Cars!

[alison]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Chicago has stopped paying to have streets plowed on weekends and after hours. The plowing and grooming that they do do outside of regular work hours cost the city overtime and are concentrated solely on major streets. This means for your anesthesia spouse (who is up and on the road before just about any other soul in the city), s/he's got to navigate through ungroomed streets.

I'm so glad we got a 4wd! I think you do need one in the city, unless you like burning some serious rubber trying to get in and out of tight parking spots!

[peggyfromwastate]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Chicago has stopped paying to have streets plowed on weekends and after hours. The plowing and grooming that they do do outside of regular work hours cost the city overtime and are concentrated solely on major streets. This means for your anesthesia spouse (who is up and on the road before just about any other soul in the city), s/he's got to navigate through ungroomed streets.

I'm so glad we got a 4wd! I think you do need one in the city, unless you like burning some serious rubber trying to get in and out of tight parking spots!

That's interesting, Alison... Here they salt like crazy, and the one time they tried to skimp on it, there were huge accidents and backups for 8 hours, etc., etc... I think that was a Sunday. The neighborhood roads, not so much. But they do salt and plow every day during bad weather...

I think I've only used my 4WD 5 or 6 times since moving out here, but then again, I don't drive during a snowstorm at 2 am...

[peggyfromwastate]

Taurus. (we're a Ford family)

http://usnews.rankingsandreviews.com...s/Ford_Taurus/

Some people aren't impressed by its exterior but you can't beat its history of reliability and safety.

I'm not sure I could sell DH on a Ford. He says it stands for Fix Or Repair Daily...

We had a windstar. I think it was fine- certainly not more maintenance than our Camry... But then again, the *check engine* light went off ALL.THE.TIME. and the dealer said that's because Ford sets the sensors with too much sensitivity- so basically when the light goes off, the mechanics just reset each sensor to be less sensitive. It drove us batty.

Another vote for Hyundai!
We love our '07 Tuscon. Safe, decent gas mileage, great warrantee...
We were just saying yesterday that we will happily keep this car for a long, long time, with maybe just upgrading to a Santa Fe one day if we have another child and need extra space for road trips. Our 4WD is barely used given where we have lived since we got it but it has been great when we have needed it on trips.

[Pollyanna]

For a family car, in my experience getting baby in and out of a car seat is the easiest in a minivan by far. Way easier than an SUV.

This is VERY true. We have a suburban and a Toyota Sienna. The Sienna is great to drive and so convenient with the children. However we've put more money into our Sienna then we did into my 17 year old Blazer that the Sienna replaced, the Sienna is a 2004 and we bought it brand new AND paid for the extended warranty. Based on our experience of an n=1 (and literally $1000s on repairs) I would stay the heck away from the Toyota Sienna.

And I'm pissed off in general because they just told us all the engine mounts need to be replaced. Seriously, I don't think I've ever replaced an engine mount on any of our Chevy's, so either the Sienna is a POS or we are getting screwed. My guess is that the truth is somewhere in the middle.

[DCJenn]

We LOVE the Audi wagon- I would go up to the bigger size wagon now that we have two dogs and the dude but it's fine for everything we need it for. (Christmas trees, large boxes, etc.)

I wouldn't plan for more than your current needs at this point- as the new mileage guidelines rollout, every year I think the cars will be getting better and better.

Jenn

[GreyhoundsRUs]

We have a Camry and a Sienna...love them both! DH's family is a Toyota family - both of our cars were theirs before and they now have a Highlander and a Solara. DH is about the same basic build as DrK (although his neck is only an 18 ) and he is very comfy in the Camry. Until now (Camry's 12 y.o. and Sienna's 10) we haven't had any problems, but fixing the problems is still cheaper than getting a new car for now...

The Camry is also roomy enough in the backseat that you could totally fit some carseats back there...but since it will be DrK's car, that won't be that often maybe...

[migirl]

Thanks, Cassy. We're also a Britax family, so the car seats we have are HUUUUUUUUUGE. Maybe worth it to get some smaller car seats if we want to keep the Santa Fe...

I should also mention that DH drives a Camry, which is also very spacious and very reliable. It has 150k+ miles on it and is still going strong! (I've had it since I graduated from college 12 years ago!)

[SuzySunshine]

I have put 3 carseats in the back of my Santa Fe - a Britax Roundabout, a Graco SafeSeat and I think the 3rd was a RF Cosco. It was not the easiest to get them in there but once in they fit fine and the doors closed fine. The infant seat was closest to one of the doors and the two RF were side by side. So one kid could go in one door, one in the other and then the infant seat could be snapped in. I'm short 5'2" and I've had no issues getting car seats in and out of my Santa Fe.

I don't have much help for sedans, my mom has a Toyota Camry that has tons of miles on it and she loves it and has never had issues with it. My sister has a Honda Accord which she also loves and has never had issues with. DH drives an Infiniti G35 which fits one rear facing and one forward facing car seat but that is more because of his height - he's 6'4" so the seat behind him has to be forward facing or none at all. The rest of my family all drive SUV's

Tara, we had a similar experience with a Toyota. We inherited a Toyota Landcruiser from DH's dad. To be fair, I think the problems had a lot to do with SIL beating the $&*^ out of it before we got it. My friend's mom has a similar car and jokes that she could weld the hood shut and be fine.

Maybe the back row seating stuff has since improved. I hated having to deal with carseats in the third row of the Landcruiser. Hated it. The minivan is much easier for that. However, I only have one carseat to buckle. A friend with three to buckle (not booster) just ditched her minivan for a VW Eurovan -- much easier.

A note on the three seats across. If you can securely put in three carseats, you are set. I ran into problems when one of those seats was a booster and I needed access to the seatbelt to get kids in and out. Total knuckle-skinning PITA in a lot of cars.

Sorry for the hijack....MrsK -- I'd go for a car that you fit in and that a carseat can be level in the middle seat of the backseat.

[Vishenka69]

As much as I love the look of the Murano, being 5'2", I have visibility issues with it. We sat in the newer model at the car show and I couldn't see out of the back window very well. I know there are camera options but don't know how well they work in rain/sleet/snow.

You might also want to wait and see where you new place will be located. We weren't in the market for a larger SUV until we moved to this house and realized that mid-size ones have as much problems as sedans getting up the drive in the winter.

[MrsK]

MrsK -- I'd go for a car that you fit in and that a carseat can be level in the middle seat of the backseat

You know, I didn't think of this! If we are both driving the car, the babyseat needs to fit comfortably behind either/both of us. In other words, it needs to fit when he pushes the passenger seat waaay back too. We've always just put stuff behind me when we load the car but we aren't going to want to relocate the babyseat every time we switch drivers. And, eventually and god-willing, we'll have more than one baby/booster seat back there. Is this going to push us into SUV territory?

[GreyhoundsRUs]

I know in some states it is illegal to put a car seat in the middle...

I know in some states it is illegal to put a car seat in the middle...

Really? Yikes. Nevermind then! If the middle seat is sort of humped or sunken in, it doesn't work to install a carseat. Before the LATCH system, I put DD1 in the middle of the back seat because the two outside seats dipped down a little. The middle seat seemed a lot better and more secure fit. Good thought on the front seat running into a rear-facing seat if the seat needs to slide way back.

Better to check that one out. I would think that if the LATCH stuff is there for the middle it would work. ?? It also seems easier to reach back and stick a paci in if they baby is in the middle. My friend's husband is a firefighter (and did the installation stuff) and I swear they had their first in the middle...but perhaps I'm not remembering correctly.

[HouseofWool]

I know in some states it is illegal to put a car seat in the middle...

Seriously? That is what is recommended to provide the most protection.