Hi, I need some advice about what kind of car to look for. I would like something that's not a gas guzzler. My husband is 6'6", I am 5'4", and our son is 2 years old. We are going to welcome another mini mustachian in November, and we also bring our dog on road trips. Currently our son is still rear facing and we have a seat for each car (Graco Contender) mounted in the middle. We also still have his infant seat with 2 bases that he outgrew. He should be well into safely front facing before the next one comes. We are both comfortable with driving manual transmission, and husband is good at car repairs.
Our current cars:
2003 Dodge Neon. I mainly drive this one around town, and bike to work 6 months of the year, so it has surprisingly few miles for it's age (about 90k). It is not comfortable for husband even on short trips. Also it would be tight even for me with a car seat behind the driver's seat, and the gas mileage isn't that great.
2008 Crown Victoria. This is the one we take on road trips, and also husband drives it around town because it is more comfortable for him. We could probably put rear facing infant in the middle, front facing toddler behind me, and dog behind my husband. The problem is that it is pushing 250k miles and we are worried about it breaking down far from home. Also it would be difficult to share driving on long trips because we would have to move infant seats around. It also has horrible gas mileage (about 24 mpg on the highway, less in town).
We also own a 1976 Chevy truck that we use for farm chores and occasional runs to Home Depot.
Husband wants me to give up my Neon and get something big enough to take the whole family on trips, that I would also drive around town. He would keep the Crown for driving to work, etc. I don't see the point in having 2 cars big enough for everyone, and also 2 sets of car seats.
So my options are:
1. Keep the existing cars and sign up for triple A or similar
2. Replace one car with a minivan, station wagon, or SUV. It needs to be reliable for taking on trips, and also comfortable for everyone. I would also like it to get better gas mileage than the Crown. Subaru Forester looks the best on paper for our needs but I haven't done any test driving yet. We also haven't ruled out the possibility of a third kid. I would like some suggestions on other types of car that might fit our needs.
3. Replace both vehicles: a big one for whoever has the kids that day, and an economy car for whoever doesn't. I like this idea because it would save gas, and also because I have to parallel park when I drive to work. It would have to be more comfortable than the Neon for husband to agree with this plan. I would like some suggestions here as well.
More information: our state charges for licensing based on the age of the vehicles, so older is better here. We currently have only liability insurance for all of our cars. We are not ready to be a one car family due to cold climate and living on a busy county highway with gravel shoulders. We live 4 miles from my work and 15 miles from husband's work. I work 3 days/ week and he works the other 2, so one of us is always home with the kids.