As Families Expand so do. . .Cars?

Erin and I have always prided ourselves on our urban lifestyle.  We live "close in" in Portland.  We can get downtown in less than 15 minutes.  There are parks and restaurants within walking distance.  There is a bus line a block away.  We have this idea that we live our ideal urban lifestyle.
     Yet somehow we are only mediocre at taking advantage of the great area in which we live.  We do go for walks quite often, and usually end up at one of the parks.  We occasionally walk to one of the great local restaurants, but just as frequently if not more frequently,  end up at a national chain to eat.  We only take the bus when forced, but it is nice to know it is available.

Erin's Cobalt

     In fact, Erin and I, unlike many of our friends, have always been a two car family.  We enjoy the freedom and flexibility having two reliable cars gives us.  We both drive cars with decent gas mileage, nothing great, but decent.  We have been lucky to have avoided long commutes for most of our marriage.  In six years neither of us have averaged much more than 10,000 miles a year.  We enjoy the fact that we have the independence to go where we want when we want, and often drive whichever car suits us that day.

My Accord Coupe

     We would often scoff at those in SUV's and gas guzzlers and vow never to stoop to such a suburban lifestyle choice.  Until Nathan was born we would walk out of the house and decide which car we would take just on a whim knowing it really didn't matter too much or make that big a difference.  Sure, Erin's 2005 Chevy Cobalt was a bit better when there was the possibility of another passenger or cargo, and my 1999 Honda Accord was a bit more comfortable for me to drive/ride in due to its increased legroom, and kick ass stereo.

Hard to tell here, but the stroller barely fits.

     Now, with Nathan, we are resigned to take only Erin's car where ever we go.  We quickly realized that having four doors makes loading a child seat in the back of the car extremely easier.  Not to mention having even just a bit of extra room makes loading the stroller (which barely fits into the trunk as it is) and diaper bag and groceries and etc, etc etc, just a bit easier.  However, even with the four doors, because of my height the car seat must be placed behind whatever seat I am not sitting in.  It will not fit in the middle seat either causing us to leave it on the passenger side and for me to drive whenever the three of us go anywhere.  And if you have gone on a road trip with me you know how quickly I like to fall asleep in the car; this is a major problem when I am driving.  Furthermore, the front passenger seat had to move forward to a position that leaves Erin sitting uncomfortably close to the dashboard as well as unnaturally upright. Quickly, our two car, flexible lifestyle has disappeared, replaced by rigidity and only one option.
    So, like all those couples which we so frequently made fun of, we now believe we need to purchase a bigger car to meet our growing family's needs.  Now, just like any guy, I love cars.  I like to look at them and dream, and dissect features and mpg and horsepower and which car is cooler than than the next.  I don't even mind too much looking at cars, but I hate the actual process of buying a car.

Not a lot of space.

      The sleazy salesmen, who won't take no for an answer and ask the lamest questions, use every trick in the book like no one has ever heard them before, just drive me crazy.  Seriously, when I respond to perhaps the lamest of all sales lines: "How can I earn your business today?"  With, "You can't I am just looking, getting a feel for different cars I may be interested and besides my wife is not even here," and yet they still persist with, "What is holding you back today?"  Are they even listening?  Are they trying to annoy me?  Then just when you think they are going to let you leave, they make the convenient excuse to go inside to get a card (really why would you not have a business card on you?) and somehow just at that moment the sales manager or some supervisor pops out and asks you the exact same sleazy questions.   Then magically right as the the supervisor leaves back comes the original salesman for one more go at the lame sales techniques.  So aggravating.  Don't even get me started on negotiating a price, as that is probably even more painful, and somehow turns what could be an hour or so process into an all day ordeal.

"How can I earn your business today?"

    Saying all that, we have begun what for us will be a lengthy process to look for a new car.  First we want to find the right car.  Erin and I grew up with quite different experiences with car buying in our childhood.  Her dad buys a car and keeps it forever.  He had 1988 Toyota Camry that he kept for 20 years and over 300,000 miles, until he replaced it in 2008 with a, you guessed it Toyota Camry.  Meanwhile my father had aprox. 6 cars or so while growing up.  Not an outrageous number, but I do remember several trips to dealership on the way home from church Sunday afternoons.  We had a Jeep, a Cadillac, a Minivan, and a few others in between.  So Erin, and I definitely want a car that will last us a while and won't need to be replaced for a while.  (we are used to not having car payments and definitely would like to reach that point again sooner rather than later)

Even less space here.

     Secondly, If you haven't noticed I am kinda tall.  This makes shopping for a car much more difficult.  First off, I have to fit into the car, and comfortably drive it, and then we also want a car that can still take passengers behind me when I drive. (sadly this rules out Subaru's)  Finally,  I still don't have a full-time job, and with the possibility of a large day care bill in our near future, money is not in unlimited supply.  So because of all these factors we'll take our time and look slowly and deliberately (as we seem to do with many things) until we find a car that we can both agree on and afford.
     Until then, here are some of the models we are considering.  We'd love to hear any feedback if anyone has experience with any of them.  Our general parameters are a car of some sort (no SUV's or vans, maybe a crossover)  mileage under 75,000 would be nice, enough room for me to comfortably drive, and enough space for a child, or child seat to be in the seat behind me, and a decent size trunk or hatchback to tote around all that stuff.  Oh and I want a nice enough stereo that I won't feel the need to replace it with something better, and the ability to hook up an ipod or upgrade easily to do so.

Toyota Camry SE

    Toyota Camry:  This is almost a family tradition so we have to at least look.  And what's not to like, practical, reliable, decent gas mileage, very good value.  Also kinda boring.  I drove an SE on Sunday, and it had a little style and a V6 so it was not too bad.  The only question is will it really be big enough?

Dodge Magnum

Dodge Magnum:  Plenty of space and plenty of power.  I drove two on Sunday, both with a Hemi engine, and they had quite a bit of get up and go.  Plus, room for a passenger to sit behind be, comfort, style and lots of storage in the rear hatch as well.  Gas mileage is a definite drawback.  I really enjoyed driving these though.

Nissan Maxima:  I definitely like these, and I once quickly drove one my dad was driving at the time.  Good size, yet not huge, plenty of options and made to perform at least better than many baseline sedans.  I will need to investigate more and find a few to drive.  Would also consider an Altima, but I fear though a better value, will be just a bit smaller than we'd like.

Chevy Malibu:  I go back and forth on whether or not I like these.  Good value, seems to have plenty of room (I have yet to test drive one)  Could buy a newer one that has very few miles, but seems a bit blah to me, and reminds me too much of Erin's Cobalt of which I am not a huge fan.

Infinity G35

Infinity:  There are a couple models that for the right price I'd love to drive.  A G35 is pretty awesome (I'd love the coupe, but I'll have to put that off a while)  but could be a bit on the small side, there is also the M45, or maybe even the FX35.  Most of these are probably just out of our price range and we'd have to find a pretty good deal to consider them.

Random European Cars:  Then there are the random Euro-imports that I like mostly because they look cool have a bit better performance, but also may be a bit more pricey and less reliable:  Audi's, Volvo's, Volkswagen (Passat only)  BMW's and Mercedes (yeah right on the last two I know).  These are all much further down on the list and long shots at best.

Any other suggestions meeting our parameters would be great.

As a finale to this long entry, I will post what is perhaps the greatest car commercial of all time, and while I may one day be resigned to purchase a mini-van that day is a long way off.  If and when that time comes, (and if very well may)  then I hope to be as cool as the father in this commercial, in fact just to get myself up to go out each day and drive the mini-van I may need to play this before I leave the house.