We Went From a Tiny Stroller to a Wagon — Here’s Why

Reading Time: 5 minutes

Disclosure: I have an affiliate link with Petit Wagon which gives you £50 off and means I receive a small commission if you purchase through my code. I only share things we genuinely use and love, and this is very much one of them.

---

For a long time, our family car was a VW Golf. I had it since 2017, before I even got married, and somehow it just stayed as our family car through the years. We made it work because we mostly went out together, and when one of us did go out alone the other was usually at home, so having one car between us made sense.

What did not make sense, eventually, was the boot space.

After our eldest was born, our large pushchair took over the entire boot. It was manageable because there were only three of us and we still had room at the front. Then our daughter came along and we knew we needed something smaller. A friend recommended the Babyzen YOYO stroller, compact, lightweight, and small enough to take on board as hand luggage when flying. We found one nearly new, bought it, and absolutely loved it. The buggy board attachment was brilliant too, so our then two year old could hop on and rest his legs when he needed to.

Then our youngest arrived. And things got more complicated.

Leyla has allergies and severe eczema, which means wherever we go, we carry a lot. Creams, spare clothes, snacks she can safely eat, all the things you need when your child has extra care needs. The little stroller, as much as we loved it, just could not carry everything and was not comfortable enough for her to properly rest in and rest matters a lot when your nights are broken because of eczema flare ups. We tried another small stroller too and had the same problem. Meanwhile our Golf boot was at absolute capacity with three children and all their things. My eldest had moved to the front seat just so we could fit everyone in. Any UK trip and we were packed to the brim.

Enter the wagon idea.

A friend showed me her wagon, she had bought something similar to a well known brand but at a much lower price and I was immediately curious but also immediately doubtful. There was no way something like that would fit in our boot. The big brands were not affordable and would not fit anyway. There was one option that would have fit but it only seated two children, had no accessories, and still cost quite a lot. We went back and forth on it for a while and eventually talked ourselves out of it.

For about a year after that I had wagon adverts following me everywhere online. None of them were right. And then one came up for a brand called Petit Wagon.

What is Petit Wagon?

Petit Wagon is a small brand based in Scotland. Not a big corporation, not a household name (yet), just a genuinely good product from a small team who clearly care about what they are making. The concept is a compact wagon that folds down small enough to actually fit in a normal car boot. My husband confirmed it would fit in the Golf. I confirmed it came with all the attachments included. And we made the purchase.

I am so glad we did.

When I reached out to them before buying I asked about pricing, and they mentioned they offer a discount for families with disabilities or extra care needs. I explained our situation with Leyla and they offered us that discount without any fuss. That small thing meant a lot and gave us the nudge we needed to go ahead.

Does it actually fit in a VW Golf boot?

Yes. An actual VW Golf. I still find this slightly hard to believe when I think about it. We have since upgraded to a larger car, mainly because I was done being squashed in the middle seat on long journeys,  but the fact that the wagon fit in the Golf at all is genuinely impressive. 

The price and what you actually get

This is where I want to be really clear because the upfront cost does look significant. The Beetle 4P (the model we have, which seats four children) is currently £689. That is a lot of money and I am not going to pretend otherwise. But here is what that price includes: the wagon itself, a rain cover, a sun shade, a snack tray, and storage. Everything comes in the box.

Now compare that to one of the bigger well known wagon brands. Their four seater base price is £749.99, and that is before you add anything:

• Wagon: £749.99
• Snack tray: £44.99
• Weather cover: £134.99
• Total: £929.97

That is nearly £300 more, and it almost certainly will not fit in a standard car boot.

There is another wagon out there, a brand that has even been used by the Royal family, which is compact enough in terms of width at 64cm, but to get the four seat option with all the accessories you need, the cost climbs significantly. The bundle that includes the four seat accessory pack and an explorer pack with a snack tray, boot bag, shopping bag and tote bag costs £720 (currently on sale for £645). And those accessories are notably smaller than what comes as standard with the Petit Wagon.

With my discount code NESSA50OFF you get £50 off any Petit Wagon over £689, bringing the Beetle to £640. At the time of writing, TopCashback is also showing £26.25 cashback if you go through there before purchasing, which brings the real cost down even further. To be fully transparent, I do receive a small commission when someone purchases through my code, but I reached out to Petit Wagon and asked for this arrangement myself because we had already been recommending them to people for free for a long time. It felt like the right thing to do to finally make it official.

How we actually use it

Everywhere. National Trust sites, theme parks, days out, trips, you name it. We get stopped regularly by people asking where we got it from, which honestly never gets old. The wagon fits all three children comfortably, holds everything we need to carry for Leyla, and makes days out feel manageable in a way they did not before.

For home educating families especially, having something like this changes the dynamic of a day out entirely. You are out for longer, you carry more, your children need somewhere to rest when they are done with their legs, and you need somewhere to put all the things. The Petit Wagon does all of that in a package that actually fits in your car.

We have the Beetle 4P and it is the one I would recommend. If you are in the market for a wagon and you want to support a small Scottish business making something genuinely quality at a fair price, this is it.

[Petit Wagon website — use code NESSA50OFF for £50 off orders over £689]

P.S We do still have the two small strollers but the wagon comes out for days out where we have to lug around a lot of things.