Looks like I may be in the car market, afterall...

[indigoblossom]

my minor fender bender last week resulted in a totalling of my car (yay. does happy dance. i knew this might happen, so i was prepared!)

my mate isn't quite as happy because the money i'll get for my car won't quite be enough to purchase a car he'll find adequate and we're not *really* in a position to go buy a car but i'm thinking we might have to. i could of course salvage my car and still drive it but i don't want to. to keep him as happy as possible, though, i'm not expecting to purchase or finance anything more than $6-7K max.!

this limits me, i know.

my ideal car would be a subaru forester but most of them in my price range have high mileage so i'm open to considering other vehicles, a toyota camry, maybe. mitsubishi makes a few models i like. the thing is, i know most will be 2003 or older if i want to stay below $7000 and i'm not sure they'll have the features i'm looking for. one of the main ones is having a seperate LATCH in the center and also being roomy enough in the back seat for a Britax frontier on the outboard with either a Companion or Marathon Rfing that won't bother my 13 year old on the occasion that he's in the back.

a minivan is absolutely out of the question so the backseat must accomodate two carseats and a teenager when both my mate and i are in the front.

currently i'm driving a buick lacrosse (rental) and it's nice and roomy but too big overall and not the class/style i'm looking for at all. it's fun to drive but i don't quite want such a luxury vehicle, even if it's a low-end luxury. so i'm open to suggestions since we'll be most likely be looking sometime this weekend but don't have tons of time to make our decision.

thanks :)

[keri1292]

Have you looked at the Ford Freestyle? Three sets of LATCH ~ two in the captains chair and one in the third row.

[indigoblossom]

Have you looked at the Ford Freestyle? Three sets of LATCH ~ two in the captains chair and one in the third row.

ooh that looks nice but i think fords freak out my fiance. we're probably going to stick to imports and i should have clarified that in my post.

[Melanie]

You might not be able to use latch and still fit an adult size person in the back. In a lot of cars, you can gain some room by using seatbelt installs because you can push the outboard seat closer to the door and push the middle seat over a bit.

We have the same seats as you (Frontier & RF Marathon) and a 5'4" 13 year old. DH's Nissan Altima has outboard LATCH and there is no way to squeeze a person in the middle next to car seats. I did once on the way to the ER and I literally had to sit sideways (and I'm little). But, I can use seatbelt installs and have plenty of room for an adult on the side. We frequently take 4 hour trips like this.

I don't have much advice on particular cars. We really like our 03 Altima. It has 115k miles now and has only need a couple of minor things done. My mom just traded in her Solara (2 door Camry) on another Camry. It was an 01 and they had absolutely no problems ever.

[indigoblossom]

good to know. it seems like i could install seats in this buick i have with the LATCH and fit my teen in there comfortably but i haven't installed the other seat since the baby isn't here yet and i'm not into playing with heavy seats right now. and there's no way i want a car this big. we have shelves lining both sides of our garage and it barely fits on my side. that's another thing i have to consider so maybe it won't be possible. hrm...i don't want a minivan. i don't even think one would fit in my garage length wise but if there was a small vehicle with three rows of seating, i'd consider it but nothing is coming to mind. off to google :)

but thanks for the camry and altima mentions, those are definitely two i'm considering and i hadn't considered how the belt installs offer more room :)

[Melanie]

t if there was a small vehicle with three rows of seating, i'd consider it but nothing is coming to mind. off to google :)
:)

The Mazda 5 has that. It seats 6. Kind of looks like a miniature minivan & has sliding doors. But cooler. Kind of like a long hatchback. Sliding doors are great.

[indigoblossom]

The Mazda 5 has that. It seats 6. Kind of looks like a miniature minivan & has sliding doors. But cooler. Kind of like a long hatchback. Sliding doors are great.

yeah it looks like the mazda5, rav4, and the kia rondo all have that feature. unfortuntately, after talking to my fiance he thinks i should just keep my car and drive it on a salvaged title. this pisses me off to no end. i am very glad that my airbags didn't go off and my seatbelt didn't lock since i'm 6 months pregnant BUT clearly the airbags should have and are probably defective as there are not 1, but 3, recalls for my car and the airbags and i'd be willing to bet that at least one of them effects my specific vehicle (i haven't checked serial numbers yet). who knows about the seatbelt...i may not have slammed on my brakes hard enough since i wasn't going very fast to begin with but that, in addition to the fact that the front end is now compromised makes me not too happy when i consider keeping the car.

unfortunately, if we are ever going to buy another (used) one we wouldn't have enough for any of the third-row seating options. i'd be better off looking at older minivans but i don't think a minivan would fit in my garage. lol! and i'm not pleased about the gas mileage they get SO, instead of continuing to ramble i'll just say that SOMEDAY i'd love a rondo or mazda5 (they look better than the rav4, i think) as i think that's the only solution for our family but for now i'm not sure what my options are. keep my tiny, unsafe car or find one under $5000 which has it's pros and cons. i think anything would be better than what i currently have, in its current condition but i don't know.