Good day folks!
I feel ill-prepared for this blog post this week. Not because I have nothing to write about, but because I’ve spent most of my spare time researching something far less interesting: cars.
As you know, we’re expecting baby number 3 in a couple of months. And with a 6 year old, and 2 year old already part of the army, we now need to find a car big enough to fit an additional car seat whilst keeping space for a bulky pushchair and travel cot.
Annoyingly, we’ve been here before. 18 months ago, after a lot of research, we finally upgraded Mrs OddFather’s broken-down car to a Ford Focus estate. I do like this car, it drives well and I managed to get the spec I like.
Yes, it is Mrs OddFather’s car. But I am the driver if we go anywhere as a family.
Anyway, we now need to replace the car with a larger car. As for my car…
Let’s say it’s a little on the old side. It means we won’t get anything for it – BUT it does serve us well in that it’s far more solidly built than the electric cars you get today, has a £20 road tax, and does the job as a second car to do the school/nursery pick up.
So I’ve spent the last week watching countless YouTube videos of reasonably-priced SUVs.
I get it, there’s an audience here that will say “why don’t you just get a [insert German car brand here]”. But the truth is, those things are too expensive just to have the kids playing hide and seek with raisins. I don’t even remember the kids eating raisins but they always seem to appear in the randomest of places.
Also – Mrs OddFather has a more practical mindset. She cares not for the prestige. Me on the other hand… well a younger OddFather once drove a Gold BMW in my boy-racer days. Then my current basic car in my “I’m getting married and buying a house” days – also known as my “skint” days.
So I guess the practical SUV days makes a lot of sense for where we’re at – priming me for the midlife crisis days in future.
Anyway. The requirement is a 7 seater SUV. The reason for this is there are very few cars available at a decent price that can fit 3 baby/toddler/child seats in one row. Plus, the OddSon is going through a particularly grabby/scratchy phase so it would be a bit of a punishment to put the OddDaughter in between the younger kids.
A 7 seater would allow for the OddDaughter to have the back row to herself.
We took the OddDaughter with us to view cars at a local dealer. Her job was to test the third row space. She chose to overstay her welcome in the cars whilst Mrs OddFather and I talked business with the salesperson.
Another part of our strategy was for me to carry multiple child car seats into the showroom cars so we could see how much space we were left with. Carrying child seats back and forth in and out of various showrooms is not fun. Those things are so awkward to carry.
The Chery Tiggo 8 seemed to be the most decent – if not a slightly tight – fit. There was also an option of a larger MGS9 but that seemed to bring it’s own impracticalities in how we’d park the damn thing in our local retail park.
I spent many evenings watching YouTube videos on the Chery car until Mrs OddFather was 95% sold. I got to the point of inputting my card details for the deposit…
…And Mrs OddFather voiced her doubts, opting for the MGS9.
So, I spent more evenings watching YouTube videos on that car. After a while it all becomes a blur and they start becoming the same car in my head anyway.
I’m currently at the point of seeing when the car can be delivered, we’re looking at 2027!
All this because we decided on another kid. I’m the third of 3 kids in my family, I don’t remember all this drama.
In fact, my dad was a market trader, so our family transport was a van. It had a covered engine compartment between the front seats. That was my seat.
There was no seatbelt. If Dad had to brake sharply, his arm would apparently suffice as a child restraint.
And when the van was empty, we had a sofa in the back that we could sit on.
Health and safety would have absolutely loved us.
Ah…. Simpler days.
If anyone has experience of any of the cars I’ve mentioned, feel free to drop me a note!
