Opinions on new cars...

[Lox]

So I am in the market for a new car. The time has come to move on from my 1997 Honda Civic to something that can hold two car seats and a stroller.

It has to be a 4 door and the only things I absolutely need are an auxiliary port for an mp3 player and a sunroof. Everything else is a bonus.

In terms of features, I'm concerned mostly with gas mileage, safety, and reliability.

I've been looking mostly at the Honda Accord, the Ford Fusion, and the Hyundai Sonata. The Sonata is the one that keeps tugging at me because it has everything and a good price, but for some reason I'm nervous to buy a Hyundai even though I know their quality has greatly improved in the last few years.

Do any of you guys have a Hyundai? Love it, hate it?

[Anarky]

My girlfriend was looking at the Hyundai when she was car shopping. She ended up with a 2012 Mazda 3 with Skyactiv.

I'm a fan of the Mazda in terms of features and price. Since you have a family you might want to look at the Mazda 6.

[SineSwiper]

Two carseats? You're best off with a minivan at that point. We love our Dodge Grand Caravan. Very roomy, excellent accommodations, MPG doesn't suck, the right price. Plus, the way the seats fold down is probably the best of any car I've seen.

Lemme tell you about sunroofs. Don't make it a dealbreaker, or even a consideration. You forget you even had one about a week after you get it. It's one of those things that you easily forget and almost never use.

[Shrinweck]

I think if he lists a sunroof as an absolute need it isn't something he forgets about after a week :D

If you have trouble deciding which car to get once you've narrowed it down just pick whatever dealership you feel is going to be honest with repairs and whatnot. You don't want to have to take the car in to crooks every check up/recall.

I don't drive so that's the best advice I can give heh. My grandfather used to run a parts shop so I used to hear a lot of talk about this kind of stuff, though. So, yeah, pick a trusted dealership.

[Zeus]

The Toyota Matrix will be a good mid-point for you. You can easily put two car seats in the back and have a decent amount of trunk space while still being able to use it for other things and it's great on gas and, being a Toyota, it holds its value well and lasts forever (mine's goin' on 9 years and hardly done anything to it after about 85,000 miles). That will depend on the size of the stroller you have, a double may be too big depending on which model you got. Otherwise, you have to start talking about CUVs or SUVs/minivans.

Hyundai has done well in the last 7 or 8 years, the Sante Fe is not a bad choice at around $30-35k

[Lox]

Thanks for all of the advice. I ended up getting a 2013 Honda Accord Ex over the weekend. It was one of my possible choices and I went in for a test drive and really liked it. Ended up finding a dealer nearby offering a price that was not much over the invoice (according to Edmunds) so I went for it.

It's got a huge trunk and fits the double stroller and it has a really spacious backseat. We can easily fit 2 infant car seats and we think we'd be able to fit 2 booster seats and an infant seat if we ever had a 3rd.

[SineSwiper]

Face it. You'll be buying the minivan in the next couple of years.

[Lox]

I did consider it this time, but my wife hates them so I didn't go any further. We have a Pilot, too, so that gives us more room if we need it.

[SineSwiper]

Ahhh, a SUV. I guess that's a sensible compromise.

Also, big Honda fan, eh?

[Lox]

Apparently, yeah. Stick with what works, I guess.

[Shrinweck]

My Dad has certainly been happy with his Honda Fit for the past few years. I would have recommended this car but I'm not sure how well a compact car, even one made specifically for fitting large quantities of shit inside, could handle two children.