In his post at the Washington Post's On Parenting blog, Brian told of crossing the parenting rubicon: they got a minivan.
Well, not exactly They got a miniminivan, the Mazda 5, which was the only car that met his criteria of low price, decent mileage, and seating for 5+.
Then when he asked the Post's family readers what they drive and how they picked it. The first 165 comments can be summed up thusly:
Mazda 5 sounds like it's working out nicely, by the way. Though it's sad to see the Scion xB go.
douche! treehugger! idiot! Honda Odyssey birth control?? minivans suck! seat belts, hah! 10 kids in the back of a wagon! no balls! Toyota Sienna. NoVa car seat police! hauls sheetrock.
The True Badge of The Parent: A Minivan [washpost]
Gotta love those educated folks that read the Post.
Thanks for reading all the way through the comments and providing that summary, sparing me the agony of getting all the way to the end. Amazing how quickly the discussion can run off the rails.
By the way, we're holding onto the xB (which RebelMom loves dearly), it just won't be the primary kid car.
YEAH, glad to hear.
And sometimes I have to read all thew way through, if only to cure me of my occasional comment count envy. It worked. Enjoy corn season!
It seems to me that lots of people buy too-big vehicles not because of their children, but because they insist on bringing their dogs with them on vacation.
Two kids? A Honda Accord is fine.
_But then I can't bring the dogs!_
Good God.
Good god. I just read all those posts because I just couldn't look away, kind of like watching a snake eat a rat. What on earth is wrong with people! Makes me appreciate the calm & civility of daddytypes all the more.
We had the same exact dilemas. When we found out that we were having a child, I quickly did the math. With Maternity and Parental leave needing to be considered into our monthly budget, along with the future cost of day care, I rational thinking told us to get rid of or 2006 Mazda B3000, and our 2006 Saturn Ion and replace it with a vehicle that suited our needs.
Our needs.
1. Payments must not be greater then the most expensive existing payment on one of our vehicles.
2. Gas consumption needed to be lower than most mini vans in general.
3. We have 2 large dogs! We needed the space to bring them on family trips.
4. We are planning to have just two children, so needed to fit 2 Kids and gear comfortably on day to day occasions. (Diaper Bags, Strollers, and other Car filling baby junk)
5. Needed to NOT BE A MINIVAN
We looked at the Jeep Patriot, but were not satisfied with its overall lack of power, and expensive add-ons. They may advertise 16k new, but if you want a full sized spare tire you were up to 21000. The new Dodge Journey was too big and gas sucked. At the end of the day I liked the Mazda5 because, There were really only 3 packages to choose from, and the base model came with the things that make a car really fun to drive.
Good Choice on the Mazda5
Just gotta say we adore our Mazda5. Its great that it can fit my kids and others if needed without having terrible gas mileage and a big price tag. We had a four seater which is fine while your kids are little, but once they start school and you have kids to cart around that aren't your own, it makes having a small car less and less appealing.
Check out Car & Driver "Boss Wagon" feature.
they trick out a Mazda5, ala Mazdaspeed 3.
Word.
Yeah, whatever happened to that? Did they ever finish it? Because I can't find a word published about it since last Summer.
http://daddytypes.com/2008/07/29/car_driver_boss_wagon_is_back_and_its_a_mazdaspeed_5.php