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monkeybrain1234

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Am going to be a dad in Febuary, which I am really looking forward too. :teeth:

 

Wife had a MR2 Roadster and I the 350Z. Neither being very practical for carrying a baby! So had to rethink the cars, real shame as I spent alot of time finding a really nice example MR2, and I am really happy with the Z the way it currently is.

 

Despite my best efforts with Man Maths to justify keeping 3 cars - in the end it was just not stacking up, :scare: So the MR2 has gone, replaced with the below Land Rover Freelander LE Sport with HST bodykit, 2.2 Turbo diesel, full leather, 4x4, lots of space, comfortable and safe.

 

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Bye Bye

 

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Congratulations and hope all goes well for your Mrs with the pregnancy. :)

 

So you've still got the Zed then?

Well at least that way you & the Mrs still have a nice sports car for a naughty weekend away together in whilst the grandparents look after the little one after it's born. ;)

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E92 M3 is a good bet for a "sensible car" - fits 4 comfortably, big boot, good looking, economical - Gets double digits for MPG, just don't tell her which digits ;)

 

Trying to convince my other half that a fast car is better than a house, but she said she can't live in my car, I replied with " I can, so see ya later "

 

Good choice in all seriousness, comfy and plenty of room, while safe to drive - Enjoy it and glad you kept the Zed :D

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From experience, make the most of things now as once baby arrives you will have zero time ever again. Say goodbye to any social life, workouts, hobbies & interests as your whole life will revolve around dirty nappies and feeding every couple of hours through the night. Even when the little one is a couple of years old you still wont have a break as they will want you to play with them etc... Im looking forward to when mine leave home and I can get my life back again. Albeit I will be too old by then to do anything.

 

When mine arrived, I did something similar, sold the wifes car off and got her a "sensible" Nissan Juke. Loads of room inside, and allowed me to keep a "fun" car. However, as I have to drop the little one off to nursery each morning, the 2 seater zed went, to be replaced by something with 4 seats.

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Just to add balance to the point - we had our little one 4 1/2 years ago, I bought a VX220 ;) Actually the Ford Focus is easily big enough to cater for two adults and a child, not sure where the notion of having to get a 4x4 for a child comes from, but I guess the decision has been made. In any case, had the little 'un, went on numerous holidays, took up new hobbies such as archery, got back in cycling to keep fit, improved our time management skills no end, became a much more patient driver and many other benefits that come with the additional responsibilities. Got a lot more serious on the car cleaning front, Alfie loves to come out and help out, carries all my gear around, loves to hoover the car out which I gladly let him get on with. We are just booking more holidays off to Portugal and Iceland next year as well as planning a mini euro road trip for me and the missus in the celica. Alfie and I went to watch the banger racing the other day...awesome stuff.

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^^

 

The first 4 weeks is hell on earth I've never felt so tired/exhausted/frustrated and at time wondered what we had let our selves in for, I think most parents form some kind of mental block because otherwise no one in their right mind would want a second, but after the first month things get alot better very quickly. Ours is now 6 months and getting alot more interactive, the best bit is because she cannot move/run away she has no choice but put up with what ever stimulus I put in front of her, hard to imagine life without little mini me these days.

 

Can anyone guess the first car brand she'll end up remembering?? I'm half hoping she'll say the T word before mummy and daddy :lol:

 

 

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Edited by gangzoom
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The higher seating in a 4x4 will make getting baby in and out of car seats much easier :thumbs:

Due to my missus bad back this is what drove us to get one when number 2 came.

Her back was much much better.

Also it's totally normal to want to protect your kids as much as possible.

Our family car was the 4 seater Mini until baby 2 was 6 months.

Then got a Kia Shortage.

5 years on and I prefer using the mini around town to ferry the kids in but feel too vulnerable in it on long motorway trips and use the Kia.

Fortunately I can run 3 cars as the mini is peanuts to run.

Also being old means I pay less than a grand to insure the Mini, Kia and Zed :lol:

The mini boot is soooo small any rear impact would see them squished :scare:

Edited by HEADPHONES
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Thanks everyone.

 

Really do like the Landrover, drives well (for what it is, of course its no Z), got lots of gadgets and amazing how much more we could take to the carboot today (in aid to making room in the house!) :wacko:

 

While I am not naïve that baby will change life somewhat, I still plan on doing everything and some more of what I and the wife enjoy. Would like to think the baby will not change it all. Of course some things will be different but on the whole I am very excited. :yahoo:

 

The Z is staying for the moment, but without the ability to turn the passenger airbag off, I cannot carry the child in it until from what I have been told around 4 years old (rear facing). So lets see how things workout with it! But I do plan on keeping the Z. :yahoo:

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^You can 100% make it work with just one car as the family wagon. We use the Leaf 99% of the time. Problem is I now want to take the little one every where with me, it sounds cliche but your priorities do change.

 

The main reason we are going for a pointless oversized SUV as our main family car next is purely because of the little one. As others have said your priorities for a car will quickly change from 0-60 times to rear space and crash protection, especially when they are small and rely on you for literally everything!!

 

Its good fun, though I do really suggest you catch up on your sleep, it's not even 8am and I've already been up for nearly 4hrs, a lye in these days is getting out of bed at 7am!!

Edited by gangzoom
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We're expecting our first one too in March, luckily we're already sorted on the vehicle side, wife has a Focus C-Max, and my van doesn't have a passenger airbag so baby seat can go in the front of there too. Little one won't be able to have a ride in the zed for a few years :( although I timed buying it perfectly as it was only 2 weeks before we found out she was pregnant!

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I bought my Zed when my little one was two. I also bought a £250 micra so I didn't have to leave the zed in the train station carpark. I figured it would be a weekend toy or use on date nights (with the wife!). With a 2 year old, date nights rarely happened and if we did go somewhere I often wouldn't use the zed as pub or restaurant carparks were not somewhere I wanted to leave it. Alas after a year I realised doing 1000 miles a year in it was a waste so I bit the bullet and sold it. You may well find you are in the same position shortly as time really is at a premium when baby's come along.

 

Good luck with everything

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