New Car Question

POSHMOMMY33

I am a mom of a toddler and expecting twins. I currently drive a Honda CRV and DH drives a 2-seater Acura Integra. We obviously need to upgrade his car that I will drive. For moms of twin infants and another child in a booster, what kind of car do you drive and what are the pros and cons of them? I really appreciate it!

ougrad1

We're facing the same thing.  I drive a Mercedes ML 500 right now and it's to small.  Everything I've looked at that has three rows leaves no room for anything in the back-even groceries.

I'm not going to get a minivan.  My only other options are 80,000 cars and well, I'm not paying that monthy payment.  I know Suburbans and Tahoe's do have room for three car seats but, I'm not to hip on those either.

I have no idea what we're going to do.  We're in the process of figuring it out.

beachcities*mamma

Never thought I'd buy American b/c we like our German engineered cars :-), but we are looking at the Ford Flex.  It seems like it has a ton of room!  We haven't test drove it yet, so not sure how it will drive. Seems like it's getting good reviews.

SoldiersGreenBean

I'm firmly entrenched in the minivan camp.

We have a Honda Odyssey, and we both love it.  It's a smooth ride, doesn't feel bulky, has automatic sliding doors (a must!), and has a lot of cargo room.  It will also be able to tow our pop-up once we get a hitch package put on.

macchiatto

ougrad1:

We're facing the same thing.  I drive a Mercedes ML 500 right now and it's to small.  Everything I've looked at that has three rows leaves no room for anything in the back-even groceries.

I'm not going to get a minivan.  My only other options are 80,000 cars and well, I'm not paying that monthy payment.  I know Suburbans and Tahoe's do have room for three car seats but, I'm not to hip on those either.

I have no idea what we're going to do.  We're in the process of figuring it out.

Sunshine Kids Radian car seats can fit 3 across in reasonably large cars (or in a minivan if you wanted plenty of room in the back).

Kristenl2020

Sunshine kids Radian car seats are are very slim car seats and also extremely well made,I think they are way better than even Britax. So if you have them you can get away a smaller car and fit 3 kids accross. But it's pain reaching over them all to buckle them in.

But in any case I would say you got to bite the bullet and get a minivan. Both Dh and I fought it and wanted no part of a minivan. We bought a Toyota Highlander before I got pg and he had company vehicle. He ended up changing jobs so no more company vehicle and we and we had to get a 2nd car. It was really a no brainer since we had twins and knew we would have another child. I still calll it the nerd mobile but it's great. It's decent on gas,it has more cargo room than even biger suv's We LOVE the easy accesbility of the sliding doors it's so much easier getting infant seats in the car with them. Regular car doors can make it hard to squeeze infant seats into them especially if you have a car parked next to you. I also love the floor space which make it easy to change the kids diapers etc.

GL and HTH

ErinCB

beachcities*mamma:

Never thought I'd buy American b/c we like our German engineered cars :-), but we are looking at the Ford Flex.  It seems like it has a ton of room!  We haven't test drove it yet, so not sure how it will drive. Seems like it's getting good reviews.

This is essentially what we have (we have the Freestyle, which is what the Flex originated from).

We really love it, but my advice would be to test it out WITH your carseats. We had a hard time getting our rear facing seats to fit exactly where we wanted them too and finally figured out a configuration that worked (since we wanted to leave one of the captain's seats empty for easy access to the 3rd row). We have 1 infant seat and our toddler's car seat in the 3rd row and 1 infant seat in the passenger side captain's seat.

I think the car drives really nicely, it has the space of a minivan, but isn't a van, ya know?

Mrs LLH

We got a Lincoln Navigator L.  It's the size of  Yukon XL.  We love it and there is lots of room for traveling!

Hilarigh

I was not on board with getting a mini van when we were first looking at cars. I was not happy about going from my hot momma car to a total mom mobile. We looked at some of the suv w/ third row seats and agreed that there wasn't much room in back when the third row was up.

We also know we'd like to have a third child after these two, so we decided it was time to bite the mini van bullet. We got a '10 Odyssey in December and I hate to admit it but my husband and I both really like it...dare I say, love it. Smooth ride, automatic sliding doors and back liftgate. The sound system is awesome and I honestly don't think I'd even fit behind the wheel of my mini cooper convertible at this point in my pg.

We had an Ikea binge yesterday and it was nice to be able to fit all that stuff into the van w/o having to contort ourselves for the ride home.

POSHMOMMY33

Thanks everyone! We test drove the Honda Odyssey and Lexus GX470. I've been trying to maintain my "sexy" by getting an SUV but DH love the Odyssey and I have to admit it is very practical, the Lexus just looked so hot. I will give up the "sexy" for what is best for the family but I am not a fan of the minivan at all!

ougrad1

macchiatto:

ougrad1:

We're facing the same thing.  I drive a Mercedes ML 500 right now and it's to small.  Everything I've looked at that has three rows leaves no room for anything in the back-even groceries.

I'm not going to get a minivan.  My only other options are 80,000 cars and well, I'm not paying that monthy payment.  I know Suburbans and Tahoe's do have room for three car seats but, I'm not to hip on those either.

I have no idea what we're going to do.  We're in the process of figuring it out.

Bless you.  I'm going to go check it out!

Sunshine Kids Radian car seats can fit 3 across in reasonably large cars (or in a minivan if you wanted plenty of room in the back).

ougrad1

POSHMOMMY33:

Thanks everyone! We test drove the Honda Odyssey and Lexus GX470. I've been trying to maintain my "sexy" by getting an SUV but DH love the Odyssey and I have to admit it is very practical, the Lexus just looked so hot. I will give up the "sexy" for what is best for the family but I am not a fan of the minivan at all!

That's what I'm considering.....the Lexus GX.  What is it that is turning you away?  I haven't looked at it but, through the window this morning at the dealership.

It looks like we could fit two seats in the second row and one seat in the third row for Emerson.  Then, we could leave one seat down for Emerson to crawl into the third row and still be able to slide a stroller in. 

I know it's not ideal but, I'm really resisting that minivan.

kaiteedidit

I can't make myself get a minivan either. DH is trying to talk me into a VW routan. I'll admit, it would definitely be more practical than an SUV. As of now, we are looking at the GMC Acadia's or the Chevy Traverse. 

POSHMOMMY33

I liked the Lexus, the salesman had to check back with us to see if it can accomodate 2 carseats and 1 booster seat. We used the booster when we drove it. I loved it but my DH is in love with the Odyssey. I figured we would get that first then trade it in when the kids got older (like 2 or 3) then change to a SUV.  The electric doors and hatch in the back is a great feature on the Honda which is why I thought it might be practical. I'm trying to picture myself with 2 infants and a toddler trying to open and close doors and that makes it easier. The Lexus is sexy though! We'll see....

POSHMOMMY33

I like the Traverse but my DH is glued to Consumer Reports and does not want an untested car. Another mother at the daycare just got one and she loves it. She said fills the tank only once a week and its an eight passenger model.