Hello all,
We're in the market for an older used vehicle that we can safely fit our family in. We have an absolute max of $7000, but would rather spend around $5000 or less. We have an 18 month old son who is rear facing in a radian r120 and are expecting baby boy number two in June. We used a britax chaperone with our older son, but fitting that beast into most cars seems to be an issue.. So if it won't fit we're thinking about attempting a second Diono from the get go.
We also have three dogs. This is where the problem lies. The smallest dog, 12lbs, rides in a sleepypod air, buckled into a seat belt or (worse case) on the floor in the backseat in front of a carseat. The other two are 40lbs and 50lbs and would ideally ride in their crates (each 31 inches by 20 inches) strapped down in a cargo area. I'm open to the possibility of using the sleepypod clickit harnesses in a cargo area too, but feel less comfortable with that.
We also want something that won't be horrendous in fuel efficiency.. But I'm not sure how possible that is. >.<
We've thought about going the minivan route, likely a 2006+ Sedona, but we don't haul the dogs all that often and it feels like such a waste of gas! Then there's the station wagon route, outback etc but I'm not sure how well two rear facing radians would fit. I would loooove something like a matrix/vibe but fitting the larger dogs seems to be a possible problem with the smaller cargo area...
Any other ideas, suggestions? We have a few months but would like to purchase sooner rather than later as we currently have to borrow my parents' minivan to take the dogs anywhere. =/
We're in the market for an older used vehicle that we can safely fit our family in. We have an absolute max of $7000, but would rather spend around $5000 or less. We have an 18 month old son who is rear facing in a radian r120 and are expecting baby boy number two in June. We used a britax chaperone with our older son, but fitting that beast into most cars seems to be an issue.. So if it won't fit we're thinking about attempting a second Diono from the get go.
We also have three dogs. This is where the problem lies. The smallest dog, 12lbs, rides in a sleepypod air, buckled into a seat belt or (worse case) on the floor in the backseat in front of a carseat. The other two are 40lbs and 50lbs and would ideally ride in their crates (each 31 inches by 20 inches) strapped down in a cargo area. I'm open to the possibility of using the sleepypod clickit harnesses in a cargo area too, but feel less comfortable with that.
We also want something that won't be horrendous in fuel efficiency.. But I'm not sure how possible that is. >.<
We've thought about going the minivan route, likely a 2006+ Sedona, but we don't haul the dogs all that often and it feels like such a waste of gas! Then there's the station wagon route, outback etc but I'm not sure how well two rear facing radians would fit. I would loooove something like a matrix/vibe but fitting the larger dogs seems to be a possible problem with the smaller cargo area...
Any other ideas, suggestions? We have a few months but would like to purchase sooner rather than later as we currently have to borrow my parents' minivan to take the dogs anywhere. =/