Baby Car fight

[LivingAlmostLarge]

MM, my DH will be the primary baby driver. He is going to look into daycare at his work subsidized. So he'll be putting the baby in the middle of winter into a 2 dr hatchback! That will be fun.

I need to install latch on my 99 Corolla, doesn't come with it, doesn't come in the 2000 Ford Focus either. That would be nice.

MM, I think a midsize sedan and minivan would be the way to go with 2 kids,dogs, parents.

DS, i hadn't considered the safety issue with the minivan. It's something to consider.

My DH brought up a minivan but I thought it too luxurious for 1 kids. Seems well big. Plus we'd still get rid of the crappy Ford Focus and he'd still be unhappy.

Our friends with 2 dogs, had an accord and were fine with 2 dogs and baby. Second baby came 14 months later and they got a minivan with the double stroller, etc.

So I sort of pictured a minivan as a 2 kid car?

tzstgi, the ideal car I think to replace the focus is a subaru legacy wagon.

My DH likes the Mazda3 or Matrix. Or a huge honking Toyota Sienna but he wants me to drive it and keep the focus, which makes no sense.

I like Hyundais as well.

[disneysteve]

My DH brought up a minivan but I thought it too luxurious for 1 kids.

Perhaps, but why get a car now that works for one kid and have to replace it in a couple of years when kid 2 comes along? Just get the "keeper" car now and be done with it.

By the way, we love our "huge honking Toyota Sienna." We bought one new in 2000. It was totaled in 2002 and we replaced it with an identical used 2000 that we've had ever since, so it is now 9 years old with about 115,000 miles.

[PrincessPerky]

We had two kids in a compact car...it was the third kid that made us move up in car size.

Though we are not a 'stuff' kind of family. (car seats stayed in cars, no stroller, used sling/had kid walk-and we have no dogs)

You may find that two big dogs needs a big car to not have the tails constantly in the kids grip....

As to which car to sell, sometimes an impractical thing is a 'security blanket' for men. My husband has a weird attachment to a file cabinet full of junk..a very impractical way to store electronic stuff (no sides, the stuff falls out EVERY time he opens a drawer!)

Anyway, point is, impractical or no, it is his 'thing' so he gets to keep it. Never mind that it makes no sense and a million other systems for storing electronics (or less electronics) would make way more sense, I stopped pestering him about it. He doesn't knock my old patched clothes, or teddy bear, or whatever, I wont knock his silly cabinet (least not much).

[geojen]

We have a vibe now, and while we love the car, we want a mini van. Hauling our kids, our dog, and our luggage home is way to much work. Just not enough room. Plus, you gotta have the front seat pulled way up when the car seat is in back or there isn't enough room for the car seat.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

I have seen our friends with one kid and one dog in a matrix not look comfortable. Our friends with 2 kids no dogs looked better but not great in the matrix.

DS, I don't know why not a Toyota Sienna. Feels like I'm wasting money until the second kid comes along? I feel sort of spoiled like I'm buying a huge honking SUV just because of the kid.

I guess getting a midsize sedan now, isn't a big deal because with more kids we'd replace our commuter car. Then we'd have the two ideal cars.

Plus we'd be dumping the crappy car that requires repairs all the time. NOT the great car with no repairs!

PP i think that's it. Was the compact car 2 dr or 4 dr? I think 2 kids could fit in the corolla. I also think what you said about letting go of his car a big deal. He isn't ready.

[tzsgti]

Perhaps, but why get a car now that works for one kid and have to replace it in a couple of years when kid 2 comes along? Just get the "keeper" car now and be done with it.

By the way, we love our "huge honking Toyota Sienna." We bought one new in 2000. It was totaled in 2002 and we replaced it with an identical used 2000 that we've had ever since, so it is now 9 years old with about 115,000 miles.

HAHA my sister had the same exact car that they bought used. A year later they felt they had to trade it in for a brand new Mercedes R class

I guess one persons garbage is another treasure. I am not saying that its a bad car but its funny how you bought the exact same car again and my sister couldn't live with that minivan.

[disneysteve]

HAHA my sister had the same exact car that they bought used. A year later they felt they had to trade it in for a brand new Mercedes R class

I guess one persons garbage is another treasure. I am not saying that its a bad car but its funny how you bought the exact same car again and my sister couldn't live with that minivan.

I will admit that before our Sienna, we had a Dodge Grand Caravan. It was far better than the Sienna from a space and amenities standpoint. It was also cheaper. However, we had a catastrophic issue with it that was determined to be a manufacturing defect and Chrysler took zero responsibility for it then or since (to my knowledge they were never recalled for this defect). As a result of the issue and the emotional trauma that accompanied it, we will never, ever buy another Chrysler product.

The Sienna is a great vehicle but does lack certain things the Grand Caravan did better.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

We looked at a used 2002 Subaru Impreza Station wagon this morning. He decided he was very unhappy with it for multiple reasons. This was one of the cars on the his list.

Problems - not well maintained, smoking smell, small trunk.

Backseat seemed larger than the Focus but not by much as well. We borrowed a baby seat from a friend, not an infant one, a regular upright which I think is smaller than an infant rear facing seat and the space in the backseat was tight.

He decided without any prodding he wasn't giving up his car for a car that had a smaller trunk than his AND only an inch or two more in the backseat.

So I guess we're moving towards a bigger car instead of another newer compact. He did tell me that he was researching what cars had side impact and crash ratings. He stated that our cars are not very safe and he definitely would like to buy a safer car, but like all things we've been saying that for 3 years.