How much boot (trunk) space do you need?

[Mrs Eleflump]

Squee

So hubby was just telling me about one of his work friends who has just got a new car. It's a Chevrolet Spark, and it sounds great, cheap to run, 5 doors, good safety record etc, and he said 'maybe that's what we should get when we're looking at a 5-door car' (we've got a 3-door at the moment and the 5-door would be for getting a LO in and out of )

He did say though that he didn't think it had a massive boot, and obviously you need a decent amount of space for pushchair and paraphenalia...

I just looked it up and it's 170 litres of boot space. I have no idea how that compares with what I've got now (Renault clio 1.2, 2001 reg), so I want to hear about YOUR boot space Do you know how much space you have, and is it big enough for a pushchair and all the bumf that goes with a LO?

(On a side note, we haven't really talked baby much for a while, so it was lovely to hear he's still thinking about it even if we're not talking about it )

 

[sarahfh]

I have a 58 reg Corsa, a quick google search says that's 285 litre capacity, but it means nothing to me. However, I can easily fit my friends pushchair in the boot with space to spare. The only thing with mine is that we have to take a wheel off her pushchair, she has the Oyster so one of the slimmer models around.
However, I'm sure I have got it in there once with all the wheels attached. And either way, taking a wheel off takes like 2 seconds while lifting it in then same again putting it back when it gets lifted out.
The only issue I have is that my car is three door too, but I can't moan about the boot

 

[itsnowmyturn]

I have a 5 door and would never go back to a three door. My boot however is small 285 litres, I really feel like it doesnt fit much in, I havent got a child but when we go on holiday we get 2 suitcases in the boot and can slip small stuff into the edges but thats it, we have to use the back seats, I want to get a slightly bigger car next year particularly as when we go to my parents or his parents we would have to take everything with us as they live so far away

 

[comotion89]

I have n 09 corsa n OH a 57 Astra both 3 doors I managed with my nephew I can't stand 5 door they look too family Ish and for me ruin the corsa ...by hook or crook everything will fit lol

 

[lozzy21]

I have n 09 corsa n OH a 57 Astra both 3 doors I managed with my nephew I can't stand 5 door they look too family Ish and for me ruin the corsa ...by hook or crook everything will fit lol

Problem with 3 doors is not that they have smaller boot spaces but trying to fasten a car seat in is a nightmare. My MIL has a
3 door Clio and it takes three times as long to get Niamh's seat in there than it does into my mams Picasso. Doing it when it's raining means your arse gets soaked!

 

[Mrs Eleflump]

Lol, yes, I don't care what it looks like, I want something that's going to be easy on my joints, they hurt enough as it is without trying to manoeuvre a car seat and a wriggling baby into the back seat of a 3-door car! I'm not at all bothered if it looks like a family car - we'll be buying it for our family! I'd like to stick to something quite little, though, as I'm not very confident parking a great big tank of a thing

It looks like the one hubby mentioned does indeed have a teeny tiny boot, compared to a corsa etc. Odd, because the chevy website made a big deal about how child-safe the car is...why is that a selling point, if you can't get a buggy in the boot for said child?!

 

[sausages]

We've got a Citroen xara Picasso and the main reason I love it is for the boot space! It's got three proper seats in the back so plenty of room for another baby if we have one too.

I don't know how many litres the boot holds, but it's plenty big enough. Our holidays are uk hols whe we drive there, so this big boot comes in ally handy then. Plus I can fit our pushchair in and tons of shopping too with room to spare. AND when I got to ikea I can take the car seats out and the back seats too and voila! It's a van! Woot!

The car itself is boring to drive, sluggish, but fuel economy is okay, safety is okay (especially with our good car seats) and the space is ah-mazing!

 

[sarahfh]

Just thought I would add, the 09 and above Fiesta has a slightly bigger boot than the Corsa. That's what I'm hoping to change to if we continue to wait our full 4 years.
OH has a Ford Focus, it's not as bad to park as I expected actually and has plenty of room. He will swap it before we have a family though because he has the ST version which has no isofix or carseat compatiblity. I think he will just get a normal Focus as a replacement

 

[lucy_smith]

I think it depends on the pram you get! My friend has a tiny KIA picanto 3 door and she managed to squeeze a double buggy in the boot and both her girls in the back seats, and all there toys, clothes, changing bag etc for a week away in the middle seat, and then I have another friend who has a fiesta 07 plate 4 door who needs to fold down 2 back seats to fit her pram in ! But I agree that the size of the boot af a Ford focus is a good size!! I have a Toyota auris at the min and I managed to fit a big pram into the back of that at one point!

 

[Hollynesss]

I was driving behind a Chevy Spark today and thought of you The trunk (boot) really is very tiny, although it is a cute car! It looked like it could fit a stroller (pram) if it isn't too big.

 

[Mrs Eleflump]

Lol

I have no clue what sort of buggy/pram I want...I suppose having an idea would be useful before car shopping I don't want anything too heavy, though, so I suppose that might make it more realistic to have a smaller-framed one that will go in a smaller boot.

Happily, hubby now works at a place where we can get discounts on a car, were we to buy one, so that might be useful. They have a range of marques, but I'm not sure how the mileage would be on them (they're mostly ex-fleet cars, though I believe they do discounts on non-fleet cars from the associated franchise dealerships as well).

I mainly use the car for short hops locally, so if we were going further afield we'd usually take the train or fly, and I'd hire a car at the other end. But it'd still be useful to know I could get a buggy and changing bag etc in there! I'm very lucky that I live 15 mins walk from town (not the big town, but big enough for general weekend shopping/banking), and for supermarket trips would obviously not require a buggy. I think it'd just be for days out etc that the boot space would be needed, as I wouldn't even need it for dropping LO off at nursery once I was back at work, really. I hope to be able to wear LO when he/she is titchy (omg I can't wait )

The spark is really cute, I agree. I'm so attached to my current car, as he's the first one I've ever owned, and I think most people have a soft spot for their first car. but eventually I know I will need a more family friendly one. Hubby's friend says the spark is not very, well, sparky, to drive, it's not nippy at all, apparently, which would be a change from the clio, which I love driving. I'm also used to corsas, as that's what I learned in, though I like the sheer solidity of the clio. It felt like a tank after the corsa

 

[MrsT&Ben]

We have a Peugeot 307 06 plate and I adore it. The boat is huge there is plenty of space in the back seats and it doesn't look too 'family'. Yes it's a estate but its a small one and it certainly doesn't drive like an estate. I'm a bit of a girl racer if truth be known (when lo isn't in the car of course!). Boot space to me is important. We've had 4 cars in the time lo has been with us and I'm finally happy with this one!