New baby on way, DH suddenly wants new car. Suggestions?

We have a new baby coming in June, and DH told me today that he wants to replace his beloved Scion xA (absolutely tiny car with great mileage) with something that will fit two kids better. The Scion was a fabulous car when we lived in a city with no parking and had a long work commute, but now that he does not drive to work and just takes DS around town on weekends, size and mileage do not matter like they used to. Instead he's picturing two carseats and no cargo space, and worried about the small size of his car in the event of an accident.

I drive a Toyota Camry, which he thinks is a beast to drive compared to how "close to the road" he feels in the Scion. He'd like a small to medium size nimble SUV (and of course, any SUV is huge compared to a Scion!) that will comfortably fit us, two kiddos and still have room for an adult passenger or a carpool kid on occassion.

DS will be 3 in June and currently rides in a Roundabout 55 in the Scion (and a Blvd 70 in the Camry). He's not a big kid (37 1/2 in tall, about 33 lb). New baby will be in a Graco Snugride 30 until she's big enough to inherit the two Britaxes, at which point DS will move to a combination harness to booster (maybe a Frontier or ProSport).

Any suggestions of what vehicles to look at? He hates the CR-V but has mentioned the RAV4, the Hyundai Santa Fe, and one of the Jeeps (I don't know the model) as possibilities. What he really wants is a GLK but it's out of our price range (we don't want to finance) --- he like the squarer body shape over the rounder ones. Usually he's not a fan of American cars. I just want it to be safe and kid friendly!

Thanks!

KIA Soul?! Or the Nissan Juke?!

I'm not sure about a passenger with the 2 carseats ( I had a marathon & an SR35 ( wider base than the 30) in a toyota matrix that barely fit my tiny sister in the middle) but with the right carseats it may be possible

I just seen a commercial for a small SUV but I can't remember what it was :/

What about the xB?

jwilliams said:

What about the xB?

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I hauled 2 kids, 3 adults and a chihuahua 400 miles in my xB once.

Honda fit? We can get a ton in that thing! Mazda 5 as a totally out there suggestion?

If he likes the Jeeps, I really like the new Jeep Grand Cherokee. Not very fuel efficient and not inexpensive, either, but less than a GLK;-) Plus, it looks sharp, gets good crash ratings and is much improved over the previous generation. I really enjoyed driving the similar Dodge Durango on an extended trip a year ago, too. The other Jeeps don't really do much for me.

How 'bout the Pilot? It's more rugged and boxy than most and is great for families.

Subaru Forester? I had a 2010 and loved it, not too big, not too small and very fun to drive.

We just purchased at 2014 Subaru Forester limited and got it for 26,655. It gets an avg of 27mpg 24/32, has great crash ratings plus plenty of space and fits our carseats with some space for me to squeeze in between if I needed to.

I highly recommend but we have only had it 3 days so far

vermontmoms... since you are relatively near to me I'm assuming the delivery charges etc. are around the same. Was that price for the Limited with leather? I forget how the trim lines go.

I'm trying to convince DH to love the car and replace his with one!

Mazda 5 will get better gas mileage than the SUV's, still fit two kids with plenty of room for gear (with the 3rd row folded down) and still feel like driving a car.

MotoMommaNH said:

vermontmoms... since you are relatively near to me I'm assuming the delivery charges etc. are around the same. Was that price for the Limited with leather? I forget how the trim lines go.

I'm trying to convince DH to love the car and replace his with one!

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We paid $26,667 with leather and navigation (2014 limited). But we moved to Colorado now so we may not be too near anymore.

Defrost said:

Mazda 5 will get better gas mileage than the SUV's, still fit two kids with plenty of room for gear (with the 3rd row folded down) and still feel like driving a car.

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They say the AWD of the Mazda 5 gets the same as the new Forester or 1 mile less hwy (Mazda 31/Subaru 32)....Yes in the non-awd version it gets an avg of 2 more mpg but where we live awd is a must.