With a new bub on the way, our family saloon car will no longer fit the family. As is, with 2 full-sized car seats in the back, our helper (who is on the large side) has to wedge herself in between. I've given up climbing in between since the belly popped out. So the hunt has been on.
The problem is anything big enough will break the bank. We could go for a mid-sized MPV but that may just be another stop gap measure, somewhat like the family car we have now. Had we bought the MPV before the twins were born, we wouldn't be in this conundrum now. However, we were busy wrapping our heads around the idea of twins and couldn't deal with that as well as trying to work out the finances for something that was ugly, huge, a fuel guzzler and somewhat unnecessary at that time.
Now, we're paying for it. Car prices are skyrocketing, I am no longer on a full-time salary and the bub is already on the way. So, it's not a matter of being able to put it off for much longer because, very soon we can't.
We've had some absolutely ridiculous suggestions like
1. We shouldn't go out with the entire family. Just take some of them out and leave the rest at home.
2. We shouldn't go out. Whoever wants to see the kids, let them come to us. This includes 70 something grandparents who are in the danger of wrapping their car round a lamp post every time they drive it.
3. We should cab everywhere. That could work but I do traverse the island quite a bit every day and I'm uncertain if it'll cost any less.
4. We keep this car and just buy another car to piggy back. I think that's environmentally unfriendly, running 2 engines, buying twice as much fuel etc.
--- We break for intermission as I go off to test drive the MPV of choice with Packrat---
---Back from intermission---
Because COE prices are set to go up in the next couple of months, because car prices will also spiral, because there is never a good time to buy a car when you're broke and because we've been looking around and hedging on this for like 5 months, Packrat decided that it was time and it was the right car and put down a deposit for it.
Am I pleased? I am never pleased when I have to spend such a large sum of money. If you left it up to me, I would just sit on it and sit on it and be in delivery and realise "oh crap, baby is coming and we haven't bought the car yet!"
But I'm going to suck it up, trust my husband on this one and bite the bullet, the payments and go on a perpetual austerity drive because despite what some others will say and are convinced about, we do need this larger car.
Time to eat bread and water for lunch.
Technorati Tags: twins, Buying an MPV
Monday, September 28, 2009
The People Mover
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Heheh... my hubby and I reluctantly upsized to an MPV too when I was preggers with no.3. We were choosing between a Honda Stream and a VW Touran. We chose the latter as it had REAL 7 seats (instead of the Stream's pathetic, almost non-existent middle seat in the middle row), made of german steel (safer), and it wasn't too huge (we hate huge monster cars). It is more ex than the Stream but hubby was drooling over at the turbo engine, and I figured after the baby grows up a little, we can put all 3 kids in the middle row and the back row can be flattened down to become a HUGE kickass boot space.
ReplyDelete(Currently our boot space is tiny as my girls are still sitting in the back row. Can't buy and takeaway huge shelves from Ikea unless we go without the kids...)
Note that the Stream only has aircon from the front of the car. The Touran has aircon for the front and middle row. I think the Mazda MPV also has that (plus cool sliding doors!).
Happy shopping! ;P