What car? (Family Hauler Edition-11ty.)

As stated in various other places my wife has finally admitted that her 2012 mustang GT is not Ideal for daily duty while hauling 1 kiddo (we have a second due in jan.)

Boundary Conditions: (I'd love to give you a list but man this forum format sucks)

We need a baby hauler capable of daily use, hauling 2 kids (with potential for a third in two years). Safe (duh). It does not need to be capable of going long distance, I have a crew cab f150 that will handle any family trips etc. Wife is Deadset against an SUV or Minivan. Under 10k (realigning of financial goals at the same time, paid off car, happier wallet).

So far she likes: Focus, Outback, Grand Cherokee (I know...), X3 (again I know). RX300 (again I know).

I am totally fine with a car that I can work on, but it needs to be reliable apart from silly maintenance items.

Is there anything we are missing? Fitting a rear facing kid seat with my 6ft 3in ass in front of it is the biggest hurdle. She'd love manual but admits that auto is better for kiddo hauling.

The three kid thing is the real hurdle. There's not a lot that will fit three car seats across and still let you shut the doors.

I found some sites stating that the fusion and up ford's can do it. (three straight across.) It's also why I'd like a paid off car instead of something that we need to pay on only to sell AGAIN in 2 years.

On this forum, to make a list or have anything single spaced, you just have to hit the spacebar twice at the end of a sentance before strating the new line.

List:
We need a baby hauler capable of daily use, hauling 2 kids (with potential for a third in two years).
Safe (duh).
It does not need to be capable of going long distance, I have a crew cab f150 that will handle any family trips etc.
Wife is Deadset against an SUV or Minivan.
Under 10k (realigning of financial goals at the same time, paid off car, happier wallet).

I am pretty sure with 3 kids in car seats the answer is minivan. It is what it is.

Yeah, there are some cars that can fit three car seats across, but it'll be a tight fit. They'll be pushed up against each other, and of more concern to me is that they'd be right up against the door panels.

If you're truly thinking of 3 kids (I've got 3), and you want to go under $10k, Kia Sedona. Just like she finally admitted the Mustang ain't workin, she'll have to admit a minivan is the answer here. Get over the image thing, you'll be glad you did.

I have a Mazda 5 kid hauler. Three rows four buckets. 24mpg. Kinda like a 2/3 scale minivan, handles like a mazda, doesn't look like a minivan and you can get them with a 5 speed. Look for the touring or grand touring model, the sport model means stripped.

And a volvo wagon, it has built in second row booster seats, best feature ever for hauling kids, I can load up four kids in that with no booster seats. Great car when it runs...you don't want one of those.

Your question is pretty popular around here. Here is similar from last year.
Is there a minivan that's not a minivan that's a minivan?

How about an SUV with more emphasis on Sport?

Swing by my house and have her drive my Caravan. Then I'll show her stow n' go, and then I'll show her the power liftgate and doors, and the complete inability for the kids to slap their doors into other cars in the parking lot.

Seriously. How many times am I going to talk up the Caravan this morning? It's really the right answer though, and you really can swing by and take it for a spin. It's way faster than the others in your list, too.

akylekoz wrote: I have a Mazda 5 kid hauler. Three rows four buckets. 24mpg. Kinda like a 2/3 scale minivan. And a volvo wagon, you don't want one of those.

I tried really hard to like these. Smaller is cool, but not when it means you have essentially zero trunk space. Smaller is cool, but why does it get less fuel economy than a full size minivan? Smaller is cool, but it doesn't drive smaller. So... is smaller really cool? I decided that it wasn't. And then I discovered stow n' go and it was over.

My parents have a 1996 Town and Country, owned since new. As a kid it made many trips for boy scouts and also rallied/got airborne a few times. Still going strong. Pity it's such a bore to drive. Literally puts me straight to sleep. (it's lifetime is in the 19 mpg avg.)

sounds like I need to force the wife to drive that for a week or two and see. I just called her over (we both work at the same co) and she looked like a kicked puppy when I broke the news "I just feel like buying a minivan is like we are finally giving up on life"...

I did have her look at the SS and the Saab Aero 9-x (ss by any other name.) She liked the saab, but I bet it will have the same problem when you get to three kids.

Vasectomy.

Solves the problem.

Then you can drive whatever you want.

We stopped at one. Two in a Subaru wagon is doable. Three is minivan/suv/jag vaanden plas xj6 territory.

I hate that I have three family haulers. My third, for towing is the short lived 1999 to 2001 GMC/Chevy Savana SLT this thing is so big and spread out the kids can't even kick the row in front of them. Down side to all of the leg room is not much storage behind the third row. And for how big it is, only seats 7, one more than the volvo or Mazda.

In reply to Mad_Ratel:

Plus, some of the fastest and most successful race car drivers drive boring econocars on the street. A minivan is the right tool for the three-kid job in 2015.

I find it interesting that she does not want to drive a minivan and look like the mother of three since after all....

The two posts above mine sum it up: for most situations, you need a a van, it fits the people mover mission best.

Consider not only the car seats, but also all the high bulk stuff that you end up bringing, plus the ability to fit the family plus a set of in-laws in one vehicle (may or may not be a plus , or a few friends and their stuff.

JohnRW1621 wrote: I find it interesting that she does not want to drive a minivan and look like the mother of three since after all....

My wife is a gorgeous, smart as hell; confusing box of confusion... :P i.e. Woman.

I mean, I wish she'd accept my truck which could easily handle three kiddos and then I could buy a c5 for 10k... but nope totally unreasonable... (the truck is 4.x longer than she is tall...)

Thing is, She will ONLY be using this for hauling kiddo's to daycare and then school. long trip to the beach? Truck, trip to family 1.5 hours away? Truck.

So if she can get buy with a focus/fusion where kids climb in. why not?

Minivan really isn't bad. So practical and comfortable. Remind her that instead of a stick figure family on the back glass you can put GRM stickers and those race circuit stickers on there instead.

Joining in the chorus that the 3 car seat thing is going to be the biggest limiting factor here. Here's the list from the cars.com blog - https://www.cars.com/articles/2014/10/which-cars-fit-three-car-seats/

We have a Mazda5 for two kiddos right now. It really should get better gas mileage given its size, but the manual transmission option is nice and it is fun for a family hauler. We're currently making our peace with the reality that once our next kid starts pre-school, all those mornings in the carpool line are going to make a hybrid make a lot more sense...

If the Fusion will fit, it would be a good bet. A good friend has a Fusion hybrid and it's been a great car.

Three across with no problem, tons of interior space, decent MPG, very safe, easy to tinker with, and has a cavernous truck that can hold tons of child related supplies.

This why im stopping at the twins i have. My wife hated her caravan even after she insisted we get one. But short of a really clean old 7 passenger wagon. Minivans it is.

The_Jed wrote: Three across with no problem, tons of interior space, decent MPG, very safe, easy to tinker with, and has a cavernous truck that can hold tons of child related supplies.

I already tried that. :(

I have three. None of your car suggestions will be easy. I've fit my three in a Rav4 and it is a chore. The seat isn't wide enough to provide good access to buckles for booster seats. The seats are so close together that the little ones kick the back of your seat constantly.... Doors that swing open are horrible. The kids "WANT TO DO MYSELF" and open the doors up into anything they can, the solid thud of the door against the car parked next to you must be comforting to them. And then there is them trying to open the door. I'm fully convinced they will shear off a door handle one day. The sliding doors are easy for them to open, regular doors, not so much.

Then there is the stuff.. Ohh lord the stuff. If I want to take my kids biking, where the hell do I put it all. The van is bursting at the seams with two bikes, a bike trailer, my bike and all the other items needed, but it fits. The rav4, not so much.

As long as my little dude is in a big car seat, and not a booster... I'm stuck on sliding doors. They make it so easy to get the little guy in and out.