family vehicle

[AnnieS]

We currently have two Honda Civics - 2002 and 2005. We both love our 5-speeds, and get pretty good mileage.

Right now our dd’s infant seat (which she’s really close to outgrowing) is in the middle of the back seat. We’re expecting in Feb, so are trying to figure if it’s worth looking into a minivan. The mileage would be worse, by far, and right now we’ve had no car payments for several years. There are a lot of downsides, financially. BUT, we also feel tight in the Civics sometimes as once all three (four including the in-utero baby, of course ) are in, there’s not much room for “stuff.” A minivan seems like it would be a lot more comfortable. We’d love if God blesses us with many more children in the future. Our first two will only be 16 mos apart, but if breastfeeding goes better with this baby, maybe we’d have a bigger gap before a possible gift of a 3rd. We wonder if we’d get a decent deal on a van right now, w/ them and other larger vehicles being unpopular due to fuel costs.

Lots to consider. I’ve tried to search the archives and it appears this topic hasn’t been brought up recently. I did get a good pointer to look at the Edmunds.com forums for more info about vehicles - those are great forums if you know what car you’re looking at.

Would love to hear your experiences/thoughts. (Also, there aren’t any 5-speed/manual trans. vans, right?! Sorry if that’s a dumb question - just want to make sure we’re not missing anything.)

 

[Phemie]

We have three kids and at one point we had one in a car seat and the other two in booster seats in the back of a Nissan Sentra (the little boxy Sentra Classic, not today’s Sentra). We did look at mini vans at the time but in the end refused to take on the larger payments, lower gas mileage and, most importantly, the manual transmission.

 

[Feanaro_s_Wife]

**Look into your station wagon options too:thumbsup:… we got a ford focus wagon that was a couple of years old when I was pregnant with Lily…

we HAD to get a new vehicle because there is no way any kind of car seat would have fit in the tiny back seat of our old Geo Metro, lol. We didn’t want to take on a large payment and fuel efficiency was a big deciding factor for us when trying to decide between a van and a car.

Who knows, maybe you can even get a manual transmission in a wagon??? **

 

[masondoggy]

Personally, if it were me…I’d stay in what you have now and put the money you’d spend on a carpayment + the extra gas costs into a saving account. Then you’d have a nice chunk of cash to buy a mini-van when the third baby comes around. (This coming from a mini-van driving momma of 4 who would give anything to be able to downsize into the gas-efficient green civic I used to own… ) So, basically…enjoy it while ya can, lol…

BTW, I used to fit two car seats in my green civic nicely. Never felt cramped…I loved that car…

 

[AHapka]

Yes, it might be tight but if you mainly do around town driving, it shouldn’t be as bad as you might be thinking. Even short trips of 1-2 hours won’t be as bad as you think. I have an Audi A4 (not that much bigger, really) and I’ve taken both of my boys and related luggage on 5 hour trips with no problem (granted, this was sans wife, but even if she came with and brought just cloths, we would have fit).

So I must ask how many long trips you might plan on making? If it’s a few hours to grandma and grandpa’s could you buy a pack and play and some toys to keep there? The cost of having a duplicate set of such items is far cheaper then car payments, and would make packing much, much easier.

If you only forsee one or two really long trips per year, you’d be better off renting a minivan or other vehicle for when you need to make those trips.

If you truely want the room, and ability to cart around the kids and all of their stuff, you’ll need the minivan (and i’d go the minivan route, far cheaper than an SUV, and better options in my opinion).

Both cars are paid off, so it is to your advantage to delay things as long as possible. That being said, would it be possible for you to consider trying with both Civic’s for say, six months? You can buy a new car whenever you want, you can’t go back to both Civics after you buy. Especially while the babies are little, it’s easier.

But I will say keep one of the Civics, with me and my wife it’s the minivan and A4. It’s really nice to have the small car at times, especially when it’s just one or two running around on short trips.

 

[dulcissima]

I have a Honda Odyssey minivan, and it is a great car other than the gas mileage. I have 4 kids, and there is no way I would be driving such a huge car if I only had two. It would be way too much car and a complete waste. Back when we only had three kids we did long vacations with all of the kids in a VW GTI, which is a 2 door hatchback, and it was just fine. If it were me, I would definitely be keeping the Honda Civic.

 

[jwashu]

My wife had an Envoy when our second was born and even that with baby stuff was filled to the rim if we went to the grocery store.

We traded it when the warranty ran out, I like to have 1 car under warranty at all times… I’ll always have a car payment, so I don’t try not to, and wanted to get a van.

The SUV had tight edges and sharp corners on the doors and our 3 year old had already hit his head numerous time. We liked the Honda and the Toyota but could get a far better deal on a Dodge Grand Caravan. I had never owned a mopar product but we knew a lot of other people with the same van and they loved it. Some with 200+ miles so we got one. (a little over 2 years ago).

Right after we got the van we found out we were pregnant with number 3 so it was worth it.

While my wife really never wanted a mini Van she lovers hers. It’s got the power sliding doors and lift gate. Going to the store with Babies in tow is a MUCH easier prospect. If it’s starting to rain the big back hatch makes a great cover while putting in groceries and the kids learned quickly how to close the doors with the push button.

They have a new one now that’s even nicer and is what we will probably get sometime next year…

Another thought, which actually gets worse gas mileage but is very useful is a truck. I traded in my Altima for a SuperCrew F-150 about 4 months ago (they have great deals on them). We got a new house and I’m always having to haul something it seems so it’s actually been worth it. One of the reasons I choose the Ford was because I could get 3 car seats across the back with no problems. I got the bench seat (still has a fold down console) just in case…

Oddly enough, we found out recently number 4 is on the way just after buying the truck…

Oh well… at least we have 2 vehicles now that will seat 6 if necessary.

Joe

 

[BamaRider]

I’d keep the 2 Civics.

How often do all 5 of y’all get in the car? And when you do for how long?

Nothing will beat the Civics for everyday errands, and trying to park a van and climb in and out gets old. Not to mention gas, which my guess is gonna take 60 bucks to fill up, where as the CIvics fill up for 40 something and go 300 miles?

For extended family vacations I’d rent a van, which will cost ya about one payment on a new one.

 

[AnnieS]

Just wanted to thank you all SO much for your insights and sharing your experiences. I feel a lot more confident now that we can stick with the Civic as a family car. The space of a minivan is still tempting, but I love what several of you said making me think that there won’t be circumstances for a LONG time once we do a switch to a bigger car where we’d go smaller again.

Thanks again!!!