New car ASAP :-(

neona · May 22, 2014

My 2005 vw was just diagnosed with some major expensive issues and unexpectedly we are in the market for a new car. I hate my car, but it would've been paid off in 2 weeks. Also, I'm 8 weeks along with our next baby.

Stats: Step daughter 15. Infant due in January. Nearly 4 year old still RF (not sure how much longer) in Radian xlst (or something like that lol). 15 & 4 yr old cannot be near each other without major flare up. Can infant be in middle?
Budget: none. But possibly a loan up to 12k would keep us at the same car payment we are already budgeted for.
I would drive it daily 40mi or so round trip. At this time I don't do most of the kid carting.

My husband has a subaru that he does most of the work on so I was looking at 2005 Forester or outback, but worried about room in the back. Hyundai sante fe looks like it might work. I really really don't want a mini van.

Thoughts?

CarSafetyGuy · May 22, 2014

Sorry to hear about your car troubles. If safety and reliability are priorities, I'd recommend the Avalon if your budget is under 3k, and the RX 300 if you're looking for an SUV under 6k.

cantabdad · May 22, 2014

neona said:
15 & 4 yr old cannot be near each other without major flare up. Can infant be in middle?

My husband has a subaru that he does most of the work on so I was looking at 2005 Forester or outback, but worried about room in the back. Hyundai sante fe looks like it might work. I really really don't want a mini van.

The Subarus will be a little tight for 3 kids across the backseat, especially as you go back in model years and if the infant seat has to be in the middle. The Forester had a hump in the center up until 2008(?) or so that makes carseat installation difficult. The Outback is a little better, but still isn't huge across the back. They are great vehicles, especially if you live in a cold climate, but you'd really have to bring your carseats to the dealership to see what fits.

You might be better off with a conventional sedan like the Camry, Altima or Accord -- or the even larger Toyota Avalon as mentioned above by CarSafetyGuy. They have a tiny bit more room across the backseat which will make a difference in comfort.

Another options is the Mazda5. It has 3 rows of 2 seats -- which might be nice for avoiding "flare ups" -- and has sliding doors, but it's compact and certainly doesn't scream minivan. They tend to be available in the price range that you mentioned.

tl01 · May 22, 2014

cantabdad said:
The Subarus will be a little tight for 3 kids across the backseat, especially as you go back in model years and if the infant seat has to be in the middle. The Forester had a hump in the center up until 2008(?) or so that makes carseat installation difficult. The Outback is a little better, but still isn't huge across the back. They are great vehicles, especially if you live in a cold climate, but you'd really have to bring your carseats to the dealership to see what fits.

You might be better off with a conventional sedan like the Camry, Altima or Accord -- or the even larger Toyota Avalon as mentioned above by CarSafetyGuy. They have a tiny bit more room across the backseat which will make a difference in comfort.

Another options is the Mazda5. It has 3 rows of 2 seats -- which might be nice for avoiding "flare ups" -- and has sliding doors, but it's compact and certainly doesn't scream minivan. They tend to be available in the price range that you mentioned.

I think the Mazda 5 would be a great possible option too.

DawgDad · May 23, 2014

I also recommend that you take a look at the Mazda5 if you are looking for something affordable, smaller, and not "minivan". I seriously wish the American society would drop this asinine stigma they have associated with this vehicle class...it's superior in every way to offering exactly what all families of 3 kids or more need.

Fitting 3 across the back in anything but the newer Accords (2008-today) or Avalon with a young adult and two children in carseats is pretty much your safest bet. Please try and test drive all the cars you can...a place like CarMax is a great place to try multiple makes and models to find that right size fit. Bring your kids and carseats along to see how they fit in ANY test drive you do...and even swap places with your 15 year old since when you have the baby I am sure you might be doing some riding in the back with the infant to tend to it's needs.

Sorry to hear about the car issues...this isn't the first I have heard of issues in the VWs...

CarSafetyGuy · May 23, 2014

Regarding reliability, I've blogged about the safety of Volkswagens before, both in terms of safety features (the Passat was one of the very first affordable cars to feature front/rear head and front torso airbags) and in terms of driver death rates.

However, they can easily cost an arm and a leg to maintain, along with luxury brands such as Audi (VW's luxury line), Mercedes Benz, Volvo, and BMW. It's unfortunately a tradeoff that's not always worth it.

New car ASAP :-(

neona

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CarSafetyGuy

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cantabdad

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tl01

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DawgDad

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CarSafetyGuy

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