Life Decisions

[Butter77]

Guess the good news is that my Wife and I are now expecting our first child later this summer, bad news is it looks like the Mustang is going to have to go. Dealership is working up the numbers on a 2017 Expedition EL for me right now (go big or go home). For anyone that's been in this situation before, is this the right choice? I would need something to haul the wife, kid (and all the things that go along with), 2 large dogs, parents, etc. I thought about an explorer, but room in those with the third row doesn't look promising. Anyone who has been in my shoes before, do I be the responsible adult, or say screw it and keep what I have? My Wife has a 2014 Taurus, so we at least have 1 family type car.

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[dron_jones]

Guess the good news is that my Wife and I are now expecting our first child later this summer, bad news is it looks like the Mustang is going to have to go. Dealership is working up the numbers on a 2017 Expedition EL for me right now (go big or go home). For anyone that's been in this situation before, is this the right choice? I would need something to haul the wife, kid (and all the things that go along with), 2 large dogs, parents, etc. I thought about an explorer, but room in those with the third row doesn't look promising. Anyone who has been in my shoes before, do I be the responsible adult, or say screw it and keep what I have? My Wife has a 2014 Taurus, so we at least have 1 family type car.

i don't know what your financial situation is like or what your storage situation is like so i will just tell you what i did in a similar situation. Before my daughter was born we had two cars wifes (2008 Honda Accord), mine e92 M3, when the m3 became too expensive to maintain i sold it an bought a 2012 F150 Fx4 loaded, we had this combo during the first year my daughter was born, it was great and very practical and handy but i missed the fun of the e92 M3 everyday.

Well when the GT350 got announced i knew that i found the next car that i wanted so strategically i convinced my wife to get rid of the Accord and replace it with an SUV to give her a little more space (trust me a sedan seems like a big car until you put one stroller in the trunk and you realize you need a bigger car), so we ended up going with a 2015 Toyota highlander which had seating for 7. Not as big as an expedition but large enough to take the family out with a car full of stuff and an extra row in case it was needed for the parents or other people. At that point i sold my truck to free up some cash to get the GT350, bought a 2006 Nissan Maxima SE (6spd) as my daily (just a cheap car), and now have the GT350 in the garage with the 1968 Fastback.

Bottom line is I definitely think you need an SUV or something of size when you have a kid, an Escape in my opinion is too small and you will wish you had more space, but an Expedition is REALLY big. If i were you though, i would try to get your wife to have the SUV as her car, you keep the mustang and downgrade to something cheaper and keep the mustang to enjoy on weekends. While you won't be able to do it right away, once your daughter gets 1.5/2, you can put her car seat in the back of the mustang on weekends and take her out for rides. My daughter loves it and its great daddy daughter time. If it were a two seat car like a corvette it would be impossible but the Mustang really is still pretty practical.

Well thats my 0.02$

 

[SoCalTim]

I'm in the same boat. Just had my first child 3 months ago. My daily driver is my Mustang, and we just bought my wife a new Mazda SUV.

I'm of the mindset that if I need to get something to take the kiddo around in, I'll just pick up a cheap second car. The Mustang is my enjoyment outside of working 2 jobs and keeps me sane. Some may say that is a selfish way to think, but I see it as well deserved considering I bust my ass to support the family as a single income household. If it was financially straining the family or preventing us from moving into a bigger house etc, then I would of course put family first and sell the Stang, but whilst all things are stable and life is good, the car is going nowhere.

Again, depends on your financial situation, but if you can afford to buy a cheap second car for yourself then that would be a good solution.

 

[Hack]

It's your call. I would buy a 2000-2005 or so Expedition or Explorer and keep the Mustang, but that's just me. I have an '03 Explorer with almost 230,000 miles as my second car and when my parents and sister were here for Christmas I had 5 grown people in it with absolutely no issues at all. I have to have a sporty car and it's more important to me than just having something fancy and brand new. But then again I have no children and I think if you are going to compromise - sacrificing for your kids can be considered noble. Maybe you just prefer to have an Expedition over the Mustang. There's nothing wrong with that.

 

[TNcoupe]

Keep the Mustang and go into hiding.

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