Cars for one year twins plus booster sitter

Hi All,

I've been squishing my twin babies and my 4 year old into the back of a
PT Cruiser. It's time forr my one year olds to switch to convertable
seats.

I'm wondering what cars work well for two convertables, rear facing for
now and a booster seat. We'd also like to have room for a double
stroller of course, a grandma occassionally and a suitcase once in a
while.

What do others drive?

Thanks,

Helen

On 28 Jul 2005 10:27:41 -0700, "HelenZL22" wrote:

Hi All,

I've been squishing my twin babies and my 4 year old into the back of a
PT Cruiser. It's time forr my one year olds to switch to convertable
seats.

I'm wondering what cars work well for two convertables, rear facing for
now and a booster seat. We'd also like to have room for a double
stroller of course, a grandma occassionally and a suitcase once in a
while.

What do others drive?


With those requirements you might consider a minivan. We just
replaced our '92 Grand Voyager (with 190,000 miles, and a bad tranny)
with a 2002 Toyota Sienna. If you are looking at new cars, either the
Honda Odyssey, Toyota Sienna, or the Grand Caravan (the regular
Caravan migh be a bit small for you) all get good marks on CR. If you
are looking to get the most bang for your buck, look at something
about 3 years old, which is still pretty new. If you insist on a new
car, you can probably push for a bargain on a 2005 model, because the
dealers will be trying to get them off the lots to make way for the
2006's. If you are buying used, I would also recommend signing up to
for Vehicle History Report program from carfax.com, in which you can
enter a car's VIN and get a detailed history of the vehicle.

Nick
--
Nick Theodorakis

contact form:
http://theodorakis.net/contact.html

We have an '01 Chrysler Town and Country which is the same thing as a Dodge
Grand Caravan. We really like it and it gives us plenty of room. Nick is
right about the regular Caravan being small-- it is very teeny, as is the
Nissan Quest.

-Cindy (mom to Ashlyn and Allyson 6/99 and Jenna 6/03)

In article ,
says...

On 28 Jul 2005 10:27:41 -0700, "HelenZL22" wrote:

Hi All,

I've been squishing my twin babies and my 4 year old into the back of a
PT Cruiser. It's time forr my one year olds to switch to convertable
seats.

I'm wondering what cars work well for two convertables, rear facing for
now and a booster seat. We'd also like to have room for a double
stroller of course, a grandma occassionally and a suitcase once in a
while.

What do others drive?


With those requirements you might consider a minivan. We just
replaced our '92 Grand Voyager (with 190,000 miles, and a bad tranny)
with a 2002 Toyota Sienna. If you are looking at new cars, either the
Honda Odyssey, Toyota Sienna, or the Grand Caravan (the regular
Caravan migh be a bit small for you) all get good marks on CR. If you
are looking to get the most bang for your buck, look at something
about 3 years old, which is still pretty new. If you insist on a new
car, you can probably push for a bargain on a 2005 model, because the
dealers will be trying to get them off the lots to make way for the
2006's. If you are buying used, I would also recommend signing up to
for Vehicle History Report program from carfax.com, in which you can
enter a car's VIN and get a detailed history of the vehicle.

Nick
--
Nick Theodorakis

contact form:
http://theodorakis.net/contact.html

On Sat, 30 Jul 2005 20:03:37 -0000,
(Cindy Senger) wrote:

We have an '01 Chrysler Town and Country which is the same thing as a Dodge
Grand Caravan. We really like it and it gives us plenty of room.

We have a 2000 Town & Country and also have plenty of room for two
(front-facing -- never had them rear-facing in the van) convertible
carseats and an infant carrier (plus, when we go out of town, two Pack
N Plays, two diaper bags, a small suitcase, a breast pump, a double
stroller, a single stroller..... :-)

--
Paula
Mom to Olivia and Cassie (b. 4/8/03 @ 26 weeks)
Noah (b. 6/1/05 @ 35 weeks)
^Grace^ (b. 5/16/02 d. 5/17/02) and ^Adam^ (b/d. 5/17/02)

Hi,

Thanks for those who answered my question over the past couple of days
regarding fitting 3 kids in a car.

We were hoping to find a nice used Odyssey or Sienna, but made the
mistake of looking at new cars! The thing that got us are the side
curtain airbags and the new 8 passenger Sienna. Being able to put all
three in the 2nd row, leaves so much cargo room. We like that option.
Of course usually we would do 2 and 1.

Can you fit three across is any of your minivans, or do most of you
have the quad seating configurations? That seems to be the most
popular right now.

Thanks again for the great suggestions.

Helen

Ours is the quad seating arrangement, and we took one of the middle row
seats out to give us more space. This is even easier to do in the newer mini
vans, with "stow and go" seats. We have one car seat behind the driver, and
the other on the rear seat. We also have Colton's booster on the rear row.
The seat behind the driver has been removed, giving us lots of cargo space,
and we have easier access to the car seats when there is no cargo.
Also, if you are planning on keeping the van for a longer time the quad
seating arrangement would be much more popular when the kids are out of car
seats. The older kids seem to like their own space, more than sharing a
bench seat with their siblings. And the seats are also more comfortable
for them, with arm rests and the whole bit.

--

Terri & Rob
Colton (11-29-00)
Aimee and Kylie (12-22-03)
Visit us at:
http://www.babiesonline.com/babies/a..._kylie_colton/

"HelenZL22" wrote in message
ups.com...
Hi,

Thanks for those who answered my question over the past couple of days
regarding fitting 3 kids in a car.

We were hoping to find a nice used Odyssey or Sienna, but made the
mistake of looking at new cars! The thing that got us are the side
curtain airbags and the new 8 passenger Sienna. Being able to put all
three in the 2nd row, leaves so much cargo room. We like that option.
Of course usually we would do 2 and 1.

Can you fit three across is any of your minivans, or do most of you
have the quad seating configurations? That seems to be the most
popular right now.

Thanks again for the great suggestions.

Helen