Why is buying transport for eight such a struggle?

Researching our feature article on ‘eight-seaters for big families’ proved fascinating. I’ve a friend with six kids. She and partner are fortunate enough to have money, so they bought a nine-seat Volkswagen Transporter.

But what I hadn’t realised until I talked to her was just how hard it is to pick a vehicle that’ll haul eight at once. There are more seven-seaters than you’d shake a stick at, but eight? As we discovered, the choice is slim. If you’re buying new, it’s a bet that you’ll be ordering a vehicle tailor-made and you’ll wait weeks or months for it.

And, because in many cases you’re buying a van-based bus, your local dealer will be more attuned to trotting out trucks to plumbers and parcel deliverers than they will mum, dad and six. Which seems a short-change when you’ll be spending £20k or more. Volkswagen explains this by saying that its car range is already so large that its van-based derivatives won’t fit alongside them in the showroom.

If you’re buying second-hand, at least Toyota comes up trumps with its magnificent Previa, a wonderful bus that, sadly it no longer makes.

Now that selling cars is so much about finding new niches, groups of buyers who aren’t served by what’s already out there, it puzzles me why this one has been so sorely missed. Granted, many big families have to spread the cash thinly to ensure it goes around. But others do nicely enough to buy the best.

Any mums or dads with six or more, share you experiences. I’d be delighted to hear how tricky (or otherwise) it’s been to get transport that works for you.