First kid on the way, considering vehiculars

[Quattro Pete]

What do you want me to do? Is there a difference? Yes. Is there a huge difference? I never said there was.

For comparison, ground clearance difference between the A4 and the Q5 is 3.8 inches. Yet, if Audi still offered Avant here, I would have strongly suggested the wife get that instead of the Q5.

There is the allroad, but it represents very poor value, IMO.

 

[rjundi]

Civic coupes are an absolute PITA. I owned a 95 out of college and despised the car even being single. The car is not even sporty its just a painful egress vehicle. I think you can make it work I guess but you will get annoyed.

That being said a Forester should be decent for 1-2 kids. Reality is my wife has a 2005 Legacy GT wagon and we smush 1yr old in Britax, booster(age 7) and kid(9) on seat and it works. Once you hit two kids and you'll be motivated to move toward SUV or minivan. Our trip vehicle is a 07 MDX that we have not a single complaint about.

Enjoy the forthcoming new life.

 

[rjundi]

Originally Posted By: Spazdog
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: d00df00d
That ground clearance and higher seating position come at the direct expense of...

Agreed, but he asked, so I answered.


The actual difference in ground clearance is:

1.5 inches.

Jetta Sportwagen GROUND CLEARANCE 0ft 5.4in
Tiguan FWD GROUND CLEARANCE 0ft 6.9in




Who cares about a Tiguan, the poster has a Forester with close to 9" of clearance. For myself that is the reason I own a SUV/AWD not a minivan that gets stuck in our ski house driveway that cross a field and drifts in..

 

[Brons2]

Originally Posted By: Spazdog

Is there really anything a front-drive compact crossover SUV does better than a wagon?



Burn fuel.

 

[Wagonmaster261]

Quote:
Originally Posted By: Spazdog

Is there really anything a front-drive compact crossover SUV does better than a wagon?


Be available for sale since 2007 (Focus).

Another vote for a minivan. Grandparents can slide in-out much easier, baby seats go in-out easier, and it will boggle your mind how much stuff you end up hauling around.

 

[Pesca]

Originally Posted By: gathermewool
If she needs to get away for class, or has any other reason for going somewhere without the baby, she'll probably take the Civic and the baby and I will take the Subie.


That is the part you need to remember... the part we did not, so I sold my 06 Civic coupe manual.

The Forester is not your or her car any more: It is the baby's car for now on. Whoever have the baby, drives the Forester. The other drives the coupe.

As long as you are ok with this, you can go a long way the way you are.
If you want more kids, then you can think about changing cars if you feel the need.

 

[JTK]

G- Congrats on the little one on the way! That's good times right there!

When we had our first, I had a 1998 Chevy K1500 regular cab and my darling bride had a 1993 Nissan Sentra GXE. One child is a piece a cake with just about any make/model car, but it is nice to have something you can quickly cram a pack-n-play, big bulky stroller, bouncy seat, etc..etc.. into. A Forester should easily suit that.

I know once we had two, the Sentra didn't cut it. Mostly due to the huge, bulky toddler seat and rear facing baby seat. They are huge and multiples in small cars is tough. We 'upgraded' to a new 2002 Isusu Rodeo until #3 came along, then it was a Chevy Trailblazer, then minivans. We've got 4 kids now, ranging from 3-13, so a minivan is a must for one of our vehicles.

 

[tdpark]

I used to be one of those I will never drive or have a minivan types. After having one infant and having to travel from Boston to Cleveland the wife and I looked at each other and said the same thing- MINIVAN. Needless to say before the 2nd one came we got one and we love it. The third row became a place to feed and change the kids on long trips or heck- a trip to the store. We always had what we needed and now that the kids are bigger- we have enough space for the long road trips. I will probably get another one cause the kids are so tall nothing else will fit our stuff and in a few years- I will be taking them to college.

Once you have kids- priorities change.

 

[fdcg27]

+1
We had two small vans when we had younger kids and they really were great.
An '81 Vanagon and a '97 Aerostar.
For any travel with a couple of children, there is nothing better.
As they grow older, a van is the ideal vehicle to move them to their college dorm.
I wouldn't worry about any stigma either.
Unless you've turned your man card in, the vehicle you drive is of no importance to anyone other than the challenged types driving big SUVs.
New Dodge Caravans are now dirt cheap.
Grab one while you can.

 

[aquariuscsm]

Originally Posted By: geeman789
How LIFTED station wagons (SUVs...)


^^This. Imo all "SUV" is,is a politically correct/updated term for the present day modern station wagon. Pretty much a taller station wagon. "Sport utility" would mean something that's made to use as an off-roading "sport" vehicle and a work truck hence,"utility".

But if I had to get a vehicle of this sort I'd want a Tahoe.

 

[jimbrewer]

Originally Posted By: fdcg27
+1
We had two small vans when we had younger kids and they really were great.
An '81 Vanagon and a '97 Aerostar.
For any travel with a couple of children, there is nothing better.
As they grow older, a van is the ideal vehicle to move them to their college dorm.
I wouldn't worry about any stigma either.
Unless you've turned your man card in, the vehicle you drive is of no importance to anyone other than the challenged types driving big SUVs.
New Dodge Caravans are now dirt cheap.
Grab one while you can.


Don't forget hardwareing. Even with one kid op will soon be in a house and needing to move the proverbial 4x8 sheets of plywood.

"Sporty" car can be a target of opportunity type thing. When the opportunity comes to get something interesting at a good price op can make his move.

 

[ls1mike]

Just get a Trans Am plenty of room in the back for two little kids and they love LOVE the T-tops...

 

[aquariuscsm]

Originally Posted By: ls1mike
Just get a Trans Am plenty of room in the back for two little kids and they love LOVE the T-tops...

Right on!!

I couldn't imagine how awesome it would've been being a little kid riding around in my parents' Trans Am!!

 

[rjundi]

Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
Originally Posted By: ls1mike
Just get a Trans Am plenty of room in the back for two little kids and they love LOVE the T-tops...

Right on!!

I couldn't imagine how awesome it would've been being a little kid riding around in my parents' Trans Am!!


I actually did for one year around age 6. It was cool and the bright blue Trans Am had the flaming bird on hood with 6.6L in something sticking out of the hood. My mum hated it as the locals in the country wanted to race her and it "spun the tires easily...". My dad worked for the GM distributor in for a small middle easter country so we got a new GM company car every year. Typically a Pontiac Parisienne coupe (Impala?).

 

[MCompact]

Originally Posted By: ls1mike
Just get a Trans Am plenty of room in the back for two little kids and they love LOVE the T-tops...

When our son was an infant/toddler he rode in my 1985 Thunderbird Turbo Coupe work beater; the turbo whistled like a tea kettle and I always kept it spooled up when I would take him to his day care that sat at the end of a twisting two-lane county road.

One day my wife took him to day care in her Pathfinder. He said "Mommy, no one's in front of you." She asked him why he said that and his response was, "Because now you can go fast." She then asked him if Daddy went fast and his eyes lit up and he said, "Yeah! Daddy goes FAST!!!"

 

[PandaBear]

Keep your civic, you can still put car seats in there as long as they aren't both rear facing "convertible" seats at the same time. You can still haul kids in it in a pinch since you already have a Forester. By the time you need 2 kids haulers because your wife goes back to work or when the kids grow bigger, you will likely need another car, but by then you have saved extra by postponing your purchase.

 

[crw]

There is one important point missing here (unless I missed it while reading quickly...) is the Civic a 2-door or 4-door?

With a 4-door, no problem. But 2-doors do not work well with baby seats. If you put it in the front, you block access to the back! If you put it in the back, it's a pain in the neck and possibly dangerous to be carrying the kid while squeezing yourself back there.

My first (of five) arrived in 1991. I had a Nissan 240 SX at the time. A few days after coming home with her the Nissan was gone, for a Taurus.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: crw
There is one important point missing here (unless I missed it while reading quickly...) is the Civic a 2-door or 4-door?

It's a coupe, as noted in the OP.

 

[PandaBear]

2 door can work with 1 car seat easily, behind the front passenger seat. OP already has a family car for primary baby duty so this coupe only needs to be used in a pinch for 1 car seat duty for now (as the title said "first kid on the way").

It is the 2nd car seat while both rear facing that would be an issue. That would be a problem a few years down the road.

 

[jeffie7]

Just want to add to this. We had a civic SI coupe and a baby.

First off, the passenger front seat is off limits for anyone that has legs. [censored], it's off limit for anyone that has no legs, missing from the knees down.

My wife would sit behind me next to the baby.

With the first infant car seat (the one with the base installed and the car seat is removed every time you get in/out of the car) it was rather easy, easy in easy out, the only real hard part is getting the carseat base installed since its tight back there.

Once the child is 1 year+ you'll most likely move up to a rear facing convertible, this makes things a bit tighter, but at this point you can still make it work. It wasn't too bad. not easy but doable. Once the car seat is front facing at 2+ years old, you'll have lots of room.

P.S the coupe rear window is brutal with sun. Make sure you use those sun blocking screens, they are a MUST. 2 door coupe = sun directly on baby.