justkidding

I have one of these and I love it BUT we are a family of 3. With 5 of you you definitely need the large size van. Honda vans seem to have a good reputation but they are pricier.

Dashie

Ah. Looks like we're looking at a very different class of car All of those would be out of our league in both places

delsol79

I believe most people are referring to second hand car prices which are certainly more expensive than the UK.

iaink

With 4 we get by with a Legacy and a Civic. Got to decide what to replace the civic with, another civic, ford fiesta or focus. hyundai Elantra, or Veloster. Fuel economy is important, and the Civic is made in Canada which is a factor to consider, but the Velostar has funky styling and a start button and central exhausts...

You need at least 5 to justify a van.

Choosing a car based on a baby makes no sense. In 6 or 12 months it wont be such a factor.

iaink

Then dont buy second hand... Its a toss up here I think if you can get low monthly payments and zero down on a new vehicle. Buying used is not the no brainer decision it was in the UK, but then maybe I have more income now too.

delsol79

I agree but many people will have no choice but to go second hand if have no credit history or wad of cash with them.

iaink

My first canadian vehicle was a shiney new jeep on a lease. Only wad of cash was the security deposit ($2k?), which I eventually got back. I take your point though, and I did have a job which makes a difference to the financing. Im also not sure it was the best move for me with hindsite, An old $1000 beater would have been better.

Im not sure though that spending $10k+ on an older used vehicle makes sense here though, corrosion is an issue and used prices stay high and attract sales tax, so its a different set of circumstances to buying in the UK. (Talking Ontario of course)

Dashie

Depends.

There will be a few times that we'll have to hire a van when we have visitors. If you're in that situation regularly then it would make a difference. Or does that technically count as more than 4?

It's now law in Canada that infants need to stay rear facing until the age of 1 AND 20lbs weight AND able to walk unaided (I'm a car seat tech). Although they put these in various different places so nobody has all 3 in the same place. Handy, eh? Also, the American Pediatric Association has change it's recommendation to rear facing for at least 2 years, so that's likely to trickle over here too.

It's a lot safer for them to be rear facing, and there are seats now that can keep them that way until 40-45lbs (they just either frog or cross their legs and are a lot more comfortable than it sounds ). We just turned our little boy at the age of 2 1/2, because he reached the rear facing limit for his seat, and we know people doing it even longer because they have higher rated seats that weren't available until a few months after we got ours.

So, if you even have the one child, you want to make sure that there's enough room in the back not only for a bucket infant seat, but also for a convertible rear facing seat, which they will likely need before they can be turned. We had trouble with a Dodge Caliber and rear facing and still being able to reasonably use the passenger seat, even putting the seat in the middle, so I think it's totally reasonable to bear having a baby in mind when shopping for a car.

TheKellys5

I'm not - the baby makes 5 of us. Me, Wifey, 3 daughters (inc baby) - so a van is reasonable imho, but looking closer reliability is a definite requirement. Have not looked at the new v old bit yet but meh, it's not going to be easy to sort lol

dbd33

A requirement for a rear facing seat for anything larger than a whippet would rule out convertible cars for anyone needing to cart small children around. I can't imagine anyone breeding in the face of such a draconian restriction.

Dashie

Who wanted a convertible car? I was talking about regular cars and convertible car seats (that's what they call the ones that rear face longer, and then convert to forward facing).

iaink

dbd was. Hes a serial owner of convertibles. I wouldnt mind to be honest.

Besides, If a Pontiac G6 doesnt appeal for some reason Im sure there is room on back of a merc E class softop... or going oldschool with an aircraft carrier sized caddie convertible...

If I can fit a rear facing alpha-omega seat in a legacy or civic, or the old mazda protege how hard can it be to find something that will do until the kid can be turned around?

dbd33

Everyone, surely.

I can't think of many convertible cars that would accomodate this convertible seat contraption and so express concern that a trend, perhaps backed by legislation, toward these cumbersome devices would lead to sensible people electing not to breed rather than tolerate their lives being circumscribed to the extent of having to travel in an enclosed vehicle.

dbd33

For the bucket type of seat used to pick up new offspring from hospitals, yes. I'm not sure about all this swivelling gubbins, how high is it off the car seat?

iaink

You mean the front/ rear convertible seats? not so much, a couple of inches maybe... The top is usually about level with the seat back.

My kids both hated them in rear facing mode, they couldnt see anything but the seat so got bored and antsy, plus they were long thin things and there was nowhere for their legs to go after a while