Good Family Car - any suggestions???

[csam]

Hi,
We are in the market for a new car and I was wondering if I could get some of your thoughts on what you think is the best car for a family still using car seats.

I'm also starting to look up ratings online too, but would love to hear from you if you have any advice or suggestions.
Thanks!!

[NinaBeena]

I have several friends who love their Honda CRV's -- easy in and out and more spacious than you'd realize.

An excellent source for automotive ratings, if you don't already know this is edmunds.com.

[Joolsplus2]

I love my CR-V so much for carseats, I actually wrote an epinion based solely on ease of carseat installation (what a geek....;). How many passengers do you want to carry, though? I *wish* I had a minivan...Julie. ps, if you don't get enough responses to help you decide, you might want to check the "cars for the family" board at parentsplace/ivillage)

[CPSDarren]

Also, here are a couple other links that may interest you:

http://www.car-safety.org/carguide.html

http://www.car-safety.org/family.html

Good luck!

Darren
www.Car-Safety.Org
DuPage County SAFE KIDS

[smilequeen]

It depends on what kind of car you are looking at, price range, etc. I'd look at the safety ratings and choose something very safe.

If it helps, I can certainly reccommend our two cars. We don't have kids yet (trying), but we bought two new cars over the summer in anticipation. We chose an Acura MDX and a Mercedes E class sedan...If you like SUVs, we found the MDX to be the most versatile, fuel-efficient, and safe in it's class (but the Volvo wasn't out yet...could be better?)...the Honda Pilot is quite similar to ours even a little more spacious. As for the sedan, we found that all the cars in that price range are rear wheel drive and b/c we do get snow here, we chose the Mercedes for it's 4-matic option...rear wheel drive is terrible in the snow (good thing...we've gotten over 24 inches already since December...). We have had nothing but great luck with both cars and we really enjoy them.

I had an Accord and a Maxima in the past, both of which I would highly reccommend for a smaller family as well.

[JMarie]

We have a Honda Civic, which is just perfect for one child. It is honestly JUST the right size. However, once #2 comes along (give me a couple years...), we will definitely be upgrading to the Honda Pilot. We test-drove it when we picked out our Civic and found it to be just a truly amazing ride. I believe it has LATCH in all positions in the second and third rows, but I really didn't check that closely. I've also heard that the CR-V is very nice if you're looking for a smaller SUV-type vehicle, but I've never driven one so I can't speak first hand. I can say that I don't recall anyone ever complaining about theirs - only compliments. HTH!

JMarie
Mom to Aidan Christopher 01/28/03

[Tondi G]

We have a Dodge Durango and absolutely LOVE it! We got it a month before DS was born due to the fact that we have 3 dogs who go in the car everyday! The 3rd row has been great!!!! We have had 3 car seats and 4 adults loaded in the truck and everyone was fine and comfortable!!!! having a 3rd row really has worked wonders for us! If you get an SUV get one with a 3rd row!!!!

Other than that If you are ready for a mini van..... get one.... they really are the ultimate family car form what I have heard from moms who have them!

For sedans/wagons... we know someone with an audi wagon and are very happy with it! My Dh has a Chevy Malibu and it has been a good car as well..... decent size and we've gotten one seat and 3 dogs in there too!

Good Luck! Happy car shopping!

~Tondi and Mason 7/8/01!

[stillplayswithbarbies]

We have a Dodge Durango too. I am wondering how do you get to the third seat with an infant seat in the middle of the second row? What kind of car seat will fit in there and still let you fold the seatbacks to climb into the third seat? We figured we would have to give up using the third seat once the baby is here, it would be great if we dont.

...Karen
Mom to Jake age 12 and expecting Logan Elizabeth or Logan Bartholomew, EDD March 21

[Momof3Labs]

We just bought a Honda Odyssey and would highly recommend it. I have a VW Passat wagon, which is nice, but I hate having to stoop over to load Colin into his car seat. DH had a Suburban, which required me to climb to get Colin it. The Odyssey is at the perfect height - no climbing, no stooping! Plus, our Marathon installed soooo easily in it, and we can still transport extra people, if needed.

Lori & Colin 9/28/02

[csam]

Thanks for all of your helpful suggestions!! I'll let you know what car we end up with!!! :)

[Tondi G]

For now we only have one child but I am pretty sure you are not supposed to put a car seat in the center seat (chekc the owners manual)! Because of the split the base of the carseat is too wide and the seat belt woult be forced like this \__/ to go around.... I guess the belt should only go up and over |_|.... in other words the center seat is too skinny! And yes it would make it so you can't access the 3rd row with the flip down seat!

When we put the 3 seats in.... we had my son in a convertible in one outboard (2nd row).... another convertible in the the 3rd row (her dad got in back with her!).... then mom jumped in the middle (2nd row) and we belted in the infant seat in the other outboard (2nd row!) LOL.... we managed to get everyone in!!!!

We figure once we have more kids we probably won't use the 3rd row too much.... if we need to we can always move one of the seats into the 3rd row for that day and then move it back! If we have three kids then we'll probably have to break down and get a mini van.... OR a Tahoe or Suburban.... I know someone who had 2 convertibles and an infant seat in her Tahoe... 3 across! It worked... she just popped the infant seat in from the front (it was in the center!) YIKES!

Good Luck! Love to hear other Durango families that love their trucks! :)

~Tondi and Mason Liam 7/8/01!

BY the way.... I love the name Logan... I would name our second (if it's another BOY) Logan but DH disagrees! :(

[bnme]

Where do you have your seat installed? Does yours have LATCH? Our 2000 CR-V, which we love, does not. We have the infant seat in the outboard position becuase we couldn't get a snug fit in the middle due to the seat crease.

[juliasdad]

We, too, just bought an Odyssey and like it quite a bit. We also have an A4 wagon; I'm a *huge* fan of Audi, but the A4 is a bit tight with a carseat.

Minivans aside, I'd recommend an Audi A6 wagon.

-dan

[stillplayswithbarbies]

We were trying the car seats in our cars this weekend, because we have a Car Seat Safety class to go to tonight and wanted to see if we had any questions. After reading what you said, I checked the Owners Manual and it says that you can put a car seat in the center of the middle seat. (Our Durango is a 2000 model). It also gave some hints about twisting the buckle to make it shorter where it comes out of the seat, and also about buckling it in backwards to help it hold tight.

I also checked the car seat compatibility database, and there is an entry there for the Roundabout in the center position in a 2000 Durango that was checked by a car seat safety technician. We are going to get ours checked before we use it, but it looks like it will work.

With the Stay in View base in place, we could still tilt the seat to get to the third row seat, so that is good. With the Roundabout, it wouldn't tilt up as far, but enough so that my older son could still crawl into the back. Once it is forward facing, we won't be able to do that, but we have a year to worry about that and hopefully by then we will have something bigger than the Durango. Maybe a Subarban.

As for the name Logan . . . we are not sure now that we will use it for a boy. It seems to be too popular and I am afraid it will end up like Jake where it sounds fresh and new at birth but then every other mother had the same idea and everywhere he goes there is at least one other Jake. So we are back to kicking around ideas for boy names.

...Karen
Mom to Jake age 12 and expecting Logan Elizabeth or Logan Bartholomew, EDD March 21