Family Car: SUV vs Sedan?
June 10, 2009 at 12:00 PM by Daily Buzz Team - Comments (5)
Photo by 920Wendy
The following is a guest post by Ideal Bite's Mama Bite contributor Jennifer Orr.
When my husband and I first announced that we were pregnant with our first kid, our friends and fam told us that a minivan or, at the very least, an SUV was crucial, not just for baby and her safety, but to lug all her stuff too.
We were briefly swayed by this logic and tested a few - we even tested a beautiful shiny black Volvo station wagon (our compromise) with a soft, tawny leather interior...mmm...I can still smell that car.
Nevertheless, we decided that, with the price of gas in CA and oil's toll on the environment, we would stick with a nice, boring, mid-size, fuel-efficient four-door sedan.
Six years and two kids later, we're still driving that same car. Now, compared to that sexy Volvo, our ho-hum Honda has probably saved us about $2,500 in gas and almost 1,000 extra trips to the pump.
Yes, our backseat is crowded with car seats, but I love that my oldest daughter can easily reach across the seat and hand her sister a dropped sippy cup (thereby keeping her and me happy for the ride). The "stuff" we cart around is usually just one smallish stroller, which fits neatly in our trunk with groceries, luggage, golf clubs, or ice chests. The kids' big red wagon fits back there, so does a bike, and so have various collectables I've found at the antique fair here.
Other benefits: I can park in just about any space, even those hard-to-fit "compact" ones; I can actually do a three-point turn in just three moves and without running anyone off the road; plus all I have to do is open the car door and my two-year-old can climb in and out all by herself, which my aching back greatly appreciates. Oh, did I mention how much money we're saving on gas?
Trust me, you don't need to spend your cash on a pricey SUV. If you're starting a family, stick with your midsize car and see how you feel before running out to get the latest monster. We love our mid-size car so much that we recently purchased another one for my husband. And this one's even a hybrid.
What kind of car does your family drive?
FILED UNDER: home life
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We have an F-150 pick up that has 4 doors and seats 6 which fits our family.
When our oldest was born we had a Ford Ranger which didn't fit us, lol. The baby sat up front in the passenger seat and I sat in the jump seat behind the driver. It sucked. Even more so when I wound up pregnant 6 months later. For the first 6 months of that pregnancy I had to climb into the back of the cab, ugh. Finally we broke down and bought a van since the truck wouldn't fit our growing family much longer.
We drove the van full time until last summer when it died and we moved to the truck as our main vehicle (we bought the truck in 07). It's a gas guzzler (last summer it was costing almost $100 to fill it up and that was almost every week and we never went anywhere) but it's fun to drive.
i drive a lil two-door toyota. love the thing i've had it for 5 years and wouldnt dream of having anything else. yes it is hard with a little kid but you get used to it. my dh has a little honda civic 4 doors and perfect for your little family. both are great on gas and will hold everything we need plus more.
I drive an SUV - I cannot seem to give it up. I do have moments of shame when I am at the grocery store with my canvas bags, loading them into my giant truck - but I get behind the wheel & the shame goes away. I love the room of my car & the ability to go anywhere I want in Ohio winters.
We have several cars. We have 4 kids, so with 6 of us we can only fit into a larger vehicle. We have a Yukon Denali for when we go somewhere as a family - which is usually only church on Sunday. For just driving around town (and I usually only have 1 kid with me at a time) I drive a New Beetle. My oldest drives and has her own car with my 2nd oldest getting a car in the next month, so I'm not really driving them as much anymore.
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KTMOM Jun. 10, 2009 at 1:32 PM