Hellobee Boards

we drive a toyota highlander and a bmw. highlander is a great family car, although we don't have our kids yet. bmw is an awesome car, but depending on what you get.... ours isn't very kid-friendly (we got the 335i). i'd say the x3 or x5 is a nice family car. my friend has the x3, but she now wishes she had the x5 (she thinks the x3 is a bit small).

we've test driven the honda crv and really liked it. my parents have the rav4, but i think it's a bit small. we were considering the honda pilot....

i have a chrysler pacifica, and i love it! of course they don't make it anymore, but if you're looking for a used car, it's a good option.

my dad bought us all cars when we started college, and i chose a car that would haul my friends in college, and then transition into a good family car. i didn't want to have to buy a new car once i was ready to start a family, so i made sure to chose a roomy suv. i've had it several years, and really loved it. i don't have babies yet, but i nanny for my two nieces and 3-month old nephew and it's perfect. three rows of very comfortable seats, a good sized trunk, very roomy, and it's not so huge and intimidating like some other SUV's out there!

I have a chevy equinox. I have had it for about a year and it's great. The space is larger than most smaller SUV's. There is tons of leg room in the back seat, which is really useful when putting children in their carseats. My husband can also ride in the back seat and he's 6'5". It also has a very large cargo space in the back in comparison to some of the other small suv's I looked at. It gets great gas mileage as well. Prior to this I only drove honda's and although I loved them, I could see myself getting another equinox when it's time.

I just traded in my beloved Mitsubishi Eclipse GT-P last month for a more family friendly vehicle with baby #1 on the way ... I was looking at exclusively imports (mainly VW, Toyota, Mitsubishi). I ended up trading in for a VW Passat Wagon.

I like that it handles a lot like my old sports car did, still has plenty of power, and maneuverability, and was an easy transition driving wise. It is HUGE in the cargo area, and has a massive backseat (it seats adults comfortably without having to move the front seats forward). It also has tons of options (leather, heated power adjusting seats with memory, nice stereo system etc). It also looks nice, which was important to me.

Just as an example of how big it is, we fit a rocking chair, ottoman, 2 duffel bags, DH's big camera bag, and a bunch of shopping bags all in the cargo area, and our 140 pound Newfoundland dog has tons of room to stretch out in the back seat. Our dog will fit with a car seat in the back seat easily, or he will also fit in the cargo area with some luggage for long trips.

VW let us bring the car home for a day when we were considering it and we loaded it up with a bunch of stuff just so we could see how a bunch of baby gear would fit in for road trips.

@AmeliaBedelia: I have a Toyota Venza and I love it. My previous two cars were Highlanders. We are big Toyota people. I find my Venza handles more like a car, has a smoother ride than my highlander, and gets better gas mileage. It's almost more like a wagon than an SUV. But it still has plenty of room for lots of stuff and my pup : )

I drive a Honda Accord v6 with 1 child, no pets. I don't think people know how roomy Accords are inside, you'd be surprised! My husband is 6'3" and can have the seat pushed way back and there is still room for a passenger to sit in back of him. It also has a large trunk. I can put a stroller in it with a ton of room leftover.

The DH drives a Mercedes M-class SUV and the interior is no bigger than my Accord. It is just the trunk space that is bigger so is useful for things like Ikea and Home Depot where you buy much larger items. Otherwise, my trunk has plenty of space day to day.

If we add another child, either car would still work.

I have a Toyota Tercel. Not the best car, but its paid for so I'm waiting til it dies on us. My husband as a Mazda CX-7

we both have a Toyota Yaris! DH has the 4-door sedan and I have the 2-door hatchback. We live in the city and couldn't really do a stroller (like a jogger or a travel system), just too big for our apartment & vehicles (and probably the sidewalks, too, haha). We just have a frame stroller and a carseat. Hoping baby is just as cool with our compact lifestyle as we are!

I have a porsche cayenne hybrid and I love it! It handles really well and has a lot of safety features. You don't even know you are in a car because you can't feel anything or hear the engine at all. It's been very baby friendly

We have a prius. It works well for us now (we only have one baby). Once we have #2 we're probably going to get a H2 or an SUV. Haven't thought that far ahead.

We have a BMW X5. We just got it as we have been driving a BMW 335i, which is a 2 door sports-ish car - with no middle back seat (that has been the bain of my existance for the past 2 years!). We chose the X5 over the 5 series sedan because of trunk space. The X5 has 23 cubic feet of space (with all seats up), vs the 5 series which only has 14 cubic feet of space. Our old car only had 12 cubic feet of space.

SO and I just bought a 2008 Mercury Mariner for our "family" vehicle and I LOVE it. It is like a miniature SUV, gets great gas mileage for its size, and has some really nice interior features (sunroof, leather seats, etc.)

No kids yet, but we have a dog

I don't drive. I take the El or bus. My husband bought a car while we were still dating. It's a Nissan. I can't remember the name of it right now.

I drive a Prius, which I think will be fine for us in the beginning. There is some nice cargo space. DH drives a Kia Forte. We have talked about upgrading his car to the larger Prius that just came out, at some point. We aren't there yet though.

:)@Sunshine1810: It's awesome!
We (also) each have a Prius. Makes for affordable family vacations, and it's surprisingly roomy with an awesome roomy hatchback trunk. Love it!
Of course baby is still just a 17 week twinkle in our eyes.

I have a Honda CRV too and I love it. It's a 2004, so I don't have experience with the newer ones, but it's super roomy and comfy and is built on the Civic chassis so it's not hard at all to maneuver, park, etc., which is what I was worried about with a bigger car. We just have a dog right now, no kiddos, but I don't think there would be any problem with fitting anything in there.