August 2015 Moms

Small car trouble

So everyone is giving me crap for having a small 2012 Scion IQ, I can fit a baby car seat in there easily but it's so small and unsafe and my husband has a SUV but he works and does catering orders with it. But the problem is my car is paid off and I really can't afford another payment right now. I'm not sure on what to do, the kelly blue book worth is just sad compared to what I paid for the car. I'm stuck and don't know what I should do

Re: Small car trouble

  • Why do you think the car is unsafe? I just bought a small little hatchback that will be perfect for me and the baby. It has 4 doors but is small and great on gas
  • Maybe try listing it for what you think it's worth see if you get any takers then take that money and try to find a car to buy outright.
    Hubby and I are struggling right now too we don't have a car because I crashed it and totaled it and we still have the loan on that to pay but we need a car before baby gets here, I struggle on if we should go get one that requires payments all the time.
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  • I was in a similar situation with my car but i could barely fit a car seat and could not fit a normal sized stroller in the back. And DH also has a small car so I but the bullet and upgraded to SUV. If you can fit there baby and stuff in the car I would keep it. Why do you think it is so unsafe?
  • e1223e1223 member
    I drove a 97 Geo Prizm for the first year of my 5 year old's life, until I rear ended someone in a snowstorm and it was totaled (thankfully, she was not in there!). Other than my own driving abilities in a blizzard, I never felt unsafe and a carseat fit in there just fine! I also had it paid off but we did "upgrade" to a Honda Accord after that.
  • I lived in Japan for 3 years and they all drive tiny, tiny cars and tote around babies. I've never heard of them being less safe but culturally Americans favor big vehicles. I don't think you should upend yourself financially. We crammed our babes in a small Kia for a year before we got pregnant with #3 and got our van. I could tell that it irked our SUV driving inlaws but we couldn't afford a new vehicle and it wasn't a death trap.
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  • I have an '03 VW Jetta TDI. The backseat is super tiny but I can easily fit a carseat in the back. And the trunk is gianormous!

    Since it's a diesel, it gets amazing gas mileage. This is our first so we won't have to worry about fitting more than one baby in the backseat.
  • Does yor car have a back row? I did look it up and it looks very small. You could always sell it and buy an older car and pay cash with what you get from your scion. Just an idea. My husband and I drive old cars but they are both sturdy and have actually continued to be reliable as long as we do routine standard maintenance. Eventually we would like to get newer and nicer cars, but right now we just don't have the money for them. Someday!
  • I feel your pain. We have one car - a Jeep Wrangler and no money in the budget to take on a car payment. This thing has been paid off for years. Thankfully found a convertible car seat that fits in the backseat. Don't feel pressured to buy a new car if you can't swing it. Just another adjustment we make even if it sucks a little.
  • It's trade in value is worth maybe like 10,000-12,000 at most. I think I'm gonna save up 3,000 and get a Kia sol that way I won't have a payment but my husband wants me to wait until around November and use his vehicle until they open a new store and need his SUV for catering
  • I have a 4 door Mini Cooper and am NOT trading it in for a bigger car. I will make it work!
  • I drive a Toyota Corolla and I plan to keep driving it. We have plans to upgrade eventually, but we are not in any hurry.
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  • I have a Nissan sentra and two kids already... we can fit a car seat in the back with them so I see no need to go bigger. It will be a bit cramped but we will make it work.
  • We are putting two car seats in the back of my civic. It's tight but we are not buying another car till DH's car is paid off.

    I did my research on car seats and paid extra for more safety features.

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  • I had a Kia Forte Koup that my husband now drives. We had a truck that was just too much to keep up with, with a $400 payment and at least $600-$700 a month... we traded it for a 2008 VW GLI that I now drive.

    The VW backseat is pretty big and the trunk is insanely huge. Since the Kia is a small 2 door car we have agreed that we'll just keep the carseat base in the VW and swap cars so whoever has the baby will drive it. Once things aren't so tight we will probably trade the Kia in for an SUV-but with only one child this car setup will work for a while.
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