V8Mike

I HATE HATE HATE to have to do this, but I think the Stang is going to have to be put out to pasture.

We have a 1-year old son and were planning on adding one more kid. We were utterly shocked this week when the doc told us to get ready for twins.

So now we will have 3 kids under 2 yrs. old which means we will need room for 3 car seats.

Currently we have my 2005 Mustang GT and her 2002 CR-V. The V has been great as a kiddie-carrier with the Stang filling in where needed, and we figured we could easily make it work with a second kid. But now the thought of 3 car seats is terrifying; there is NO way they will work in the stang and I'm pretty sure they won't even fit in the V.

So at the very least the Stang is going to have to go, and it's possible we might have to replace the CR-V as well.


I love my Mustang so much it is very depressing to have to let it go. I intended to drive it absolutely forever, but this new development changes everything. So my question for everyone is this - are there any halfway-decent fun cars that can accommodate 3 car seats? Driving a minivan is horrifying but I'm starting to think that is going to have to be a van.....

Does anyone here have experience with the Flex? Is it a good alternative to the van? Can you comfortably still fit 3 car seats along with all the other crap the kids need?

07S197

Flex with Eco-boost

Antigini-GT/CS

I'm with Jim.

cdynaco

shotzy

I have the honda pilot as the "children mover". It has 3 rows can sit 8 and haul alot of crap. Our last car was a minivan and this was the closest we could find in terms of room.

My wife loves it. I prefer the stang....lol But it really is a nice truck.

Ronin38

Could you maybe keep the Mustang for the sports car, and upgrade the CR-V to a Flex or similar?

Yeah, family of 5 is definitely van/SUV territory. Not much else you can do about that.

Congratulations, by the way.

V8Mike

Thanks. Ideally I think I would like to be able to keep the Stang, but it seems to me like it would be a major PITA to only have one car capable of hauling the kids. hmmmm.... anyone else have experience with this issue? Can you get by with only 1 car that can take all the kids?

Maybe I can keep the stang and we can replace the cr-v with something more practical like an Odyssey or Flex.

Ronin38

I know quite a few people that have one sports car (or smaller car) and one "people-mover". Mostly it's the smaller car used for one person to go to work, while the other car is used with the kids.

Rather B.Blown

Go look at a '11 Explorer in person. I fell in love with a Tuxedo Black Limited last week.

V8Mike

That would be great but I think that is going to be way out of our price range. I'm probably looking to buy something for around $20k with a few miles on it.

Rather B.Blown

Gotcha. When you mentioned the Flex, I just assumed you were looking at new ones. Yeah, the Limited I looked at was pretty steep, $42K and it wasn't even AWD. But the Flex is just as pricey, however there are used lower trim levels of it out there.

shotzy

I have 2 kids and primarly use my car for work. I dont think 3 kids would be a problem if you both can drive both cars. Whoever has the kids just takes the people mover. For me, my wife cannot drive stick so I have to be able to fit both kids in the car.

cdynaco

Yeah the Flex was over priced from the get go IMO.


Ditto have one people mover, one 'escape' car... cause you're prob going to have those type of days you need it!

Slims00ls1z28

Pick up a slightly used Marauder, G8 GT, or SRT8 Charger or something along those lines. I'm sure they all can be had for less than 20K, they still are V8 RWD cars that you can still have some fun in yet still be practical. I'd say talk the wife int a CTS-V wagon but that's a bit higher than 20K. Used Trail Blazer SS's are going under 20 as well, not so sure about the Cherokee SRT8 they are still a tad high. A used Adrenaline would be a nice replacement as well. Me personally I would have a car that could at least legally hold all the kids if for some reason you have to use it in a pinch. IMO a car than can't transport the whole family needs to be a 3rd car. Those unexpected calls (school, daycare etc) happen when you least expect it.

Nikki

I have 4boys and have a 2011 mustang. My husband drives a pilot. I usually only have the two babies with me and if we all go out we go in his car. I had traded my 2008 mustang in when I got preg with my 2 yr old and missed it so much. My husband 6 months ago surprised me and had a dealer find my car and he brought me to the lot to sign the the papers I love my car. My neighbors think I'm crazy but oh well the kids love it. Much better then a mini van lol!

houtex

Nikki said what I was going to say, effectively. Not the preggers part, I'm not built for that (I think. Who knows, there was this movie with Schwarzenegger...)

Anyway, the keep the Mustang, as the times you'll need to have all the kids at the same time, you'll use the hauler. And you and your woman could swap when needed, right? I mean... surely you're not that possessive of the Mustang...

Ronin38

Fixed.

2k7gtcs

We've got 6 kids with two of those in car seats. We only have one car that can haul that many kids and the wife drives it.

None of my cars will haul that many so when the kids are being hauled it's by her or we all go in her car. I can haul a few but not all. So it's a similar circumstance to yours only more kids.

For us it isn't a problem. I have never come across a case where I needed to go some where but couldn't because of not enough seats.

So maybe you can change the CRV to something like a Pilot for mom, and you'll still be fine. The one case it might not work is if you are the one taking kids to daycare or something. If she's a stay at home mom, or if she will be taking them to daycare you'd be fine, otherwise you'll need the kid hauler for you.

Zastava_101

Even the newest Marauder is 7 years old now and they're pretty much impossible to find with low miles (since Mercury built only ~11,000 of them). I've been looking at Marauders for some time now and if they have reasonable mileage (under 60,000) their prices are close to $20,000. IMO that's way too much for a 7 year old car built by a company that doesn't even exist anymore.

Zastava_101

It could be worse.