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Cars for Moms - comments, concerns and wants! - READ ONLY

149 messages,  Last post on Aug 01, 2011 at 6:53 PM

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What is this discussion about? Entertainment System

Messages Page 5 of 15

#41 of 149 Re: Some great discussions... [Sylvia] by gretchenk

Jul 05, 2005 (12:21 pm)

Replying to: Sylvia (Dec 21, 2004 7:58 am)
I am having my first child and I am ordering a Volvo V50 and I wanted to know what people thought of the built in booster seats. For $300 it seemed like it would be nice to have the booster seats built in but I wasn't sure if people liked them. I have asked around a little from my friends who already have children and some have said they like to move the booster seats between cars and that I would have to buy an additional set for sending my kid in a carpool. I like that they car has two booster seats so if we are taking someone elses kid we would have a seat for them also. I also like the idea that when the kid isn't in the car we could put the booster seat down and the car would be clean and I could take coworkers to lunch. Any thoughts?

#42 of 149 My .2 cents on this - by davem2001

Jul 05, 2005 (12:34 pm)

As a Dad - what you really need to maintain peace and domestic tranquility is the 3rd row. I guess if you only have one kid you are Ok with 2 rows, but when the second child comes along you'll need it.
 
The old concept of "divide and conquer"...you put one kid in the second row, the other in the third row, on opposite sides of the car. Then, they can't touch each other....

#43 of 149 Re: Some great discussions... [gretchenk] by guss

Jul 06, 2005 (4:38 am)

Replying to: gretchenk (Jul 05, 2005 12:21 pm)
I like the idea of the built in booster seats , If you ever have to fold down the seats to carry a load in the wagon you don't have to find a place for the booster seat. You also will like not fumbling with the latch system between cars.
 
 We have three kids in car seats and six car seats , I did not want to mess around with switching the between vehicles and making all the adjustments. With the built in You will not need to make any adjustments.
 
  If you are just having your baby though it could be up to 2 years before you use the booster seat. Infant seats are always rear facing.

#44 of 149 Re: Some great discussions... [gretchenk] by Sylvia

Jul 06, 2005 (9:48 pm)

Replying to: gretchenk (Jul 05, 2005 12:21 pm)
If you plan on keeping the car for a while the built-in boosters are nice for older children. My oldest was in a regular car seat until 4 1/2 (?) or so and then went to the booster. You have some time before you need to worry about the booster seats and you will want to purchase one to put in rental cars (you never know when...) or if your child will need to ride with someone else.
 
So long as you plan on having the car until your child is old enough to use the booster, it's probably worth the $300 for the convenience.
 
Good luck and congratulations on baby #1!

#45 of 149 Divide & Conquer by marine2

Jul 12, 2005 (2:45 pm)

As a Dad - what you really need to maintain peace and domestic tranquility is the 3rd row. I guess if you only have one kid you are Ok with 2 rows, but when the second child comes along you'll need it.
  
The old concept of "divide and conquer"...you put one kid in the second row, the other in the third row, on opposite sides of the car. Then, they can't touch each other....
 
Yes, something like this
 
http://sc.groups.msn.com/tn/66/10/Myminivan/1/c.jpg

#46 of 149 I am the mother of a 15 month old by anonymousposts

Jul 15, 2005 (7:58 pm)

The need for space is much greater in the first year than it is afterwards. When I found out we were expecting we rushed out and traded our Accord coupe for a sedan thinking it would be more than enough. Well first time in the car with the car seat, stroller, diaper bag, groceries, and us had us looking for something larger. We lucked out and ended up doing a 24 month lease on an Odyssey for cheap. Served it's purpose and we could still keep the Accord.
 
For me, this would make a perfect vehicle.
 
5-speed is a must
sunroof is a must
Sliding doors would be great
Smaller than an Odyssey but with more cargo room than my Accord.
Plenty of front legroom .. (husband is 6'6)
Decent power with great gas mileage
Reliable
AWD would be nice as well.
 
So far the Mazda5 came close but the engine is a bit high-strung. There doesn't seem to be anything that meets all of that criteria but an Element meets most and is fairly inexpensive.

#47 of 149 Re: I am the mother of a 15 month old [anonymousposts] by lancerfixer

Jul 15, 2005 (9:15 pm)

Replying to: anonymousposts (Jul 15, 2005 7:58 pm)
The need for space is much greater in the first year than it is afterwards. When I found out we were expecting we rushed out and traded our Accord coupe for a sedan thinking it would be more than enough.
 
Really? I dunno, maybe I just pack really well; when our first child was born we had two coupes in the family; she's now 4 1/2, with a 19 month old brother, and we still have one of the coupes. The Cavalier (a hunk of metal more useful in its ore state; I wouldn't wish a bottom-line Chevy on my worst enemy's dog) was traded for a Volvo 740, which was itself replaced by an S70...we've still got the Accord coupe, and have never wanted for space. I've got to admit, though, now that the Accord is getting long in the tooth, the Mazda5 had caught my eye...
 
I guess the whole point of this rambling is that I've never understood the "We've got a KID! We need a MINIVAN/SUV!" mentality. We've gotten the whole family and all the accoutrements in the S70 for trips from Iowa to Massachusetts and back with room to spare.
 
My requirements are thus:
-5 speed preferred, but overlookable if the price is right (call this the "S70 corollary," if you'd like)
-Sunroof? Oh, it has a sunroof? OK, whatever. (the 740's leaked, and I've been leery of holes in the roof since...they're nice and all, but I keep my cars a long time.)
-Good mileage
-Decent power, but I certainly don't need to be a Schumacher (neither Michael, Ralf, nor Tony)
-Despite living in snow country, would prefer NOT to have AWD...I'd rather not contend with the extra weight, complexity, and mileage penalty. This portion of Iowa's flat-ish, so hill climbing ability is moot; we live in the city, so the roads are plowed in a timely manner.
-SAFE (after all, I've got two kids to transport.)
 
But hey, that's just me. YMMV. Given these requirements, if I had the money to replace the Accord tomorrow, I'd have a shopping list of three: Passat TDI, Mazda5, and Volvo V50.

#48 of 149 Well... by anonymousposts

Jul 16, 2005 (6:21 am)

one thing that increases our need for space is the fact that my husband is 6'6. That means his seat has to be all the way back which really hinders rear seat room making it kind of uncomfortable with more than 2 adult passengers on long trips. We didn't have the "gotta have a van/SUV mentality". We just happened across a great deal on the Ody lease that we couldn't turn down. A few months later we came across a late 90's Volvo Cross Country that we probably would've bought over the Ody had we seen it first. We just need something with good trunk space because our interior volume was affected by Gee's height.
 
The van has also served it's purpose on road trips and for trips to the home improvement store. The Little Giant Ladder Gee just bought would've been difficult, if not impossible, to get in the Accord with the car seat in the middle. We rarely drive the van unless we are all together, have additional passengers, or we are going on our monthly drop-off of all of our recyclable items.
 
Another factor that probably contributed to our buying the Ody was the size of little Gee's car seat and stroller. Both take up a good amount of space as the car seat is the 3-in-1 and the stroller takes up about 1/3 of the Accord's trunk and all of the space in the Si with the cargo cover installed.
 
With all that said though the Odyssey sure is awesome! 240HP with a DVD player make that thing THE best car in our driveway for long trips. Gas mileage isn't too bad. We average around 25-26 MPG with the front/rear AC on and 3-4 people in it.

#49 of 149 anon by lancerfixer

Jul 16, 2005 (1:03 pm)

Sorry, that remark wasn't directed at you, but I can certainly see why it'd have been construed that way. The fact that Gee is 6'6" certainly makes a difference (I'm 5'10" and Mrs. Lance is 5'4"...)
I do have a friend who's 6'5", and he's got a kid and an S70, also. He liked mine so much he ended up buying one of his own.

#50 of 149 Anonymousposts by delange

Jul 16, 2005 (3:37 pm)

Replying to: lancerfixer (Jul 16, 2005 1:03 pm)
Anonymousposts,
 
I wish we had picked out a larger car when our kids were younger, like you did. My husband and I are both tall, too (he is 6'4", I'm 5'10"). When my kids were younger, of course I checked that the car seats fit and it was easy to help the kids in and out of them, room for the strollers, etc. Well, we bought a mid size sedan (V850), which fit the bill, and we still have and love.
 
HOWEVER - tall parents have tall kids, and at about 5 years old, my oldest started out growing the back seat. Her knees hit unless the passenger seat is pushed forward all the way, which makes it hard for all four of us to fit comfortably.
 
Now we have a slightly larger car that does fit us all (Pilot), and I hope it will continue to fit until the kids are old enough to drive themselves!
 
On the other hand, we trashed the old car so much, its nice to get a new car, for any reason!

Messages Page 5 of 15

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