In reply to John Welsh : I was thinking the same thing about the TL going to me and just mom getting the new vehicle. Still going to keep trying to push for that. She told me no that she wants to wait a bit before getting herself the new car or SUV. That she wants me to get a newer daily and one that I am happy driving. I know she is a rare one. The Miata is staying in the fleet. The 3rd door on the truck is on the passenger side.
With the 3rd door on the passenger side this then leaves you the option to load from the passenger side as well as to be able to move the passenger seat forward if needed.
So, come home from the hospital in the TL and evaluate things from there.
I will say, that loading the rear seat of the truck will not be impossible but it is far from the easiest. Certainly hard if you are in a standard parking lot parking space. You need the wide swing of the front door open to then get the rear door open and then you have to load in this large baby basket. This will teach you how awesome sliding rear doors are.
After maternity leave(s) who will be transporting the baby the most?
Is it possible that someone will be dropping baby off at a babysitter/daycare every day? That driver will see a lot of loading and unloading.
John Welsh said:I'm busy wrangling the hooligans this afternoon (ages 4.5 and 1.5) so I'll write you more later but my main points will be:
- Change as little as you have to
- Understand or make your choice in car seats
- The real car seat challenge comes about age 2.
The first baby seat will be what I call the baby-bucket. The car seat with a handle, not unlike a 5 gallon bucket. This is the greatest phase of baby seats. A baby with a handle is a wonderful thing. Better yet, the baby is strapped in the darn thing. You can set it down anywhere and the baby stays right there with it. If you go into a restaurant, you can just carry in the whole bucket and place it on the booth seat, right next to you, etc.
This is some critical advice...Chose a seat that offers the optional base and then get a base for Mom's car, Dad's car and maybe another if something like Grandma will be picking up the baby every day at your house.
We have the Chicco Fit30. There are others but it is key to know that each manufacturers base is different so get the right system.
Pics:
The base gets latched or belted down to the seat and stays mounted in the car. The bucket then just drops in and clicks into place...done. Squeeze a handle and the bucket separates from the base.
These damn bases are expensive. Like, $100 each kind of expensive, but, worth it. Pick a seat brand and get the additional bases added to your gift registry. You might have co-workers looking to pool on a gift, these are a great way to make ten-$10 bring something meaningful. Otherwise, that $10 will likely get you another cute outfit that they will outgrow in 1.5 months.
These buckets are also part of corresponding stoller systems that allow you to drop the bucket right into the stroller also.
Sample:
These baby buckets still work w/o the base. You can strap over a normal seat belt for those times when you do not have a base with you but the base makes it easier.
I keep coming back to GLIs. Can buy a reasonably new one in that price range.
Stick shift Mazda CX-5 or Mazda 5 or Golf Sport Wagon.
If you might be open to the possibility of a Mazda 5 sized vehicle, check out the Transit Connect. Its roomy, gets decent mileage and handles like a Focus mini-minivan. The acceleration won't light your hair on fire but it does OK. The LWB can seat 7 and the rear seats fold down flat. The SWB version seats 5. The only engine after 2017 is the 2.5L DuraTec 4 cyl. Its a very good 4 cylinder. The Transit Connect Van (cargo version) and SWB Wagon (people version) could come with the 1.6L Ecoboost but Ford never put it in the LWB Wagon for some reason.
Here is a nice 2015 LWB XLT Wagon for around your price range:
2015 Ford transit Connect Wagon
In reply to rudes333 :
When I was in your position the only choice was Volvo.
Affordable reliable sturdy and safe.
Don’t worry about boring. Children dominate too much of your life. Your life will change. Come back to the fun stuff once they enter their teenage years. ( and can’t stand Mom and Dad.
Dont be upset, they are just getting ready to leave the nest. They will return in their twenties amazed at how smart you were and all the sacrifices you made for them .
My 2 girls are 5 and about to turn 9, with 1 kid my wife's car was a Toyota Matrix and mine was a Jetta TDI it was fine for 1 kid and 1 kids stuff. I would suggest for budget reasons you strongly consider keeping the acura and trying to get a SUV that you can buy with the remainders of value from our other vehicles as much as possible vs just "mom needs a new one". We tend to buy 3-4 years old used. Minivan came around the time of the second kid and despite the fact my wife WANTS a SUV and always has she would get another mini-van right now if we had to replace hers because it's just too perfect. Sliding doors are a must as your kiddos get to be independent, no one wants my girls opening my mercedes doors in a crowded parking lot, me or the guy next to me.
If your wife is working and you will be doing daycare keep in mind infant care is going to run you about 1,000 dollars a month and will not decrease until the kid is 2. My first kid made about a 1500 dollar difference in our monthly finances, I know because we were doing Financial Peace University and that was our debt snowball that disappeared.
I'll be honest SUV's don't have more space than the Focus ST on your list in terms of baby carrying room and are much much less space efficient than any mini van. You compare a Honda Pilot to a Honda Odyssey and its a total joke, thats actually what happened to us, we were shopping Pilots and the used lot we were on happened to have vans too so we looked and never looked back after and that was almost 6 years ago.
Mk7 GTI are very refined and very fun not sure they are down into your price range yet, however, the Focus ST should be for sure and is a good all around car but my advice DON'T get the Recaro's they are not comfortable for long periods.
Florida doesn't have a lot of elevation or corners so what is going to constitute "fun" for your commute? accelerating onto a few onramps? For commuting, I like torque which is why I am a diesel guy.
Those rear-facing seats are pretty big. The combination of a tall driver and rear-facing child seat doesn't work too well in a Civic / Focus / CX5 sized vehicle. I tried that in a 3 series BMW - the only way we could make that work was to fold down the passenger seat, put the baby seat behind it, and have my wife scrunch into the back behind the driver's seat.
I'd recommend looking for something more mid-sized. I went with a W-body Buick Regal - no stick shift option, but having a Roots blower makes up for that. Other possible options that can be moderately would be a Honda Accord (seems to have a better take rate on stick shifts than other midsized cars), Ford Fusion (the Ecoboost four / stick is a bit of a unicorn, but exists), maybe a BMW 5 series.
is the truck paid for?
If so... keep it until you really need to sell it.
That's the decision a normal dad would make.....
We bought a honda crv. My one issue with this is how fast the kids grew and the fact that before we knew it, they would climb into their own car seats. My kids rode in my mustang in booster seats. My son is now 16 and driving the car. He comments on how he remembers all the noises the car made, but from the back seat. He is pretty thrilled to be driving the car.
Mini vans are really the bomb and great for road trips. We upgraded to a ford flex, loved, loved it but got sick of the how it gulped gas. We downsized to a fiesta st.
My point is: Get something fun to drive. You will figure out how to carry the pack and play and all that other junk. You still need to have fun. If you are ok with having fun just with your miata, then mini van it is. I think those are fun with captains chairs and they are awesome for long road trips. We just ended up renting one when needing the extra seats.
On a side note; my kids still remember an epic shopping trip we made when we didn't realize how small the fiesta was. They were crammed into the back with all kinds of junk from an outlet mall. We had to ditch all the packing and still they were crammed for the rest of the trip. They still laugh about it.
Then there was the time I purchased a huge stuffed fish, but that's another story....
pinchvalve said:Might not be able to find one in your price range, but you know what you really want.
Drink in the dad-ittude.
I have proven that you can fit 8 college age males with questionable judgment and poor planning into one of these. Didn't even ride that bad.
EDIT:
Seriously though. I'd keep your truck for now dude. But when it becomes obvious you definitely need it. Minivan. Also, nice truck.
2011-15 Jetta Sportwagen TDi, can be had dirt cheap as dealers are getting flooded with post modification cars out of storage. I get 40+ MPG, its peppy, and can be more so with a Malone tune. 2 year unlimited miles powertrain warranty from the dealer.
Those baby seats are bigger than you think
We had a 528iT wagon with the M suspension when we had our first kid. Car seat barely fit in the back seat, and it was a PITA to navigate entry/egress in a parking lot.
I’ve never seen a woman so happy to trade a nice BMW for an Odyssey van. We kept it for 10 years. When she got tired of it and wanted a CUV, I ended up getting a Sienna van. I don’t even “need” a van now, but I love the thing. For my needs it does everything better than the pickups that preceded it except tow. The bang/$ ratio with minivans is unbelievable compared to SUV’s. We often do 10-12 hour drives to visit family with my teenagers, I can’t imagine it in another vehicle.
6.0L LS engine, RWD, enormous back seat, massive trunk, easy-clean interior, $10-15k budget
Actually, the graco extend to fit doesn't work too well on our 5. Seats behind the passenger seat and requires the pass seat so far forward my knees are in the dash.
I'm learning about the back seat / car seat trickiness myself, now. The Cayenne is actually a little tight to get into while holding baby because the rear doors are short. The 06 Highlander Hybrid i had for a while was way easier because the rear doors were longer and there was more rear legroom. Now I have a Chrysler Pacifica as a flip and that's also pretty easy, mostly because it doesn't HAVE a middle seat so i have to put the car seat on either side and when you open the door it's right there. Also the LATCH hooks are way easier to use on the Pacifica than either of the other two.
I put the car seat in the middle rear of my dad's 01 Ram extended cab and it was fine. You had to slide the passenger seat up a little for easy rear access to the car seat in the middle, but the ram had so much space in the front that sliding the seat up a little made almost no difference to any normal sized person anyway. It's definitely doable in an extended cab full size truck. I found the step in height more of a problem (when you're holding a baby and can't use hands to pull yourself up) than the interior space. But the Ram is way taller than OP's GM truck.
These pics looked a lot smaller on Instagram.
We were in a similar position around 10yrs ago. My wife did the day care runs and I was commuting around 60miles daily. We had a 2001 accord and then bought a 1999 explorer. After loading stroller, pack and play, bags, etc there wasn't much room for more than two adults and the baby.
We're now 4kids in, and on minivans #3 and #4. I would recommend keeping the current cars until baby #2 is on the way. We learned alot about items you really need vs think you need between kids and the odyssey fits the bill. Between adjusting to the new kid and trying to sleep, you might not have much time for car fun anyway for awhile.
When my kids were born, I had the perfect Dad-mobile. My 2005 Subaru Legacy GT Wagon. Turbo, AWD, manual transmission wrapped in a just the right size wrapper. Plenty of room for all the baby stuff, yet still felt like a smaller, sporty car. One thing to keep in mind- lots of today’s sedans have very small trunk openings. They are actually the shape of hatch back cars without the hatch. Why not just make a hatch? Point being, strollers today are big. If you have another kid soon after the first, you will have a double stroller. One time on a trip, it took three tries to find a rental car with a trunk opening that would accept our double stroller.
I’m still bitter at Subaru for not addressing the ring land issue, so I’d have a hard time recommending one. But it was otherwise dead reliable and hope it will be again after I install the built engine.
ronholm said:2nd the comment about minivans.... They are the best tool for the job and a sign of your virility.
Power sliding doors in a close parking lot with a toddler hand in yours and a baby carrier in the other just cannot be beat.
Seriously... does any REALLY think that lifted station wagon they call an SUV is really better looking or more fun to drive than todays near 300hp minivans?
This. At least when they’re tiny. The awesomeness of power sliding doors cannot be overstated.
Also, I’ll be the dissenting vote on the Mazda5. Mama had to have it because it “doesn’t look like a minivan.” It os not a minivan. It’s a *slightly* larger Honda Fit with sliding doors, that doesn’t handle anywhere near as great as the Fit, IMO. We plan on trading it in on a GC when the time is right.
I'm as big of a minivan fan as anyone, having owned about 10 and still owning 3 plus 1 fullsize (all but 1 predate my parenthood, too). Having said that, I also agree with the not going overboard trying to pre-adapt to the child when they're not here yet. The only reason we bought a 'kid car' at all was because out of the huge number of vehicles i own it turns out all of the normal/reliable ones I could stick my SO in to drive the child around without me were basically 2 seaters. Go figure. Yours has a TL. But, unless you hate your truck you might want to just wait and give it a shot. One thing i wish the old (now extinct) suicide door extended cabs had was a detent on the front door where it would sit just open enough to open the back door. It is slightly annoying to feel like you have to keep track of the front door in a parking lot while you're messing with the back. Will it even bother you?
Before we had a baby, we had a TSX and a Tribute. We sold the Tribute, because it was too small for the dogs already. Tried to fit the baby seat that my wife picked out into the TSX. It fit. Barely. In any case, I didn't like the TSX so I sold it and replaced it with a GS430. It fit in that quite a bit better than the TSX which was quite surprising to me. I guess my point with that is that to test fit everything with your baby seat, because what they do and don't fit in doesn't always adhere to what is expected.
We needed to replace the Tribute, which was the wifey mobile. I had strongly wanted a minivan. My wife was strongly against them. I won the argument when I asked her to pick up our Great Pyrenees and put him in the back of the Tribute. Of course, being 4 months pregnant at the time, she couldn't--even now, 6 months post-C-section (and my wife is probably bigger/stronger/more athletic than most women), I asked her to put Milo on the bed--about the same lift as an SUV. She could do it... barely. Milo certainly wasn't having fun with that experience. Anyways, she realized that an SUV was too tall, and after test driving a couple, realized they're a horribly inefficient use of space. So we looked at the MTHAEP (Minivans that have an ego problem), i.e. the Ford Flex, Traverse, Santa Fe, etc. She liked those well enough. Then we looked at the price of the leftover minivans to what we could get an SUV for. And she finally relented into the minivan.
Well, our life took a bad turn and things didn't work out the way we wanted, and we don't really need a minivan right now (although it is still the best tool for the job). I asked my wife if she wanted to sell the minivan. She looked at me and said "when you pry the steering wheel from my cold dead fingers". I don't foresee a situation in the next 30-40 years where we don't have one in the fleet, and it isn't going to be me who is behind that sentiment. All it took was 1 week of sliding doors and a ride better than a Cadillac; she's convinced.
Now, this isn't to say that there aren't other vehicles that will work. We have a large dog though, and my wife packs for a weekend like she's furnishing a new department store. No dog? Only 1 kid? Pack light? You'll be fine in a Corolla. Pack like my wife, and you need something much larger--also, the baby stuff takes up an astounding amount of room. Between the stroller, baby seat, diaper bag, pack and play, etc., there is an astounding amount of stuff. Most of it not necessary--you only really need the diaper bag and the carseat, but try convincing a new Mommy that it isn't.
I'd say stick with what you have for now, because it will be fine, at least for the time being. Figure out what would work better. Plan a route to having a minivan in the fleet, but it doesn't necessarily need to be the DD for either of you (although I'd bet it becomes the DD for someone).
I'm in favor of a 4 door Civic Si. I had one with my first child as the only car of the household for a while and it worked great (better than the WRX Hatch I brought the kid home in). 9th gens don't rev to 8k but they are a bit more refined.
You'll need to log in to post.
