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Small/medium cars & prams

  • 28-10-2020 7:06pm
    #1
    araic88
    Registered Users Posts: 313 ✭✭


    I wasn't sure where best to ask this, but I'm planning to change my car soon enough and would hope to get a good few years out of it, if needs be.
    I don't have children yet but would like to start a family soon enough, and am keeping this in mind when looking at cars.
    I'd prefer something small/medium like a Ford Fiesta, Nissan Micra or Opel Corsa. Is there anything in terms of boot size I should look for/be aware of?
    I don't think we'd have more than two kids, probably a few years apart, so I don't think I need anything huge, but I don't want to discover when it's too late, that most prams have to be dismantled to fit in the car I buy.

    Any tips welcome!


Comments

  • #2
    shesty
    Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 6,891 Mod ✭✭✭✭shesty


    I think I would go from something the size of a VW Golf and upwards so, as regards boot size.Get a 5 door, not a 3 door.

    Now you don't necessarily have to go for a pram or travel system when the time comes, but for my money, a Golf-sized boot is probably about the minimum you would get away with just to fit in newborn stuff.Anything smaller would be very tight, I think.


  • #3
    bee06
    Registered Users Posts: 4,514 ✭✭✭bee06


    It won’t be the pram that will be the problem. It will be the car seat. They can take up a good bit of room and limit leg room in the front.


  • #4
    fits
    Registered Users Posts: 13,207 ✭✭✭✭fits


    A focus is good and quite roomy. I wouldn’t get anything smaller. we will change soon and go with an estate Of some sort. It’s way handier for lifting things in and out.


  • #5
    farmchoice
    Registered Users Posts: 1,026 ✭✭✭farmchoice


    Ha!! most people dont like to buy as much as a baby grow until the baby is nearly due and you're planning on buying a car to accommodate 2 kids you dont have!!

    fair play for that level of thinking ahead!!


    generally speaking buggy's ect take up a lot of space and all in all babies dont travel lightly. having said that changing cars usually only becomes an absolute necessity on number 3, unless you are driving a convertible or something.
    if your family situation doesn't mean you would see yourself driving a lot with kids, lets say grandparents/family in another part of the country then i really wouldn't worry about it. i would say 5 door as opposed to 3 door would be the only really crucial thing to go for, and maybe ask about isofix base, most car have it these days and it is very handy ( its a system to easily and safely attaching the babies car seat into the car, it consists of two recessed anchor points in the back seat of the car).


  • #6
    araic88
    Registered Users Posts: 313 ✭✭araic88


    farmchoice wrote: »
    Ha!! most people dont like to buy as much as a baby grow until the baby is nearly due and you're planning on buying a car to accommodate 2 kids you dont have!!

    fair play for that level of thinking

    Haha, I blame lockdown. I used to research sun holidays and weekend getaways :-)
    Thanks for the advice.
    I wouldn't be too worried except I do need to change my car, which I love but it's so tiny, it's barely practical for me on my own ha. And I'm not hugely into cars so if this could last a good few years, great!


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  • #7
    jlm29
    Registered Users Posts: 3,818 ✭✭✭jlm29


    araic88 wrote: »
    Haha, I blame lockdown. I used to research sun holidays and weekend getaways :-)
    Thanks for the advice.
    I wouldn't be too worried except I do need to change my car, which I love but it's so tiny, it's barely practical for me on my own ha. And I'm not hugely into cars so if this could last a good few years, great!
    I think once you’re aware of it when you’d be buying a buggy you’ll be grand. You can buy a buggy to suit your car. The main issue would be if you had two kids close in age and needed a double buggy.
    As someone else said, it’s car seats that can be a bigger issue, with leg room in front of them


  • #8
    Princess Calla
    Registered Users Posts: 5,762 ✭✭✭Princess Calla


    fits wrote: »
    A focus is good and quite roomy. I wouldn’t get anything smaller. we will change soon and go with an estate Of some sort. It’s way handier for lifting things in and out.

    Yeah I've a focus hatchback. I wouldn't be a big driver . I've two carseats in the back and they don't leave very much space for anything else.

    With a pram in the boot again there's not much space for anything else. A day at the beach is pretty much full capacity. Even the buggy has to go in diagonally. I prefer the buggy in the car as I'm small and the pram is a beast to lift in and out of the boot, personal preference.

    It's 5 door and I wouldn't go any smaller to be honest. We're lucky we have a lot of stuff on our doorstep for the kids. So car is not relied on hugely. If we needed to do regular weekends away ( visit grandparents etc) I would buy a second buggy to leave there and keep the boot free for bags etc.....for tiny humans kids have an awful lot of "essentials ".

    I think if I was replacing the car I'd go bigger.


  • #9
    Electric
    Registered Users Posts: 538 ✭✭✭Electric


    If it were me, I'd look at getting an estate. We have a Golf and the boot is tiny. We have to take a wheel off the buggy to fit it into the boot.

    To be fair, the wheel issue is on me and I should have checked when buying that particular model of buggy. But even with our old buggy (a bugaboo), it took up the whole of the boot.

    When you add in any of other accoutrements that tiny humans come with, well...

    I'd also recommend making sure any new car you buy has isofix for the car seats too.


  • #10
    crisco10
    Registered Users Posts: 6,171 ✭✭✭crisco10


    WE have a Fabia Estate. Small car with an estate boot. It is perfect for us, buggy can be lashed in half folded (i.e. wheels on etc). However, as others have mentioned, the only issue is the front passenger doesn't have tonnes of leg room because of the massive rear facing seat behind them. Not that a big an issue as neither of us are too tall.


  • #11
    farmchoice
    Registered Users Posts: 1,026 ✭✭✭farmchoice


    this is just going to turn into a car thread!!!!


    we bough a golf estate before our first, it was the perfect car to be honest, small as estates go but roomy at the same time and a great boot and being an estate the boot was high up if you know what i mean, really easy for getting stuff in and out of.

    it did us perfectly for the first 2 and we were never out of that car. not only with in laws the other side of the country but holidays as well.
    i drove that car full to the roof, 2 kids in car seats, roof box ,the lot around France a few times.


    had to get rid of it for number 3 as needed to get something bigger again. im not one for cars usually but i did love that one.


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  • #12
    Dravokivich
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Music Moderators, Politics Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 22,360 CMod ✭✭✭✭Dravokivich


    No point in going for hatch backs if you need to carry a buggy. They count above the parcel shelf as boot space. So you need to be thinking of loading it with witdh in mind.

    I'd recommend a saloon or estate. The benefit to them is that you get depth woth the boots. You can slide a buggy into the corner and make it accessible. Instead of stacking it across stuff or squeezing it in with other stuff leaning against it.


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