Need to re-work my vehicle situation-suggestions?

[firefighterjake]

My wife and I went through this same thing recently too. With the new baby, we were going to need a car for mom that would be good for traveling with the kiddo. Four doors, safe, reliable, all-wheel-drive for the snow, and plenty of room for stuff.

Prior to the Baby's arrival, we had two cars:
My wife's "little black sports car" was an '02 Chevy Cavalier Z-24.
My pickup truck is, well... my truck! I'm a truck guy, what can I say? 2004 Chevy Silverado extended cab 4x4.

My wife and I used to commute to work together every day (an 80 mile round trip drive). We were lucky to be able to only need to drive one car into Columbus every day. When she is done with maternity leave, she'll be working from home primarily, which will leave me commuting to work by myself.

As we started to look at getting a new car for Becky, I realized that I couldn't get rid of either of the two vehicles we already had. I can't get rid of the truck, since I need it for hauling wood and maintaining part of my sense of identity. I thought about getting rid of the cavalier, but it just isn't worth much, gets pretty good gas mileage, and would save me the fuel and wear and tear driving my truck commuting 80 miles every day. Both are paid off, so, I wasn't worried about eliminating a payment.

After driving a bunch of different small crossover/SUV type vehicles, my wife fell in love with the Hyundai Fe. The comments about the used car market being strong agree with what I found. I didn't intend to buy a brand new car when we started out, but prices for low mileage used vehicles 2-3 years old were high enough that I just couldn't justify buying something used. In addition, the base model Hyundai included everything we wanted except for all wheel drive. Bluetooth, cruise, AC, iPod integration, steering wheel controls, 5 12v power outlets, and tinted windows. The 10 year 100,000 mile warranty made me feel pretty comfortable too.

We couldn't be happier with the 2011 Santa Fe that we bought. My wife loves the car.

I've found that the car seats fit best in the center seat in the back so that it doesn't interfere with either of the front two seats. I bought an extra base for our travel system so so I can easily do this in both the Santa Fe and in my Silverado. As I think about it, the center of the back seat is probably the safest place for the baby to be anyway.

-SF

I found the same thing with the used car market at the time I was looking . . . the difference in price for a 2-year old truck with 40K was a little less than $5,000 . . . for a similar payment I could get exactly what I wanted with virtually no miles thanks to the lower interest payment . . . like you I didn't set out to buy new . . . heck, this is only the second vehicle we've ever bought brand spanking new . . . it just seemed to be the better deal at the time.

 

[jharkin]

Funny, we were in the exact same situation last year. My wife was driving an 01 Corrola when we found out we had twins on the way. I was resistant buying something new with the anticipated loss of income but trying to put 2 car seats in that thing sealed the deal.

We sold her Corolla to my dad (who uses it for his HD commute to keep the miles down on his contractor van) and bought a certified used 08 Honda Pilot. So far we love the pilot - the ride is great, its reliable, comfortable, etc.... but there are times when even it strains to hold everything you need to drag along to take two infants overnight. Neither of us like them but a minivan would probably work out better in that regard.

The mileage is so-so (17-20) which shouldn't be an issue for a SAHM but yet somehow she manages to rack up as much or more miles than I do on my 15 mile commute!

 

[JDC1]

Funny, we were in the exact same situation last year. My wife was driving an 01 Corrola when we found out we had twins on the way. I was resistant buying something new with the anticipated loss of income but trying to put 2 car seats in that thing sealed the deal.

We sold her Corolla to my dad (who uses it for his HD commute to keep the miles down on his contractor van) and bought a certified used 08 Honda Pilot. So far we love the pilot - the ride is great, its reliable, comfortable, etc.... but there are times when even it strains to hold everything you need to drag along to take two infants overnight. Neither of us like them but a minivan would probably work out better in that regard.

The mileage is so-so (17-20) which shouldn't be an issue for a SAHM but yet somehow she manages to rack up as much or more miles than I do on my 15 mile commute!

The interest rates are pretty good with Certified Used and depending what manufacturer you choose the warranty is sometimes better than new. We try not to shop based on a payment, but why pay more in interest for an older vehicle.

 

[backpack09]

I love my 01 volvo wagon, and loved my subaru wagon before that. I went to the volvo to be able to fit the dog the 2 kids in carseats (1 in a back facing infant bucket) the stroller and still get close to 30 mpg.

my wife drives an 02 xterra, it fits everything. but actually has less cargo room than my wagon and rides like hell.

You are going to find that unless you pick up a full size car, you are still going to have to push the passenger's seat uncomfortably close to the dash. Also, remember that when your kid outgrows the infant bucket and needs to goto a rearfacing carseat that the seats take up much more room than the bucket does.