Any parents? advice please (Twingo based)

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tommy89

tommy89

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Hi all!

Been a long time since I have been on here - But I may be about to return.

In the last few months I have found out that my wife is expecting our first child (very exciting!) however - we currently have a clio 1.5 dci 3 door. Whilst I thought this would a good car to have its not actually working out so well - as my wife does 2 miles to work, and 2 back... the "dci" bit isnt really that useful. Also - the doors and rear access is very poor when trying to load the car seat as the front seats just slide back and get in the way.

So... my question. What is a twingo with the sliding rear seats like for anyone with a baby seat? she still wants a tiny car as her works car park is tiny. I remember from when I have my twingo that getting into the back was very easy with tall doors and the front seat sliding all the way forward and staying there.

tommy.
 
one of the boys at donnington on our stand bought a baby seat, i can't for the life of me remember who though (names and faces suck with me) he was welsh lol, not sure if it was for his twingo though??? if so, callum stirling will be able to tell you who it was and you can ask message him to ask how he's found it so far??

i know that i seen plenty of twingos and clios with baby seats in the back, however seeing them and hearring from the owners is definitely a different kettle of fish :)

congratulations tommy mate! :D
 
Thanks for the congrats Oscar - very exciting :)

thanks also both for the info - Il try and message to see how they have found it.

A clio for most would be perfectly workable but our cars are parking in thin single garages - but the doors on the clio being so long (and the car rather wide) we are finidng when practicing that we just cant get in the car far enough to plug in the seat. Ive tried it in a mates twingo extreme and that was okay at access in the garage (without scraping the doors on the walls) just the rear bench was quite far away - if any of that makes sense.

The wife really doesnt want to be stuck with a "mum wagon" as we are both 24/ 25 it seems a bit early to give up on having nice cars just because we have a child - and she hates 5 doors on most cars (awkward ino!)

She loved my Twingo - and thinks it may work....
 
With a baby/toddler seat a five-door is always going to be easier Tommy.
Bought my GT not expecting to use the back seats much, but my Sprog and her mate insist on travelling ''incommunicado'' with the tinted rear windows. The taller door is a help, as is the generous travel in the front seats but, if you're doing it regularly i can imagine it becoming a bit of a pain.

Suppose it depends on how patient you are...
 
Thank you sandy55 -

Its good to hear that it is possible in a twingo - Most of the time when using the twingo (what will be her car) it will just be her and the baby - so the baby will most of the time be in the front seat - just nice to know the back seats are useable.

I think listening to her moan every single night about having to drive a mum wagon (5 door anything it seems) would do my head in. For longer trips we also have my car thats a pug 307 with back doors.
 
Could always buy an RS3 haha, I've had 5 people in my twingo before there's reasonable room it's a large car interior wise in all honesty it's about the same as the old Clio should be fine for someone with a child
 
Hey,
Congratulations!!!! So exciting and quite scary I imagine!

I know what you mean, I'd be the same. Still at a young age and not wanting to give up on a nice car for a parent wagon!
I know she hates 5 doors and this is probably too big but the new Clio would be a good call. 5 door, still looks smart and has all the boot room you need for a pram etc.
I think the twingo would do great as long as it has the sliding seats and your wife doesn't mind bending in and out to get the seat in place.

How far is she and will you find out if it's a dude or dutet??
 
Thank you again all - Reassuring to hear people are using these twingos as "real" cars - I never used the back of my extreme as it was just my commuter.

Thank you caz133 - its very scary indeed! but proper exciting - She would absolutely love a new clio (and has requested one infact! )but unfortunately we dont have the funds to get one of those quite yet as they are too new - we own the 10 plate clio diesel outright so dont pay anything out monthly on either of our cars - whilst we can afford a new clio on finance - its always sat funny with me to commit myself to paying out for a car.

The twingo we are looking at is probably a hated model by all on here - its the 1.2 dynamique 16v with the slidy seats at £4200 - the clio diesel will be an almost straight swap we hope.

She is now nearly 18 weeks and is due in march! not long at all. Really want to get the car situation sorted out before we have no money at christmas. she is certainly unwilling to even go and see any of the following as they are "mum wagons"
fiat punto 5dr
clio campus 5dr
suzuki swift 5dr
megane (any door or shape!)
we cant afford a mini thats worth having.

I think the twingo sounds like a go-er given its roomy inside cabin.
 
if you can afford 4, then you'll easily get a little facelift twingo for the same £ closer to 5 grand?? remember that the new twingo is bloody close to the forecourts, if you could stretch to a new car on finance .... RWD and Rear Engined, underpowered with a little turbo? come on tommy lol, it does look like a stinker but it will be a hoot to drive :) even in the lack of power formats it's being sold in lol.


rid of that peugeot ;)
 
Congrats mate, the guy that was at Pfc expo with the toddler seat is on the 133.net Facebook page. His name is Darren butt and on instagram is gordinitwingodarr. Hope this helps
 
Thankyou chicken - I will head on over to the facebook page and see if I can perhaps pop him a cheeky message asking how he gets on with it.

Shame the wife isnt willing to get a 133 (insurence, tax and petrol kill that idea dead) and she won't go any older than our 10 plate - rather limits our options unless looking at kias/ hyundais and the like....
 
tommy89":2wrfbmox said:
Thankyou chicken - I will head on over to the facebook page and see if I can perhaps pop him a cheeky message asking how he gets on with it.
Click to expand...

No worries

Oscar he was the gordini on the ukfo stand I believe unless there was someone else who bought a child seat.
 
Oscar - just saw your message sorry!

I did think about trying to wait a bit longer til the new one came out - but only so it devalues the older shape ones a little so we could afford even newer. Id love a new one - but Just can never bring myself to sign finance deals (been into garages like 3 or 4 times for a brand new one)

Haha! the pug lives on with me - its a shakey rattly big barge of a car that is slower than ice melting (1.4) but I love it now - no idea why! :D
 
is it the HDi 1.4? the 2006 > HDi's are fairly sturdy bits of kit, major problems with dual mass flywheels on the 1.6's but apart from that they're spot on in terms of reliability. completely agree, i could never buy a new car either. always felt that when you buy a 3 or 4 year old car you are getting it at it's best. that big wide spot between 30-90k is the sweet spot in just about any engine, plus nowadays petrol or diesel you can realistically expect 200k miles before any major engine work is considered :D
 
No- I am ashamed to admit its the 1.4 8valve petrol engine - on an 06 facelift 307. Our pug will be staying with us until it dies - its only on 68k ish - so plenty of miles left in it with me. It did a 2k drive around france this holiday and didnt miss a beat.

Been looking on autotrader around the 5k mark there is a lot more to chose from. if we sell our clio privately for around 5k ish we have a lot more to choose from. Found 3 gordini's but I bet they are more expensive to run being the 1.2 tce?
 
Tommy, what do you call expensive ?
I drive the GT (also a 1.2 tce) like a Saigon fire-engine and return 40+ mpg. Recently did a 230 mile run from North Devon and scored well over 50 mpg.
 
Congrats! My wife bought the Twingo RS for the same reasons! The luggage van in 500 Abarth is very very very (very) small, even more small than Panda 100hp (4 doors)! And she makes the decision after trying the car, very comfortable and easy to park. The rear seats are split and sliding like the old Twingo, all the city cars must have this great optional! Without the rear hatbox, the stroller fits well. Our baby sits on front seat and the car also have isofix system. And, last thing, is very exclusive because in Italy there aren't too much Twingo RS!
 
tommy89":2noy3yp3 said:
No- I am ashamed to admit its the 1.4 8valve petrol engine - on an 06 facelift 307. Our pug will be staying with us until it dies - its only on 68k ish - so plenty of miles left in it with me. It did a 2k drive around france this holiday and didnt miss a beat.

Been looking on autotrader around the 5k mark there is a lot more to chose from. if we sell our clio privately for around 5k ish we have a lot more to choose from. Found 3 gordini's but I bet they are more expensive to run being the 1.2 tce?
Click to expand...

can achieve 50mpg if careful but in the real world with town driving you'll realistically get 35 every time come rain or shine. usually on the motorway you'll get 40+. with the punchyness of the standard engine, it's perfect for overtaking safely. the dynamiques will return you 50mpg every time but they are fairly gutless. cheaper to run in tax though i suppose but not by much i'd imagine? the gordini spec GT would be ideal i'd imagine as you'll get comfort, mpg's and all the gadgets along with that fantastic little engine. i'd assume that the difference in MPG's wouldn't matter too much if it's the wife driving it around town, to work etc?

never know tommy, you might find yourself stealing her car this time around lol!
 
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