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June 2015 Moms
BylerMama
member
Recommendations for a new vehicle?
BylerMama
member
I'm looking to get a new vehicle that will allow someone tall enough leg room to ride in the seat in front of a rear facing car seat or infant seat. I have a 2011 camry right now and it's a squeeze to fit a rear facing seat anywhere but the middle. We will have two carseats in the car (2.5 year old behind driver, infant seat behind passenger) and need room for a big dog. Suggestions? I've been looking at listings for Hyundai Santa Fe and Chevy Equinox and am open to all suggestions. We haven't gone to test drive anything yet.
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Re: Recommendations for a new vehicle?
Mom to P (12/7/10) Step-Mom-to-be to H (05/29/13)
BFP 10/13/14 TWINS! 20 week loss of both twins, Scott Feivel and Miles Conrad
BFP 06/19/2015 16 week loss, Penny June
2015 Working with RI; Diagnosed with thrombopheiia and celiacs
BFP 03/12/16 TWINS AGAIN! PLEASE BE OUR RAINBOWS
Mrs. Morrison
Married 9/26/14
EDD 6/26/15
Happy shopping!
We had an absolute NIGHTMARE earlier this year with the Mazda CX5, so that's really the only car I would stress that you not consider. The rear brakes failed on us, on the highway, with only 21k miles on it. Even though we were still under full warranty - had the car just over a year - Mazda refused to cover the brakes even though we had several mechanics verify they were faulty. We discovered a pretty significant coverup on mazdas part, they classify this kind of brake failure as "excessive wear and tear" so they don't have to admit there's a huge problem with their break system. We traded it in because neither of us have time for a court battle, but someone will do it soon I'm sure.
DS2: July 12, 2013
Baby #3 EDD June 22, 2015
We know that it won't store enough inside if we were packing for vacation (and had it packed with kids), but we have a roof rack for that. This is our first kid, so we shouldn't even need that for several years.
Me (31) Him (31)
Married: 5/2013
CP: 9/18/14 (4w:4d)
BFP: 10/16/14 EDD: 6/21/15
Honestly the best features are the keyless entry and the button to close the trunk. So easy when my daughter is screaming and carrying her car seat, diaper bag, my purse, etc., not to have to find my keys. It would be hard to go back from those features.
Now my opinion may be biased but here it goes. My company uses GM vehicles for our fleet vehicles, I drive mine daily and generally get a new vehicle around 100k miles, I'm on my fourth vehicle.
I am generally not impressed by their interior/exterior outfitting and feel that that they tend to miss the mark when it comes to finessing the final product. For example the lines and gapping on all of my GM fleet vehicles between the bumpers to the sheet metal are never as uniform as they should be seeing as how they come straight from the factory brand new. Also on many of the entry to mid level trim packages of their vehicles, they use a particular plastic interior trim on the dash, trim panels, etc that exude just that, the look of plastic. My brand new car also reeked of formaldehyde for a month from the plastic dash. I had to roll around with my windows down for a month instead of enjoying the traditional "new car smell". GM has been trying to emulate designs from other successful brands (Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Ford) and have not been able to achieve the same "look/effect".
My last GM vehicle had "chrome" trim including the interior door handles. Well that "chrome" are just appliqués that peeled off all door handles before the car hit 2 years. In addition to that, every GM vehicle I have driven, had a costly mechanical issue before it hit 30k miles. Keep in mind as a fleet vehicle, I am required to keep impeccable maintenance for the vehicle and still experienced these issues.
My job requires me to look at, estimate and appraise vehicles. I find myself more and more impressed by the design/technological elements from Hyundai and Kia as they are more in line with what you may find in some of the other brands I mentioned (Toyota, Honda, Ford, Nissan). I would recommend that you test drive any vehicles that you are considering, heck I would drive them a couple of times and make your decision based on comfort, affordability and resiliency(based on the consumer reports) GOOD LUCK! Please let us know what you end up getting!