Chevy SUVs
 

That was Chevys made pre 1990, which are still running like clockwork today. Post 1990 Chevys start to go on life support at 60k and die two years after that.

Really, I think it's obvious that the nanny gets the minivan, and the parents get whatever they want.

It would have been good if he'd made it clearer that they were, like, trading off days to pick up the kids etc. It still seems like it would be difficult to have a two-career family with only one child-friendly car. Perhaps every couple (he knows) in SF is a one-career family; the other spouse either doesn't work or has a job with limited hours.

or they divvy up the kids.

(really I just wanted to say "divvy"; no need for thought out responses to this possibility and why it wouldn't work.)

You and your fancy ivy-league words.

Well plus in Berkeley the Government limits you to one child right? I think that was Berkeley, maybe it was somewhere else.

There's a screenplay here. I'm thinking Days of Thunder meets The Birdcage. Someone get str8 on the phone.

OscarCrease is actually a little sorry he asked.

Seriously though:

(1) I think the reference to the 70's isn't the most helpful although pleasantly nostalgic. In fact, one of my fondest memories is my friend's alcoholic dad who used to drive us to the museum (hmm, why was he always home during the day) in his Pinto that had a hole in the floor. We (4-5 neighborhood kids) would gather around the hole in the way back (the part I think that bursts into flame if you are rear-ended) and drop things onto the freeway. Good Times. Unfortunately, this whole car seat business got in the way...

(2) I tend to agree with Atticus on the point that you don't necessarily need two big ass cars. While I do in fact do drop off, only our oldest goes to school so I don't need to fit all three in the car simultaneously on a regular basis. My wife is concerned about the emergency scenario where her car is in the shop/disabled/whatever and we can't fit everyone into car #2. I don't necessarily agree that it makes much sense, but that's neither here nor there. FWIW I didn't take the post as a gender polemic. I would certainly prefer a smaller second car but 2 Britax Roudabouts + a Britax Marathon = the need for a very wide middle row and/or a third row.

In any case, I was just wondering what fellow parents have found in the non-van, non super size SUV category that they like. We shared 1 modest sized SUV (although at the time I think it was considered "full size") until child #2. Inherited the aforementioned giant SUV from a family member. Traded in SUV #1 for the minivan upon birth of child #3 because it was the older and less reliable of the two.

Now SUV #2 is feeling a little long in the tooth (and the repair bills are getting more frequent and of greater magnitude) so I foolishly, and perhaps regrettably, posted my inquiry.

So, to recap, after my last post about Bay Area housing prices I was told "only an asshat would buy in the Bay Area." After this latest post I'm now "that gas guzzling freak who drives two giant cars."

I will now withdraw from the board and go slit my wrists.

I feel I'm too blame! Let me explain. Atticus Grinch is a homo. he doesn't have kids or a wife. he posts on this board as a beard. fringey and I are longtime FOA (friends of Atticus) we just tweak him so that he doesn't get cocky, and start thinkng the beard isn't transparent to anyone but the people at his firm. If you never leave the office, then the family pix on the desk can't be questioned!

Let me preface this by saying (once again) that I don't have kids, so my advice is automatically suspect. And I don't even like SUVs, though I understand their practicality in certain situations.

Before everyone else got off-track on the discussion (thanks, Atticus!), I was going to mention that one of the attorneys in my office has 5 kids (2-3 in the baby/toddler range, 2 older kids from a prior marriage) and he swears by the bigger Volvo SUV. He says it is the only vehicle smaller than a Suburban that actually holds all the kids, and in relative comfort.

You said that you were concerned about 3rd row safety, and I have no idea how that model stacks up, but being that it is a Volvo and they stake their entire reputation on being super safe, I would think that they would have worked that all out.

$.02.

You are, but for a different reason. Detroit gave everyone the idea that if you're big and husky you can still fit comforably in a car. Have you seen the Britax marathon? It's like a stay-puff cocoon for kids.

Well, for what it's worth, I have an acura MDX, and it's big enough for multiple kids, but not superhuge, and it's actually a pretty decent deal if you get the base model, lots of standard options included. Gas mileage isn't that great, I average about 18 mpg blended use, but whatever. I couldn't give a goddamn about the environment. In fact, while I drive my SUV, I also burn coal in the backseat while spraying pesticides at passing motorists.

You would think. I personally would put only the carpool kids in the third row of a volvo wagon.

We are soulmates. Pass the beef jerky.

Please be careful- remember there's a chance number 2 son is actually mine- we'll know for sure when he's older- simple test: does he read his penis enlargement spam email with a hopeful glint in his eye, or just delete?

Just put the youngest ones back there; you aren't as attached to them b/c they haven't been around as long. Or use it as the reserve car -- have the minivan as the primary kid car, and the station wagon as the car used by whatever parent isn't primarily responsible for the kids that day.

w/r/t "While I do in fact do drop off, only our oldest goes to school so I don't need to fit all three in the car simultaneously on a regular basis." unless the two other kids are twin newborns AND the older kid is going to boarding school for 2nd grade on, at some point in the not-so-distant future you are going to be carting more than one kid around on a daily basis. To activities, if not to school. Or such is my impression.

God, I'm glad I don't have to deal with this crap.

fwiw I don't think you are an idiot; I do kind of hate SUVs and would prefer that you have minivans or station wagons; if you must have an SUV, please at least get one with lower bumpers. Please think of the horrific survivor's remorse that Junior will have when there is a malfunctioning traffic light and your SUV runs over his best friend's family's Camry and smushes them all.

ETA I'm posting primarily because I'm putting off going home (houseguests), and secondarily because I like logic puzzles and it pisses off parents that I have the temerity to post. I'm not a parent, though I did do a lot of babysitting and have friends/relatives who are parents. I am also preternaturally perky because someone just gave me absolute veto power over outside counsel. Heh.