Small car that will fit a rear-facing car seat & Strider Plus?

So I currently drive a Patrol. Needless to say it fits everything I need! We have it because we can go four-wheel-driving and fit the lot in there - baby when she comes along, her stuff, the dog, the car fridge, etc. But other than that, I'm really just using it as a shopping trolley, I don't personally need it.

Meanwhile, DH drives a short-wheel-base Patrol. It's his 'fun' car, that he can take 'proper' four-wheel-driving on the weekends. Problem is, it's far too much trouble, it's just not worth it. Costs a bucket load to run and has issues.

So, his idea is to get rid of the small Patrol, and he'll take the big one. It'll be better for his work and we can still go camping and stuff. Then I'd get a small car - really all it's needed for is to takes bubs places if I can't walk there, and to do the shopping. I'd like a hatchback type car, but obviously it needs to have four doors. My biggest issue is what kind of small car will fit the car seat facing backwards, and is there a small car that will fit my giant Strider in the boot? I'm guessing we'll have to take the pram around to cars to check before we buy.

We don't want to spend too much, I'm thinking something like a Corolla?

Any thoughts would be much appreciated :)

I have a Mazda 3 and my pram (Baby Jogger City Elite) fits no worries in the boot and the car seat was fine rear facing. DH struggled with leg room a bit if the car seat was behind him but he rarely drives or travels in my car as we take his car (a CX7) for family drives.

I have a Mazda 6 Hatchback and it is soooooo roomy in the boot! We have more bootspace than most SUV's, it's pretty impressive. And fitting the car seat rear facing was no problem either, still had legroom left over. We love our Mazda, such an awesome car, roomy and comfortable, reliable, servicing is inexpensive, it's a stylish looking little car (I think!) and cheap to run. We're only selling it as we're getting an Outlander so our 2 big dogs can go in the boot when bub number 2 arrives. I've had all sportscars up until my Mazda but I love it!!

Good luck choosing!

Yeah, I love Mazdas - they look fantastic! Probably not looking to spend more than $5k though :( So they'd be out. It's gonna have to be an older car, just a bit of a runaround

I got my Corolla (2006) about a month ago and love it! Our Strider Plus fits in the boot with room for shopping. I don't think a hatchback would fit the pram as easily but a sedan works for us.

I used to have an astra 4 door hatch that fit our strider in the boot with room to spare :D

Thanks guys :) We found an Astra that I like, so we're thinking of that, a Corolla or Pulsar. Good to hear the strider fits! (I reckon we'll go with the sedan)

Whatever you do don't buy an Astra (or Vectra/Barinas) they cost a BOMB to service and fix (European) I just got rid of my Vectra for the same reason. My mechanic suggests Toyotas or Hondas for reliability and cheap(er) to fix.

I'm glad you mentioned that Amaunet! DH's friend's girlfriend had an 05 Astra, and last year it had major issues so she got rid of it. I wasn't sure if it was just her car? She didn't exactly look after it. DH asked the friend about it, he said it used loads of oil, had problems with the engine light always being on and the throttle got stuck one time. Did your Vectra have many issues? We're wondering if that's why it's so cheap

It just had the usual wear and tear stuff but my mechanic explained parts etc are really expensive, you might as well be servicing/fixing a BMW or merc! My car was only 7 years old/$120,000km and needed $3000 worth of parts and labour and I know my mechanic and he's not dodgy! He had been at me to get rid of it for a while. It also needs timing belt stuff done every 60,000km which is horrendous- don't go there, it's cheap for a reason. He suggested. Corolla but we upgraded to a Camry as we only have one car and needed more room.

Thanks Amaunet. DH and I have both had a lot of Toyotas & Nissans in the past, so we know they're reliable. The Astra just looked good! But yeah, to get an 04 model for $5k made us both think there must be something wrong with it. Might stick to the Corolla or Pulsar, we've had those before!

Ford Lasers are great value too and the sedans generally have good boot space. If you like Mazda's, have a look at the older models - 323 and 626. My mum had a 323 sedan for YEARS and it was an awesome car with great boot space :)

i know this is an old post, but just wanted to say that the mazda 626 hatches have the anchor points right at the back of the boot, so that the anchor straps run across the length of your boot. so basically there is no way that you would fit any pram etc etc. i had to get rid of mine for this reason, even though i absolutely loved it. :(

If you're buying an older used car as a runaround, make sure you get a vehicle check from someone like the RAC (NRMA or similar for the Eastern States) - BEST money you will ever spend when buying a car!

They give you a full written report on everything that could possibly be wrong with the car and are very thorough. Definitely worth doing to avoid buying someone else's lemon.

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I have a Mazda 6 Hatchback and it is soooooo roomy in the boot! We have more bootspace than most SUV's, it's pretty impressive. And fitting the car seat rear facing was no problem either, still had legroom left over. We love our Mazda, such an awesome car, roomy and comfortable, reliable, servicing is inexpensive, it's a stylish looking little car (I think!) and cheap to run. We're only selling it as we're getting an Outlander so our 2 big dogs can go in the boot when bub number 2 arrives. I've had all sportscars up until my Mazda but I love it!!

Good luck choosing!

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Bit random coming in here late - but just wondering if you sold your mazda already?