Question Convincing DH to Ditch His Jacked 4Runner

Jonah Baby

New member
It was a bad trade -
our F350 crew cab for a jacked up, almost road-illegal, altered for mudding/rock climbing 4Runner.
And for the record...my opinion wasn't considered in this!

So, now that DH has realized that the 4Runner gets less mpg than our diesel truck did and needs more money towards maintenance than our oil changes and air filter cleanings costed on the F350, he has come to the conclusion that it was a dumb idea. Not to mention that the 4Runner is completely unsafe for regular child transportation being on 35" tires and DH is too lazy to go get top tethers or clean up his tools in the back. Not to mention that our F350 didn't lose parts driving down the road. Men...

I convinced him to look into other options and the guy who traded trucks with us is interested in buying the 4Runner back.
Cool! Except DH is interested in vehicles which still aren't very kid friendly.
He does really like Nissan Sentras, though.

We found an '03 Sentra for sale on Craigslist. It needs a new exhaust, but DH is a mechanic and that isn't a big deal. Otherwise, the car is good to go and is being driven now by the owner. It is UNDER the value of which we could sell the 4Runner for, so we'd have the funds left over to make the exhaust repair and put the thing on the road, plus some.

Now, I had a '96 Sentra, my first self-owned vehicle. It was totaled, but I LOVED that car. I loved that it fit me well, drove really nice, and never needed much upkeep. The only thing I didn't love is that we could BARELY fit carseats in it. It would be impossible to get two rearfacing seats in this car (of the carseat models we had/could get and would fit the children.)

Did the Sentras change from '96 to '03 enough that we would be able to fit two RFing seats comfortably in the back?
For now, I'm concerned about an infant seat, probably the SR32, and the MR. I think J will continue to use the MR RFing for a time, as his weight has finally slowed. Anyone have experience with this year of Sentra?

Also, what other kinds of vehicles would you suggest for us to look at with our low budget, low income, and available carseats (listed in signature)?
DH refuses to get any type of van, hehe. He claims he HATES any CRVs or similar vehicles and won't touch a Grand Cherokee. We would love a crew cab Tacoma, but they are out of the price range and DH isn't happy with a crew cab Dakota. DH does like several models from Subaru - he refuses to have one that isn't AWD, however, and keeps focusing on "sporty" types, but he will drive a wagon (if its turbo charged.) He would drive a Jetta happily, but doesn't like my idea of getting a TDI.
Oh yeah, he refuses to get an automatic again.

Any suggestions/knowledge are appreciated!
 
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brightredmtn

Well-known member
Don't all Subarus come AWD?

Why don't you think you can fit two RF seats in a Sentra? I wouldn't have had a problem fitting two in my Corollas.
 

Jonah Baby

New member
To my understanding all of the newer Subarus are AWD, but not all of the older models, which we would most likely end up with if we chose a Subaru.

My '96 Sentra could not fit the MR RFing outboard, it ONLY fit in the center. It COULD have gone outboard passenger side and the seat could be moved up, but the MR takes up the same if not less room than the SR32 does (we experimented several times to see.) So, if there wasn't enough room behind driver for the MyRide, no way could I get a SR32 in there which takes up more space and MUST have more of a recline than my toddler needs.
(Putting infant seat behind passenger and moving the seat up wouldn't work only because the MR wouldn't fit behind driver, see?)
It was a miserable car for installs, nothing would stay tight and you could barely get your body in the car to get anything installed!
 

Guest

New member
Subarus have had standard AWD since the 80s. I doubt you're looking for a car older than that.

That said, I have a hard time imagining an 03 Sentra being tighter in the back seat then a comparable Subaru (say, the Impreza, Outback, etc).
 

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