i30 wagon, there larger in the boot. I fit a big pram and a big dog in the boot. You probably want the wagon if your frequently gonna lug pram+suitcases/shopping. Pain to dissasemble the wheels to make the pram smaller. My kid is 14 months now. Glad I sold my Volvo S80, would never have fit all in it.

Of course, it depends a lot on pram model, ive got a trille viper 4s.

Never used the Isofix, there easily accessable, but middle seat has none, and thats the safest spot.

Best is if you can wait untill you have a pram and seat and try to fit em in at the dealer.

I am very happy with my car, might get tight if we want more kids though

[Dazzler]

  Matt,

You should have no worries here. We are not a typical car Forum (we are a very friendly bunch!)

To my mind the Tourer (wagon) would be the better option. We have had both.

The Tourer isn't large by Wagon standards (only maybe 100 litres more boot space) but it is a better shape for a pram or portacot...

We don't use the Isofix fittings either, sorry.

[matt-b]

Hello

Ok thanks for that info, I'll have a look at the estate version, though I do like the hatchback a lot.

The pram we have looked at does fold down pretty well.

This might sound random, but could anyone with either version run a tape measure around the width and depth of the boot that would be a big help.


Thanks, Matt

[asathorny]

It's been a little while now since my youngest daughter had her last ankle snapper, but she used to use me as Dad taxi now and then and had quite a large stroller and she had no problems getting it in the boot space of my i30 which is not an estate/waggon/boot.

She never had one of those huge big wheel 'Silver Cross' prams which were all the rage in the fifties...  ask your mother she'll describe one for ya 

Good luck

[beerman]

G'day mate,

Congratulations on the little one. They change your life forever.....

We have two car seats in the wife's Fd hatch without issue (Though they are not isofix as up until recently ADRs did not allow them). There isn't much room for the middle seat, but there isn't much room there anyway. I am 185cm and I can sit in either front seat comfortably, with the seat layed down in the'baby' position it is a bit tighter.

We also had the pram in the hatch without issues there was room for the shopping and other light things (usually around/ontop of the pram) but obviously this would depend on the pram.

I took a FD wagon from Brisbane to Melbourne and back with car seats, port a cots luggage and a pusher (it folded up more). You can fit a lot more in the wagon due to the slightly bigger luggage area (and wagon rear door which allows you to slide things out rather than lifting).

Do you have your pram/seat yet? if so, throw it in the back and see how it goes.

[Dazzler]

The FD that beerman refers to is the series 1 model which finished in 2012. Sounds like you are talking about a series 2 which is slightly different.

I measured my wife's boot (2014 tourer/wagon) it is roughly 110cm between the wheel arches (obviously quite a bit wider in places) and approx 90cm from the back of the seat to the narrowest part of the back hatch opening.

My wife can just fit 3 car seats across the back when required to.

[beerman]

That would be a squeeze depending on the seats.

My wife insists on buying the bigger ones judged 'safest'. They take up a fair bit of real estate in the back seat.

Like everything, it depends on the seat/pram you buy. There were certainly prams out there that were too big for the hatch, but luckily we (she) didn't like (or knew I would go balistic) them....

I measured my wife's boot (2014 tourer/wagon) it is roughly 110cm between the wheel arches (obviously quite a bit wider in places) and approx 90cm from the back of the seat to the narrowest part of the back hatch opening.

Measured my 3dr which I think is the same size in the back as the 5dr hatch 103cm between the arches and 72cm from the bottom of the rear seat to the narrowest section of the rear hatch, length/depth reduces rapidly due to the backward sloping of the rear seats...at 20cm height the length/depth is reduced from 72cm down to 65cm.

imo I don't think it's big enough for a pram, definitely not if you want to put other stuff I there too.

[cleid]

We use the Isofix fasteners, they make it really easy to install the car seat. Only takes a few seconds and you know it's securely fastened. We were overseas for a month recently and had to use a traditional seatbelt installation and found it fiddly by comparison. It also worked itself loose over time, so it required constant attention and did not inspire much confidence in case of a crash (this was with a cheapo seat that we purchased over there so that could have contributed to it too).

Our pram, while not huge, is not exactly compact and it takes up half the boot floor of our Tourer. It's the Baby Jogger Mini GT. The low boot lip makes it easier to lift the pram in and out as well.

Our friends have a Golf hatch with a much smaller boot and on their first weekend away they realised the pram would not fit and had to go out and buy an umbrella stroller. So another option is to just get a compact pram.

[cleid]

Here's our wagon around xmas time as we were on our way to a holiday rental. We took the pram, baby bouncer, loads of nappies, bub's play mat, bub's food and clothing. Add to that a couple of suitcases, plus bed sheets and bath towels, sailing gear and toolbox, groceries for a few days, etc.

We used to travel light before, when we went to Vietnam for 2 weeks I took 1 carry-on bag.



While the i30 hatchback's boot is already class leading at 378 litres, the wagon ups that to 528 litres and comes with a removable cargo net, which means you can fill the boot right up when you need to. It is 18cm longer.

[matt-b]

Hello

Thanks for all the replies, its nice to hear peoples experienced and opinions.

The wife likes the look of the Cosatto WOW pram with fold down dimensions of 82,58,32cm so it should be OK though i think i need to buy the pram package first and then go test it in actual car.

Another random question -

I know someone who had a old Getz, there biggest problem was the lights, wiper stalks where on the opposite side to most other makes of car.
Could you confirm that the lights, indicator are for the left hand and the wipers right?


Thanks, Matt

[Shambles]

Could you confirm that the lights, indicator are for the left hand and the wipers right?

They sure are

[beerman]

Talking to the minister for finance and war, some of her friends really dislike having to 'lift' the pram out of a hatch. She had no issue with it but she came from a Falcon with a boot where she had to do the same. To save your sainty, you want to be sure that your misses is happy lifting the pram out of and back into the boot every time she goes anywhere (this could be 3 or 4 times a day).

I only say that because if your Misses is anything like mine you will hear about it at a multiple of the number of times it has to be done  which can become somewhay irritating.

[matt-b]

So.. yesterday, I went and bought one.

64 plate, i30 active petrol, 11k miles.

Picking it up next week.

Thanks for the advice and help.


Matt

[Dazzler]

So.. yesterday, I went and brought one.

64 plate, i30 active petrol, 11k miles.

Picking it up next week.

Thanks for the advice and help.


Matt

 

Thanks for letting us know... please don't be a stranger..

[beerman]

Well that's the easy part done......

Now for the baby 

[17clarence]

In a similar vein......
I replaced my mk4 Golf/Bora estate with an i30 tourer (2015).
My dog cage (large) just fitted in the mk4 with the rear seats in place.
However in the i30 it won't fit, as the angle of the rear seats in the i30 are more reclined, so pushing the cage backwards, and the hatchback window is more slopped than the old Bora, so the top of the cage is 'pinched' in the available space, closing the hatchback would break the window.
The load area is wider in the i30, so horses for courses.

I'm going to get a medium sized cage, as the dog is only medium sized anyhow (cocker spaniel) so was lording it up a bit anyway. 

[Dazzler]

In a similar vein......
I replaced my mk4 Golf/Bora estate with an i30 tourer (2015).
My dog cage (large) just fitted in the mk4 with the rear seats in place.
However in the i30 it won't fit, as the angle of the rear seats in the i30 are more reclined, so pushing the cage backwards, and the hatchback window is more slopped than the old Bora, so the top of the cage is 'pinched' in the available space, closing the hatchback would break the window.
The load area is wider in the i30, so horses for courses.

I'm going to get a medium sized cage, as the dog is only medium sized anyhow (cocker spaniel) so was lording it up a bit anyway.

The Tourer is a nice vehicle but my wife had a similar feeling when she swapped from a 2010 CW (earlier model i30 wagon) to a 2014 Tourer. Even though on paper the tourer has a similar "boot" to the CW the sloping tailgate and general design of the rear has robbed her of some useable carrying capacity. 

[cleid]

The sloping rear glass is caused by car makers trying to design wagons that also look good. The next generation Golf wagon has the same sloping glass compared to your more vertical mk4.

Compare old Volvo wagons to contemporary models to see what I mean. The boot capacity on the current models is ludicrous.

[Dazzler]

The sloping rear glass is caused by car makers trying to design wagons that also look good. The next generation Golf wagon has the same sloping glass compared to your more vertical mk4.

Compare old Volvo wagons to contemporary models to see what I mean. The boot capacity on the current models is ludicrous.

Yes, that is surely the reason. It is a very nice looking car and hasn't really dated in the 4 years since it came out. 

The boot space IS relatively small for a wagon. 

[xiziz]

Compare old Volvo wagons to contemporary models to see what I mean. The boot capacity on the current models is ludicrous.

Oh how ridiculed they got for putting a merc-rear on the v70 replacement, the new "family tourer" v90.

One things for sure, the v70s are going to keep their value for many years!

[Dazzler]

Compare old Volvo wagons to contemporary models to see what I mean. The boot capacity on the current models is ludicrous.

Oh how ridiculed they got for putting a merc-rear on the v70 replacement, the new "family tourer" v90.

One things for sure, the v70s are going to keep their value for many years!

The V90 does look nicer though... (as you say very "Mercish")