Adulting time - Baby on the way

Caporegime
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Reading these posts makes me wonder how on earth we managed having an Vauxhall Astra with three young kids. We even went camping a few times in it!

Typical first child worry. We have all been there :p.

Having 4 doors is nice but not the end of the world. Anything Yaris sized and above is more than adequate for a family of 1 child.

The only thing you really need is a pram that works with an isofix chair. I think we paid 200ish for a full system (Half of it we barely even used so if you can buy just a frame that works with the car seat can save a bit). Just take the baby seat out and bonk it straight on the frame. No messing about.
 

mjt

mjt

Soldato
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Typical first child worry. We have all been there :p.

Having 4 doors is nice but not the end of the world. Anything Yaris sized and above is more than adequate for a family of 1 child.

The only thing you really need is a pram that works with an isofix chair. I think we paid 200ish for a full system (Half of it we barely even used so if you can buy just a frame that works with the car seat can save a bit). Just take the baby seat out and bonk it straight on the frame. No messing about.
Newborns and infants shouldn’t be in those maxi cosi seats for too long though as it isn’t good for the spine and posture.

Also, 3 doors is a total PITA with a child seat and I don’t care what anyone says. If you want to deal with those impracticalities then that’s your business, but I find a big estate infinitely more practical.
 
Caporegime
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Newborns and infants shouldn’t be in those maxi cosi seats for too long though as it isn’t good for the spine and posture.

Also, 3 doors is a total PITA with a child seat and I don’t care what anyone says. If you want to deal with those impracticalities then that’s your business, but I find a big estate infinitely more practical.

Yeah they do not last long. My daughter spent quite a long time in hers as she was small but by 11 months my boy was already in a proper child seat. He's something silly like 97th percentile for his height atm. We got him a Recaro sport hero

I mainly use a large estate and it is infinitely better. I was merely pointing out it is just the sudden knee jerk reaction you see when a baby is coming that seems to bring the need to buy an MPV when in reality you can manage pretty fine with pretty much anything that has 4 seats.
 
Soldato
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3 doors is awful. We had an FN2 briefly but preferred to use the Yaris solely due to rear access. I’d rather have a smaller car overall than a 3 door.

You start to notice things you’ve not paid attention to before - like how wide rear doors open!
 
Soldato
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Having had small and larger cars with one child, I do think a larger car is easier and basically means you spend less time messing about trying to fit things in or compromising on what you can take or pram you choose etc. Once you have kids there are enough things to worry about beyond packing up a car. Just my view, however I respect those who have used smaller vehicles successfully, it's totally do-able but I don't have time or energy for it and I'm fortunate enough to have a choice of different sized vehicles on a regular basis (company car scheme).

I've also been renovating the whole house over the last few years and having a vehicle with more space has been very useful so I guess that's something to consider as I use the extra room on a regular basis.
 
Associate
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Yeah they do not last long. My daughter spent quite a long time in hers as she was small but by 11 months my boy was already in a proper child seat. He's something silly like 97th percentile for his height atm. We got him a Recaro sport hero

I mainly use a large estate and it is infinitely better. I was merely pointing out it is just the sudden knee jerk reaction you see when a baby is coming that seems to bring the need to buy an MPV when in reality you can manage pretty fine with pretty much anything that has 4 seats.


We all have had that knee jerk reaction and your right about that all you need at least 4 seats and big enough boot to take the buggy or pram. Sounds like you learnt from you experience, I know I did. I had an IS200 when we had our first was fine apart from the boot opening. I then moved onto an 3 series touring, but wished I had gone for a bigger estate as it would have made things more easier.
Back to the OP, what ever you do, just make sure your happy with what you choose and the compromises you are willing to except. Also as I forgot to say it on my earlier posts congratulations, welcome to the club.
 
Caporegime
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We all have had that knee jerk reaction and your right about that all you need at least 4 seats and big enough boot to take the buggy or pram. Sounds like you learnt from you experience, I know I did. I had an IS200 when we had our first was fine apart from the boot opening. I then moved onto an 3 series touring, but wished I had gone for a bigger estate as it would have made things more easier.
Back to the OP, what ever you do, just make sure your happy with what you choose and the compromises you are willing to except. Also as I forgot to say it on my earlier posts congratulations, welcome to the club.

Yeah cannot really go wrong with an estate. Can just chuck a big pram in a second without even knowing it is in there. The low loading an estate offers means you can take out one handed and fold into place. similar to those foldable beds that ambulances use. Ideal when you got a baby in the other hand.

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Soldato
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location, location
Your biggest issue with the 240 will be the fact that it's a coupe. Yes, it has Isofix. Yes, there's room in the back to actually get a child in a seat in it. Yes, you'll likely fit what you need to in the boot. But trust me, squeezing in and out with the child seat through the coupe doors and all the associated faffing involved (cleaning up sick, picking up dropped toys, etc.) will get old REALLY fast in a coupe.

My kids are now 6 & 11, and I have an F80 M3, absolutely no trouble at all getting everything we need in the car (but of course no prams, pushchairs etc any more), but when the youngest was a baby I had the M135i 5 door. We did 3 week holidays to the south of France, weeks away in the UK, shopping, parent visiting, all the usual stuff with the associated baby paraphenalia that goes along with having a new baby and we had NO issues (and that's baby + 5 year old, so 2 x car seats).

You just need to look at options with 4/5 doors, and if you want to stick with the BMW stable then the obvious choices are:
M135/M140
335/340
M3 (F80s are probably just about in budget now for an approved used)
 
Soldato
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Yeah they do not last long. My daughter spent quite a long time in hers as she was small but by 11 months my boy was already in a proper child seat. He's something silly like 97th percentile for his height atm. We got him a Recaro sport hero

I thought he was referring to the fact they aren't designed for long periods of time per use rather than being used for X months.

We were all set to just buy online but I think getting the tape measure out on the boot of the Polo and trying some out instore will be a better bet! Ideally I'd like to get away from having a company car, I can then drive our Polo and get something a little bigger for my wife but not having a company car doesn't seem to be an option despite my business miles dropping.
 
Associate
OP
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Your biggest issue with the 240 will be the fact that it's a coupe. Yes, it has Isofix. Yes, there's room in the back to actually get a child in a seat in it. Yes, you'll likely fit what you need to in the boot. But trust me, squeezing in and out with the child seat through the coupe doors and all the associated faffing involved (cleaning up sick, picking up dropped toys, etc.) will get old REALLY fast in a coupe.

Yeah this was exactly my thoughts. I do quite like the 340, even the estate. Although I don't love the floaty feeling the 240 and 140s seem to have when pushing it on a fast B road. Obviously not a full M car, so assuming the 340 would be more of the same. Was already thinking of swapping to something else before we got the news. Although the noise from the B58 in the 40s is amazing, coming from the megane a proper set up handling car seems to feel more important to me. Not that the 240 is bad, it just feels a bit GT cruiser and feels a bit wooly compared. A lot of people say it's the cheap dampers. The OH is gonna be swapping her car to something probably SUV related so I think I will just get something 5 door and a bit more fun to throw about:)

There are loads of 5 door hot hatches. The Civic Type R is probably the largest and most practical if you can live with the looks.

I do really like them and think they feel really good to drive, I just think they look quite embarrassing to look at. I am 29 but I still think they look way to Barry boy from the outside personally.
 
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Associate
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When I was outside washing our cars today, I happen to notice one of my neighbours struggling to get all the baby stuff in their golf. He was swearing and stopped took a step back and swore a bit more. His other half came out and he just said that’s it Iv had enough we need an estate! I had a chuckle to myself and thought about this thread.
 
Soldato
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When I was outside washing our cars today, I happen to notice one of my neighbours struggling to get all the baby stuff in their golf. He was swearing and stopped took a step back and swore a bit more. His other half came out and he just said that’s it Iv had enough we need an estate! I had a chuckle to myself and thought about this thread.
Do your OCUK motors forum obligation and go and recommend a 911 or a CLS63 :p
 
Soldato
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Do your OCUK motors forum obligation and go and recommend a 911 or a CLS63 :p
As the one who recommends the 911, tell them to not load so much crap. As I now have an e92, our week holiday in Newquay involves only a rucksack or so in the cabin with the rest easily fitting in the boot. And nothing on the parcel shelf as that's a stupid thing to do.
 
Soldato
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We’ve managed fine with a 3 door M135i with one. The doors are so big that I’ve not found it too difficult getting a child (and dog) strapped into the back. The boot is fine for a pram.

I got a seat protector to go under the child seat so that it doesn’t mark the leather. Just vacuum the car every week and it will keep looking ok.

You could always get a roofbox for long trips (I have one which has worked well for holidays).
 
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