THSCC Forums

We are have having a kid in april and last weekend we attempted to buy a rear facing car seat. It would appear that no rear facing seat can fit in the mazda2 while I am up front (since I sit all the way back). The new plan is to find something slightly bigger and I am looking at cars I can get for under 20k new or low miles used. The top contenders right now are a new mazda3 2.0 6 speed or low miles used focus ST. My wife will be commuting in this car and it will likely never see auto-x use. Thoughts on anything else I should look at? The biggest car I have ever owned is a mk4 golf- I like small cars and I am cursed with long legs.

WRX is fun, good for car seats/ kids and very useful. I get 23/27 mpg in mine, and would be willing to sell my 2009 (40k miles) for a good bit under 20k.

can't go wrong with the Mazda3 or FocusST for sure. Good luck!

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Steve Carter
1972 Datsun 240Z-- resto pics at http://picasaweb.google.com/srcartermd
2007 GPW Honda S2000-- STR 86

Can't you move the rear facing car seat permanently to behind the passenger side? This is the only configuration that allows me to drive our wagon.

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2003 Subaru WRX Sportwagon = daily driver/boost and booster seats
2000 BMW 540iT = wife's kid hauler
2012 Toyota Highlander = the boring reliable vehicle

We would like to avoid having to shuffle the base for seat back and forth every time we switch drivers. Also, the center area is supposedly safer than on either side.

The WRX looks fun but I think we want something under 10k miles.

Fiat 500 L. Didn't drove one but a guy in our office as one and he like it and he said that his
wife is always trying to steal it from him.

Edit:
Nissan Juke, Kathy like it and she averaging 27.7mpg. We used it sometime for weekend trip, enough space for the 4 of us.

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Patrice
1973 911 former track and AX car.
2016 VW GTI
2002 Nissan Sentra (Olivier car)
2012 Nissan Juke (Kathy car)
2010 Suzuki Kizashi (Audrey car)

My sister bought a 500L Fiat for my nephew to drive.

The good: It has lots of room.
It comes in a nice shade of green

The not so good: I can run faster than it accellerates (I use this word loosely)
The shifter is terrible
I couldn't get the steering wheel in a position where I can see the tach.
It's ugly. I think the Abarth/500 is a good looking little car. This looks like a 500 that swallowed a blowfish but everyone's taste is different

I like the idea of the Mazda 3 but can you find one under $20K? The Focus sounds like a good choice. The Hyundai's and Kia's get good ratings for transportation as opposed to fun.

I'm surprised James Short hasn't responded with some version of old Civic LOL

Good Luck on all fronts

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1990 Faded Reddish CSP Lite Miata
2002 Electron Blue Corvette Z06
2005 Mazda 6 Wagon
2003 Nissan Pathfinder DTV (Dog Transport Vehicle)

You can probably snag a Mazda3 Skyactiv for 20k or maybe a gently used 2014 Mazda6.

Are 2 doors and kid seats practical? Probably not but just in case a late model Mustang V6 might work and should hit your price target with low miles. A little smaller than a Fusion for reference.

Also, does your wife really want a manual transmission for a commute car? I learned to hate shifting in traffic and much prefer an automatic . . . assuming the car has enough guts, of course. I cannot even imagine trying to deal with traffic, kids, and shifting.

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Dick Rasmussen

FS 50 2018 Mustang GT

I gotta ask ... if this is a car for your wife to drive back and forth to work, and to shlep the kid around in, why on earth are you thinking about spending $20k??? Keep the real money for good cars that will be appreciated by the car enthusiast in the family (you) and get her a $10k appliance.

IMO

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Mike Whitney
whit32@gmail.com, 919-454-5445
V10, V8, V8t, I6, I6, V6, F4t, I4, I4, I4, I4, I2, 1, 1

Hah. Well that was partly the goal with the 2. We found an extra small rear facing seat from a german company and just hail marry ordered it.

Because some of us put our family at the center of our universe, rather than ourselves?

Just a prediction, but I doubt it's going to work. To get a baby in the back seat with a safe angle of inclination and enough room for the legs, I don't see a smaller seat working for very long... A decent sized 4-door where you can put the baby seat in the middle is the best (safest) choice, IMO.

I drove an M3 coupe ($13k) with the rear facing seat in the middle for kid #1, there was plenty of room. Just the hassle of having to stoop and drop the baby seat in. Once we had kid #2, there was just no decent / safe way for that car to work with a baby seat in the outboard config (mostly due to seatbelt design) so I bought a 5-series ($12k). Felt much better about having decent space around the baby seat rear facing in case of an accident. Just something to think about ... even though it fits, how is the seat going to move around in an impact, and what will it hit? I hate minivans, but there's a good reason people drive them.

When we had our first, I did "the responsible dad thing" and bought my wife a brand-new VW station wagon for $23k. That was the stupidest decision of my life, I think. In retrospect, a $10k used Honda Accord would have cost me less money in TCO and no one would have had a quality of life hit, since it was an appliance. Now she drives a nice $5k E46 BMW and the kids (out of seats) are happy in the back!

Just another opinion. In contrast to Scott's comments (Scott do you work in marketing? If not, I think you have a second career waiting for you) -- spending $$ on your family does not equal being wise or safe. My advice is ... spend a lot of time considering safety, and make honest decisions with TCO and value in mind. Take it for what it's worth.

Oh and congrats on having a kid! They're a trip.

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Mike Whitney
whit32@gmail.com, 919-454-5445
V10, V8, V8t, I6, I6, V6, F4t, I4, I4, I4, I4, I2, 1, 1

Alec, we just went through this with the 2 kids. We were able to keep the Protégé 5, but it's tight. Since you are starting with the removable car seat and base arrangement, go ahead and get a couple of bases on craigslist. They are cheap and you don't have to shuffle them around from car to car/seat to seat. I think it is recommend that you keep kids rear facing until they are 2 years old now (If it was possible, it would probably be safer in most crash instances if all occupants could sit rear facing) but I have found this to be challenging. Our kids are tall and shortly after 12 months they both protested with torturous cries from having to sit rear facing in the fetal position and I relented and turned the seat around, now they have plenty of room.

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92 Miata 1.9L naturally aspirated. SSM 21

Mike,

Keep in mind that even most Tarheel members don't have your knowledge, skills, facilities, and never ending energy to make the older vehicle approach (especially BMW's ) a cost effective way to have reliable safe transportation that looks good.

FYI: Not counting the 2012 Mustang which we rarely drive our newest car is a 150K mile 97 Mustang GT. Next is an 88 Dodge 1 ton camper van.

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Dick Rasmussen

FS 50 2018 Mustang GT

Not recommending busted old BMWs to anyone. Just encouraging considering TCO of buying new. And recommending being honest about why someone would want a new car. Is it nice to have a new car? Sure. Need a warranty because you know nothing about cars? Valid reason. Just don't go buy a new car just "because you have to be a responsible father" (like i did).

I think the value-play easy button for someone starting a family is something like this below. Plenty of great appliances out there for $10k. Unless, of course, the intangibles (nice, fun, sporty, cool, etc) are important. Alec did not indicate any of that was important. He described an appliance, and I'm just questioning why anyone would spend $20k on something that is purely utilitarian.

http://raleigh.craigslist.org/cto/4193171572.html
http://raleigh.craigslist.org/cto/4174273221.html
http://raleigh.craigslist.org/cto/4198197922.html

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Mike Whitney
whit32@gmail.com, 919-454-5445
V10, V8, V8t, I6, I6, V6, F4t, I4, I4, I4, I4, I2, 1, 1