OK, we have to buy a car RIGHt NOW..can you give me info on these models..?

so..as of Friday, the van is toast..so much is wrong with it that right now it will cost so much more to fix than we have, so all in all, we feel it's best to just get our new vehicle now. i must have a vehicle to be able to work, so we do not have ANY time to shop around (we have been in pre-buying investigative mode for months, but assumed we would have more time to make a final decision) as the van is undrivable and I can not go back to work until i have a car!!!!!
So, looking around at what is available. We are going ot be choosing from the following.
All 2007 models, used with less than 20K miles. All are $11-12K
Aveo
Cobalt
Focus
Rio
Spectra
Optima
Elantra
Ion level 2

What matters to us is ease of carseat installabiity (is that a word?), reliability, and safety. They are get within 1-2 mpg fuel economy of each other, so that is a wash.
I'm finding it hard to know how many and what kind of airbags they have, especially since side air bags are options on some models, and I haven't got specific info yet.
The car will be driven mainly by me in a city setting, and will be our family car with 2 carseats, my husband and myself. We are both short, me particularly so (5'even) This car will have to last 8 years.

anything anyione wants to tell me about any of these cars? I'm especially interested in things like "OMG, don't buy that car because..." or info about weird seat belts, bight situations, etc.

we're going to the dealership tomorrow, 8 am!

I have no info on those vehicles, just wanted to say sorry about your van.

My sis just bought the Elantra and I love it!!! It gets great gas milage, has tons of airbags ( more than I could count!) and it super easy to install carseats with or without LATCH.:thumbsup: I was able to install her Snugride, my SS1, and a Nautilus with no trouble. She bought her used and still got a great warranty. I give this car :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:! Good luck on the buying and sorry about the van.

Thanks. I could deal with it being old, having no airbags, no heater, no A/C, no working windows, no muffler, non-working windshield wipers, a cracked windshield and 10 mpg. But now the brakes are completely gone, and I consider those to be essential!!
so, it is either take out a loan to fix the van, or take out a loan to get a new vehiucle..umm...new vehicle!
*sigh* it was never meant to be driven, at least not daily, it was DH's project vehicle..until 2 years ago, the WEEK we bought my new (used)car, dh takes it out for a drive..and SMASHES it. We only had liability insurance, so that was it. And I've been driving the stupid van for 2 years as my everyday vehicle.

I have a 2007 Ford Focus.

Don't know how much I can tell you. I am pushing 5'4" and am comfortable driving and able to sit a reasonable distance from the airbag. I have side curtain airbags and the 'smart' airbags up front. My granny is barely 105 and it supposedly turns the airbag off for her when upfront. The front seatbelts are adjustable. The seats are also adjustable - the bottom portion (where you sit) goes up and down.

I have installed a FPSVD, Husky, Marathon, infant bucket, Radian, and Truefit in my car (the convertibles both RF and FF). The only one I have had trouble with was the Radian and it was an acceptable install, just not to my liking. Every other carseat I can get a fantastic install in every position, to me this means no movement. LATCH can be used in the center if the carseat allows. I can install the FPSVD and Truefit side by side (but not room in the other outboard for a passenger). Haven't tried any other side by side install, but just got the MA so am planning on playing tomorrow. All three rear positions have l/s belts and top tether achors.

The trunk is roomy for a small sedan. Can fit two bins (12' by 12' by 12') of 'stuff', a car cover, an umbrella stroller, a bucket of softballs, a full bag of softball bats and catching gear and 5 batting helmets in it. (Don't ask, it just all fits.)

The only thing I don't like about the car besides being a car (I want a truck), is that there are no headrests in the rear. Might be a concern if your older one grows out of a high back booster anytime in the next 8 years.

Hope this helps, if you have any more questions I can try to answer them for you.

(Don't know if this is true or not, but I would try to stay away from Saturns and Kias. I was in an accident once and T-boned a fairly large Saturn with my Ford Ranger (her fault) and the ambulance/fire/police kept walking around complaing about how crappy the Saturn was and how would have been safer and less hurt if the car had been made of metal instead of plastic. I have heard more things like this over the years of Saturns and Kias (supposedly why they are so cheap). Of course, they could be being built better now and all, but something to think about )

If I were you I'd narrow down the choices to the Elantra, Focus and Cobalt. The Subaru Legacy is also a really nice car and subarus are so well made. I know you don't have time to shop around, but just wanted to throw that out there. If it were me, I'd go with Focus, Legacy, Cobalt, Elantra....in that order.

The Aveo is super small (too small for a family imo). I have a feeling that the Hyundai and subaru will be more pricey to fix than the Ford or Chevy because it is foreign. I like that the Focus has been around for awhile so it is tried and true so to speak. I also read that the Elantra has higher collision insurance premiums fwiw.

Good luck with your crunch tim car shopping. I've been looking for the right car for months now. I hate car shopping, it's so frustrating, especially with carseats

BW1426 said:

If I were you I'd narrow down the choices to the Elantra, Focus and Cobalt. The Subaru Legacy is also a really nice car and subarus are so well made. I know you don't have time to shop around, but just wanted to throw that out there. If it were me, I'd go with Focus, Legacy, Cobalt, Elantra....in that order.

The Aveo is super small (too small for a family imo). I have a feeling that the Hyundai and subaru will be more pricey to fix than the Ford or Chevy because it is foreign. I like that the Focus has been around for awhile so it is tried and true so to speak. I also read that the Elantra has higher collision insurance premiums fwiw.

Good luck with your crunch tim car shopping. I've been looking for the right car for months now. I hate car shopping, it's so frustrating, especially with carseats

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thanks. Right now, dh's car is a metro, which was the precursor to the Aveo, he's driven one literally for decades, LOL, and loves it, so he is pulling fo rthe aveo.....and actually, it is enough bigger than the metro to seem downright roomy, LOL! but, it'd not my first choice, I'd prefer something bigger...I'm leaning towards focus, my gramma has one, and it is fine.
Must sleep now.

munchkin said:

I have a 2007 Ford Focus.


I have installed a FPSVD, Husky, Marathon, infant bucket, Radian, and Truefit in my car (the convertibles both RF and FF). The only one I have had trouble with was the Radian and it was an acceptable install, just not to my liking. Every other carseat I can get a fantastic install in every position, to me this means no movement. LATCH can be used in the center if the carseat allows. I can install the FPSVD and Truefit side by side (but not room in the other outboard for a passenger). Haven't tried any other side by side install, but just got the MA so am planning on playing tomorrow. All three rear positions have l/s belts and top tether achors.

The only thing I don't like about the car besides being a car (I want a truck), is that there are no headrests in the rear. Might be a concern if your older one grows out of a high back booster anytime in the next 8 years.

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We have a 2003 Focus wagon - it's the same as far as installing car seats go. I haven't had trouble installing any seats - I can add the Nautilus, DC, Scenera, FPSV booster, Parkway, and Regent to Munchkin's list. (I think that's it.) It's not great for a 3-across if you need it, but it can be done with the right seats.

You can use LATCH in the middle position.

I also have the same concerns about lack of headrest., and the seatback itself is fairly short. My DS is 7, and we expect to keep the car for another 5 years. I'm just hoping that he stays small enough to fit in a high-back booster. (So far, so good, as he's quite small but also leggy for his height.)

Hope that helps!

BookMama said:

It's not great for a 3-across if you need it, but it can be done with the right seats.

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Have you done any 3 across? If so could you please tell me what carseats and which direction? Thanks!

My first car was a Metro. Ick. I hated that thing. Glad your hubby likes his, bc it sure did get wonderful gas mileage. But, no way I could have gotten a RF convertible in that thing.

thanks guys, I went ahead and got the optima.
I really liked the Kias way better than the others, I liked the spectra more, actually, but knew in the long run I'd probably regret not getting teh slightly bigger, more luxurious optima, so I chose that one. I detested the focus, sitting in it was awful, I had blind spot issues in the cobalt, and i actually liked the Aveo, but it was the same price as the spectra and optima, so..um, ya....LOL!

We go tomorrow to get the financing done, since it has to be in DH's name, and he was at work by the time I found the "good" car lot i ended up at. The crash ratings aren't the absolute best, but okay, and way better than anything we have been driving.

Yeah!! So happy for you and I didn't even think that my one of my mommies that I sit for has a Kia Sodona?? Not sure of the spelling. She absolutely loves it. Her DH has the Elantra, but she loves how it has plenty of room without being too big! Enjoy your new car!!!

BW1426 said:

If I were you I'd narrow down the choices to the Elantra, Focus and Cobalt. The Subaru Legacy is also a really nice car and subarus are so well made. I know you don't have time to shop around, but just wanted to throw that out there. If it were me, I'd go with Focus, Legacy, Cobalt, Elantra....in that order.(

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ain't going to find a 2007 legacy with under 20k miles for $11-12k like the others, and the gas mileage is way worse than any of the choices the OP listed.

EDIT: oops, didn't realize the OP got a car already. :thumbsup:

the optima is the corporate twin to the hyundai sonata, so the optimas are supposed to be quite nice. good luck!

munchkin said:

Have you done any 3 across? If so could you please tell me what carseats and which direction? Thanks!

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I've only needed to do it twice.

Once with boosters: backless Turbo/drivers side - FPSV booster/middle - Parkway/passenger side

Once with all kinds of seats : FF MA/drivers side - FPSV booster/middle - RF Scenera passenger. Both convertibles were installed with LATCH, and I pulled them as close to the door edge of the vehicle seat before installing. I had to reach my hands around and under the side of the Scenera to buckle the booster - DS definitely couldn't do it - but it was OK. Wouldn't want to do it regularly, but it was fine for one day.

BW1426 said:

My first car was a Metro. Ick. I hated that thing. Glad your hubby likes his, bc it sure did get wonderful gas mileage. But, no way I could have gotten a RF convertible in that thing.

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We had an infant seat and then a RF convertible in our 2-door Metro for a total of a year. It wasn't too bad, but then again it wasn't a tall seat like a MA - it was a Century STE 1000 or something like that, and I think it had a fairly short shell.

Oh, I miss the 50 (!!) MPH we used to get in that car.

LOL, just had to chime in....we currently have 2 carseats in the metro, 1 vision or nauti and 1 RFing comfortsport or AOE. It CAN be done, but it means I eat the dash in the front pass. seat, LOL!! It's a 2 door, and we have to put ds(rfing) in through the hatchback, talk about ghetto, LOL!!

I've forgotten, does the metro have 2 or 3 seatbelts in back?

BW1426 said:

I've forgotten, does the metro have 2 or 3 seatbelts in back?

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Two.

yep, 2, it's a four seater car.

We have a 2006 Aveo hatchback. I have installed a Radian FF, an Uptown RF and FF, and a Scenera RF and FF. All were pretty quick installs, the seatbelt stalks are real short, sit just about in the seat bight. There is also LATCH for the outboard seating positions. You won't be able to do three across in it, it's not allowed by the manual and honestly, I don't think there is room to do it. Since you have two seats, they would have to go in the outboard positions, can't put one in the center if you have a seat or passenger outboard.

I've put my RF seats on the passenger side and I could still sit in the front, not real comfortably, but far enough back from the airbag and my knees weren't in the dashboard (I'm 5'8").

Ours has side airbags, I think it's just optional, could be wrong.

We've only had it 6 months, seems to work fine for us. Oh, something to note about service since it came up the last time I took ours in for an oil change. Aveos apparently need new spark plugs at 30k miles and the transmission uses more expensive fluid, so a transmission flush costs a bit more. Haven't had a chance to verify that, but that's what the service manager at the dealer told me.