The Family Car--Infant/Toddler edition

[Auspicious]

Anyone have a car that can hold a graco snugride in the backseat with the front seat pushed all the way back? And that can be had for about $16K with <50 miles on it?

Our current 2000 Chevy Imapala fits the bill, but we went to look at a Scion xB today and that was a big fat NO on the carseat, so we're back to the drawing board. I kind of hate making major purchases.

Anyone have any opinions off the top of their heads as to what we should be looking at?

[SuzySunshine]

Julie, do you want a car or an SUV?

I can put the graco safeseat behind the drivers seat pushed all the way back in my Hyundai Santa Fe '04. You could probably easily find one of those used in that price range.

As for a car, I have no help - DH can barely get A's car seat in his car and definitely not behind him (he's 6'4").

[v-girl]

It works in an Expedition. I bought mine when gas was $3/gallon -- it had 45K miles -- for less than $20K. But it's a gas guzzler. A very comfortable gas guzzler.

[diggitydot]

We love, love, LOVE our KIA Rondo. You can also get it with an optional 3rd row seat, which we have. It easily fits all 5 of us comfortably, was inexpensive, gets pretty decent gas mileage (about 30 mpg), and is drives well. If you research them on Edmunds.com you'll find some great articles.

[Auspicious]

Thanks, these are just the kind of answers I was hoping for!

Not committed to car vs. SUV, actually.

[SuzySunshine]

Julie, I don't know what I was thinking - the safe seat fits in my car with the seat its behind about 1/2 way back. If my DH drives we have to move the car seat to the other side, sorry.

[DCJenn]

My brother and SiL have the Volvo SUV that they got used and they love it because now that my elder nephew is big enough, he can use the built in car seat.

Of course, I had an infant in a MINI and now have a 5yo in a Yaris. Rick's Audi A3 Wagon fit everything well but he's only 5'8".

Jenn

[Michele]

My mazda 6 wagon could do it. Though I can't put the front seat all the way back with a rearfacing Britax Boulevard...but I could with the Graco infant seat we used with Daegan.

From what Russ says, the wagons are holding their value better than the sedans bc they aren't making them anymore....but my car was only $20k new(2005) so you should be able to find similar for 16k.

That carseat site Spotty posted a while back has ratings about what seats fit in which cars. I think the site was www.car-seat.org but I'm not 100%

[Tenacious_D]

Perfect timing on this post! We are going car shopping tomorrow and have the Graco snug ride car seat too. Anyone have a Subaru Forester or Outback? If so, how would you rate those cars for 1-2 kids? We expect to have the car for 5 years but don't have the 2nd kid yet

Sorry to hijack, Julie.

My girlfriend is now on her second Outback -- they loved the first so much. She's got two kids, and has had one or the other Outback through all stages of baby / toddler. I know she uses the Britax seat ('cause it was mine).

If you've got any specific questions call me and I'll get the answers for you.

[Auspicious]

Perfect timing on this post! We are going car shopping tomorrow and have the Graco snug ride car seat too. Anyone have a Subaru Forester or Outback? If so, how would you rate those cars for 1-2 kids? We expect to have the car for 5 years but don't have the 2nd kid yet

Sorry to hijack, Julie.

My brother (6'3") has an Outback and his MIL has the Forester. He said on both the seat needs to be pulled forward to get their snugride in there. They use it as his wife's car with the baby behind the passenger seat and my brother only crams himself in there occasionally.

Curse you, snugriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiide!

[alison]

We have a Toyota Matrix, and my dh at 6'3" says it's very roomy. Even with the seat pushed back as far as he needs it, there's still plenty of space in the back.

My parents have a Subaru Outback, and whenever dh drives it, he complains about how cramped it is. In comparison to the Matrix, it really is, even for me.

[poky]

It probably depends on *which* outback. The outback "sport" is the one based on the impreza, and it's smaller. The regular outback is based on the legacy, and is bigger. We had an outback sport, and DH is 6'3", and he was fine in it, but we didn't have to try to fit a carseat behind him, either...

[Tenacious_D]

We need to go with the bigger outback...DH is also 6'3"...sounds like we need to invest in the Britax sooner than later. DS is also long too 26.5 inches at just 4 months. I'll definitely give you a buzz Jenn when we are making our list of pros and cons.