Car buying advice

[HalfSmokes]

leather interiors are your friend as well - easy to clean up vomit, urine, milk, poop, and anything else that spills.  Also, something that's easy to vacuum is nice so you can get to the cheerios.

We have cloth, and no stains at all. A accompany that advertised sees kids crapping in cars, muddy dogs and hikers knows how to make resilient fabric

[jensgt]

We felt the need pretty quick...it seems like the smaller the kid is the more crap we need to take everywhere.  He's 9 months now so I finally got a smaller stroller and don't need to take his bouncy chair along with us anymore but at Christmas time we had to rent a minivan because our Rav4 was not big enough for all our stuff.  We are going to buy a Toyota Sienna or Honda Odyssey later this year or early next year.

[tomterp]

We have cloth, and no stains at all. A accompany that advertised sees kids crapping in cars, muddy dogs and hikers knows how to make resilient fabric

I didn't get any treatment for my Honda Pilot seats, and  they are stained by everything.

[GburgNatsFan]

We used to call that the rule of baby tonnage - the weight/size of the crap you have to bring along is so much greater with babies.

We felt the need pretty quick...it seems like the smaller the kid is the more crap we need to take everywhere.  He's 9 months now so I finally got a smaller stroller and don't need to take his bouncy chair along with us anymore but at Christmas time we had to rent a minivan because our Rav4 was not big enough for all our stuff.  We are going to buy a Toyota Sienna or Honda Odyssey later this year or early next year.

[NJ Ave]

How soon after having a kid or kids did you guys feel the need for something bigger than a sedan?

How many kids do you guys want, and what's the schedule like? With one kid, our Hyundai Sonata was perfect - it helped that the Sonata has a very large trunk. Two kids now, with the oldest turning 4 - we've really been enjoying our Acura MDX (which depreciate to roughly the same price as similar year Honda Pilots, only with better interiors). You gotta remember you're going to be accommodating at least 1 extra kid from time to time as your kid(s) get older and you start hauling their buddies around. The third row of the Acura works well with the Diono low-profile seats but not infant seats or other convertible seats.

If you're planning for 2-3 kids and want the room, my buddy really like the Buick Enclave which (I think) has captain's seats in the second row that allows easier access to the third row.

Even if you like new cars, this might be a time to get a used car. You have probably a 50% chance of not liking the way the car works with a kid, so don't eat all that first 2 year depreciation if you have to sell it. If anything, I'd say maybe buy an older model and try it for a couple of years, then pony up for the new car purchase if it works for you.

[HalfSmokes]

Depending on the car, depreciation my not be enough to justify the downside of used (most of the warranty gone, higher interest rates if you finance)- looking quickly, 2013 outbacks have only lost a few grand off MSRP (around 5k max)- considering no one actually pays MSRP there isn't much depreciation. It probably depends on the car though

[NJ Ave]

Depending on the car, depreciation my not be enough to justify the downside of used (most of the warranty gone, higher interest rates if you finance)- looking quickly, 2013 outbacks have only lost a few grand off MSRP (around 5k max)- considering no one actually pays MSRP there isn't much depreciation. It probably depends on the car though

Don't most people estimate cars lose 10-15% a year over the first X number of years? My point was more that you shouldn't make a huge investment in a "kid car" without knowing what you're going to like/dislike. My wife has always hated minivans, and now admits we'll need one if we have a third. I'm glad that we bought a 2007 Acura instead of a 2013. I've loved that car, but if we sell if I'll be happy to lose a couple grand instead of fifteen for the honor of driving if for 3 years.

It might be different if your car holds it's value better. But with kids I don't think limiting depreciation is the biggest factor. You need something that works for you.

[NJ Ave]

This article has over $11,000 of depreciation over the first five years of a new Subaru Outback, fwiw.

http://www.motortrend.com/cars/2015/subaru/outback/cost_of_ownership/

[HalfSmokes]

http://www.edmunds.com/subaru/outback/2013/wagon/used/

http://www.edmunds.com/subaru/outback/2015/


five years, I would expect it (if nothing else, most models will undergo a redesign which seems to cause a lot of depreciation), I was just responding to eating the first two yeasts of depreciation

[NJ Ave]

http://www.edmunds.com/subaru/outback/2013/wagon/used/

http://www.edmunds.com/subaru/outback/2015/


five years, I would expect it (if nothing else, most models will undergo a redesign which seems to cause a lot of depreciation), I was just responding to eating the first two yeasts of depreciation

Oh yeah, I have no idea what the depreciation window is. My main points are (a) you don't know what you're going to like when you're driving a kid, because that changes a lot, so (b) better to buy something that's easy/cheap to resell in a year or two if you need to.

[HalfSmokes]

Oh yeah, I have no idea what the depreciation window is. My main points are (a) you don't know what you're going to like when you're driving a kid, because that changes a lot, so (b) better to buy something that's easy/cheap to resell in a year or two if you need to.

you're probably right, although I wonder how much you just adapt to what you have (as long as the storage is there)

[Natsinpwc]

you're probably right, although I wonder how much you just adapt to what you have (as long as the storage is there)

Yep.  Just adapt unless you want to waste a lot of money selling a couple year old car.

[HalfSmokes]

Yep.  Just adapt unless you want to waste a lot of money selling a couple year old car.

that's my theory- buy new, repeat a decade later (the exception being a corolla we bought for my wife to commute in- that car was just an unreliable piece of garbage)

[blue911]

Get a vasectomy and buy a Harley

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

This is the most practical solution.

[varoadking]

This is the most practical solution.

It may be even be the most fun, if it didn't involve someone messin' with the boys...

[NJ Ave]

It's also the cheapest solution. You could buy a $150,000 Harley and it's STILL the cheapest solution

[imref]

i'm getting ready to order a 2016 Chevy Colorado pickup on Friday, this will be my first-ever pickup, so major life event here.

Are there any Chevy owners that want to talk me out of this?  The Tacoma owners I know think I'm crazy, but the Colorado beats the Tacoma in every category save for resale value, and with the GM discounts for credit union members and members of USAA, the Colorado is about $2-3k cheaper than an equivalent Taco.

[Nathan]

Not directed toward you imref, but what ever happened to the small pickup?  The Ranger languished as the last one forever, now the Tacoma and the Colorado are damn near full sized.

[Slateman]

How many kids do you guys want, and what's the schedule like? With one kid, our Hyundai Sonata was perfect - it helped that the Sonata has a very large trunk. Two kids now, with the oldest turning 4 - we've really been enjoying our Acura MDX (which depreciate to roughly the same price as similar year Honda Pilots, only with better interiors). You gotta remember you're going to be accommodating at least 1 extra kid from time to time as your kid(s) get older and you start hauling their buddies around. The third row of the Acura works well with the Diono low-profile seats but not infant seats or other convertible seats.

If you're planning for 2-3 kids and want the room, my buddy really like the Buick Enclave which (I think) has captain's seats in the second row that allows easier access to the third row.

Even if you like new cars, this might be a time to get a used car. You have probably a 50% chance of not liking the way the car works with a kid, so don't eat all that first 2 year depreciation if you have to sell it. If anything, I'd say maybe buy an older model and try it for a couple of years, then pony up for the new car purchase if it works for you.

Two kids before she's 35. She's going to be 32 this June.

[imref]

Not directed toward you imref, but what ever happened to the small pickup?  The Ranger languished as the last one forever, now the Tacoma and the Colorado are damn near full sized.

good question, i guess there wasn't much profit in them and perhaps the market went to the small SUVs?  The Tacoma and Colorado are still a lot smaller than the Tundra/Sierra though.  The Colorado is selling as fast as they can build them. In response, Toyota is coming out with a revamped Tacoma in the fall. I'd expect to see new smaller trucks from Ford and Chrysler again before long.  The revamped Ridgeline is also due this fall.

[GburgNatsFan]

Bring back the El Camino.

good question, i guess there wasn't much profit in them and perhaps the market went to the small SUVs?  The Tacoma and Colorado are still a lot smaller than the Tundra/Sierra though.  The Colorado is selling as fast as they can build them. In response, Toyota is coming out with a revamped Tacoma in the fall. I'd expect to see new smaller trucks from Ford and Chrysler again before long.  The revamped Ridgeline is also due this fall.

[GburgNatsFan]

You're going to be too busy for car shopping.

Two kids before she's 35. She's going to be 32 this June.

[tomterp]

Bring back the El Camino.

They had style.

[GburgNatsFan]

They had style.

Low payload height, too.