Time to change the car....

[Morba]

No need for something bigger, can understand wanting a 5 door though.
No need for a diesel either at 10k a year.

I'll give you two options though:
Focus and Mondeo. No surprise there. You'll find plenty of good cars in your budget.

 

[Morba]

i think he wants a bigger car for bootspace to? carrying prams and what not. and as above quote. i hated getting my nephews in and out of a 3 door. a 4 door makes it so much easier

And a mid sized hatch is aimed at this sort of thing. An astra or focus boot will be more than big enough.

 

[LizardKing]

strapping a child in the back of a 3 door car is a pain in the arse. Doesnt mean it cant be done, but it is a pain.

Disagree, with a 3 door you strap them in from the front and facing them head on, a five door you have to reach over at an angle. I find my 3 door golf a lot better for getting my 2yr old in and out than the 5 door i use to have.

We've even gone for a long weekend away in my GTO and it fit in everything.

I really don't get the "baby on the way must get a huge car" mentality!

The argument i do agree on is in the event of an accident but thats never a given, doors get jammed very easy!

 

[james.miller]

Well, thats your experiance and that's fine. But everything is easier in the Gf's 5 door fiesta than it is in my xsara coupe tbh i prefer leaning over (which isn't a problem, why i that difficult?) to having to jam myself between the front seat and the baby's car seat in a 3 door just to strap the thing in.

We've even gone for a long weekend away in my GTO and it fit in everything.

I didnt say it couldnt be done, i just said it was a pain.

 

[Morba]

Disagree, with a 3 door you strap them in from the front and facing them head on, a five door you have to reach over at an angle. I find my 3 door golf a lot better for getting my 2yr old in and out than the 5 door i use to have.

We've even gone for a long weekend away in my GTO and it fit in everything.

I really don't get the "baby on the way must get a huge car" mentality!

The argument i do agree on is in the event of an accident but thats never a given, doors get jammed very easy!

You choose to be ok with a 3rd. Other people will choose the easier 5dr option.
Choice is a great thing isn't it..

 

[lordrobs]

I don't understand why you need to change a Vauxhall Astra hatchback because you are having one child. It's a child not an elephant? When did the world decide you needed an Ocean liner for a kid?

When I was 4, and my sister was a few months, my Mum drove us around in a Ford Escort RS2000 - which was a 2 door saloon!

But that was before the days of HUUUGE child seats that weigh five times more than the kid and are wider than an armchair

 

[ubersonic]

I don't understand why you need to change a Vauxhall Astra hatchback because you are having one child. It's a child not an elephant? When did the world decide you needed an Ocean liner for a kid?

When I was 4, and my sister was a few months, my Mum drove us around in a Ford Escort RS2000 - which was a 2 door saloon!

Haha, this man speaks the truth, I used to see people on the Prelude forums asking what car to get now they have a family, the general consensus was "don't be a plank, the kids will by 10 before they even consider complaining about the rear leg room" ^^

 

[Morba]

Haha, this man speaks the truth, I used to see people on the Prelude forums asking what car to get now they have a family, the general consensus was "don't be a plank, the kids will by 10 before they even consider complaining about the rear leg room" ^^

Since when was leg room for the kids a consideration?

 

[Scania]

My 2.0 mondeo is getting around 25mpg. Wish i had bought a diesel lol

I'm getting around that from my old, high mile, automatic 528i - it was getting around 20 but then I replaced the cam position sensor & its a lot more frugal.

You sure your mondeo is running right?

Anyway, OP, you don't need a bigger car for a baby.

I had a Mk3 Escort when my daughter was born, 6 months later, I changed it for a 3dr Nova TD - crap car, but space for the kid was not an issue.

 

[EddScott]

But that was before the days of HUUUGE child seats that weigh five times more than the kid and are wider than an armchair

My GTIR had to go because our daughters car seat wouldn't fit in it.

When she was born we bought an E30 estate. Filled the thing up regularly for trips to relatives and such like. To me, it just seems common sense and far more practical to have a 4 door or an estate of some sort. One justification for the Imprezas is that they were 4 doors (good excuse for not forking out more on a 2 door) .

I'd rather have more space and not need it than not enough space - one reason I love my Jeep is that we can just lob the bikes in the back and drive to whatever trail we want to go on - plus it's so useful for trips to the dump or moving large items around (we ditched our old cooker on the weekend and having a big boot was very handy)

 

[LizardKing]

You choose to be ok with a 3rd. Other people will choose the easier 5dr option.
Choice is a great thing isn't it..

Well, thats your experiance and that's fine. But everything is easier in the Gf's 5 door fiesta than it is in my xsara coupe tbh i prefer leaning over (which isn't a problem, why i that difficult?) to having to jam myself between the front seat and the baby's car seat in a 3 door just to strap the thing in.

I didnt say it couldnt be done, i just said it was a pain.

I was a little worse for ware when i wrote that reply and didn't mean to come across quite so blunt, as a personal preference i find it much easier on my back strapping her in while facing her. And with the 3 doors, the actual doors are a lot bigger for getting her in and out.

Personally i can put up with the hassle of a small car for the 3-4 trips a year fully laden, the rest of the time its mainly just me so i may as well buy a car that suits the majority of its use.

 

[Morba]

I cant see putting a new born car seat into a 3dr being easier. Also bigger doors need bigger parking spaces etc

 

[james.miller]

I cant see putting a new born car seat into a 3dr being easier. Also bigger doors need bigger parking spaces etc

Dont i know it

I was a little worse for ware when i wrote that reply and didn't mean to come across quite so blunt, as a personal preference i find it much easier on my back strapping her in while facing her. And with the 3 doors, the actual doors are a lot bigger for getting her in and out.

Personally i can put up with the hassle of a small car for the 3-4 trips a year fully laden, the rest of the time its mainly just me so i may as well buy a car that suits the majority of its use.

ha, i figured as much. It's fine