Apologies ......

[fai17]

Damm right Steve-o.

Just got to hook up the battery and check my life insurance is up to date and we'll be ready. Black is the fastest colour after al.

Black and blue m8 is the fastest of all colours

[Boyakasha]

Cal you know my thoughts, get that GB270 wagon ordered

Natalie won't know the difference

[~ ~ Cal ~~]

Cal you know my thoughts, get that GB270 wagon ordered

Natalie won't know the difference

Slightly out of my budget Captain. I dont want any stinking car payments now that we no longer have Natalies teacher salary coming in.

Needs must.......life is a comprimise after all

[Boyakasha]

Slightly out of my budget Captain. I dont want any stinking car payments now that we no longer have Natalies teacher salary coming in.

Needs must.......life is a comprimise after all

I hear ya brother, see you Saturday

[kai888]

Cal how many sprogs have you got? judging from your post its only 1, so y the need for a change. When the wee man came along I had a coupe for 3 months before I got fed up and got a family car, a 4 door scoob it was more than adequate for the job. I even know a friend that had a 4 door classic wee 1 came along and changed it to a P1

[johns]

There's no need for a wagon/Avant when you get kids. The standard Impreza boot can accomodate most dizes of pram and all accessories quite easily.

Agter 6 months when they are big enough to go into a stroller, you can eaisly get everything in the back seat. I got my first Impreza for the precise reason it had 4 doors, a big boot and lots of safety features (ABS, side impact bars, airbags, 4WD etc). It really is a good sensible family car and we managed just fine with ours (mostly without rear folding seats!) and our boys are now 9 and 11.

Lots of new families get suckered into the "must have a people carrier" because they see all the other mums driving them. Most of them have smallish boots unless you fold the back seats down, have a high centre of gravity which makes the kids travel sick when the roll so much, and extra seats that you will maybe use one or two days a year when you travel as a family with grandma and grandpa at the same time. For the cost of lugging the extra seats, and lack of driving involvement all year round, just hire a big volvo estate for those two days/two weeks of the year when you need the space.

We even managed to go on holiday a few times, with all the stuff needed for a toddler and a baby in my car, and even our dog. It's amazing how much you can actually fit in if you are creative - remember that their feet won't touch the floor for at least 6 - 7 years so there's all the space behind the front seats that can be used as well - you can even fit a stroller in there after you get them seated

Remember that the wagons are slightly noisier than saloons, as you get more road noise coming through from the rear.

Having said all this, the newer cars are slightly better in some respects with the ISOfix fittings, more airbags and in the Spec D, better sound proofing and leather seats that wipe clean easily The 2.5 engine doesn't need to be revved so hard either and can be driven mostly everywhere keeping the revs below 3,000rpm for smooth and quiet progress and reasonable fuel economy.

Give me a shout if you want to have a look/test drive of a newer 2.5 car.

John

[~ ~ Cal ~~]

Thanks fellas - great advice.........

I am with you but my wife is not convinced. We travel around a fair bit and with a new pram/chassis it does become wearing. The envelop of the boot is limiting but the boot is plenty big itself.

However, I only have one kiddie and in 4 months he'll be ripe for ISOFIX. More are planned though despite the fact I shall tie my willy in a knot after two !

Problem is ( minor) that the rear seat belts are a tad short ( bearable just though) and make firing in the babies seat a semi-nightmare in the rear.

My wife complains of car sickness ( on occasion )& claustrophia ( bizarrely my Mother does too)

John - I have felt the force of the 2.5L and jaysus it's torquey. 1st gear takes on from T-junctions can catch you off-guard if you nip out.

Cheers

Cal

[Boyakasha]

John - I have felt the force of the 2.5L and jaysus it's torquey. 1st gear takes on from T-junctions can catch you off-guard if you nip out.

Cheers

Cal

I'd say that was an understatement

[colin_ross]

Problem is ( minor) that the rear seat belts are a tad short ( bearable just though) and make firing in the babies seat a semi-nightmare in the rear.

Thing is Cal the seat you're using just now needs to be clipped in every time you use the car. When the wee man is in a foward facing seat you just fit it and leave it there, only taking it out every 6 monts or so to clear out all the sh!te thats gathered underneath it.

My wife complains

Hmmmmm, don't they all.

[steve_nairn_sti]

Cal,

I can make your decision slightly easier by saying that there is no way in this world my car will be leaving it's garage for the price you've offered me.

It looks like the best idea for you is to stick with a scooby wagon.

[iainc]

There's no need for a wagon/Avant when you get kids. The standard Impreza boot can accomodate most dizes of pram and all accessories quite easily.

I agree with JohnS, we had a 94 wagon with a decat exhaust and my daughter loved it. She went straight to sleep in it. There was plenty of space in the boot for the usual crap.

Only got shot of the first scoob 'cos I was doing a lot of miles, bought a 06 STi after we'd had the 2nd kid and there is plenty of room in it for everything as well. We had a fairly large three wheeler buggy (large wheeled thing) and you could fit that plus the travel cot, plus the bags for the rest of us for a weekend/week away.

The only thing that might go against the scoob during the first couple of baby years is the amount of money you'll be spending on the car (fuel, mods, etc) that you may need to be spending on the kid instead.

Our other "family" car is a Leon so again it's not a huge motor and it's fine as well. I did have an S6 Avant for a short while before the latest scoob but for the back roads I use most of the time it was useless, nice gutsy V8 engine but didn't handle that well. HUUUUUUGGGGGEEEE boot on it, but we rarely needed anything that size so it was empty most of the time.

[~ ~ Cal ~~]

Cal,

I can make your decision slightly easier by saying that there is no way in this world my car will be leaving it's garage for the price you've offered me.

It looks like the best idea for you is to stick with a scooby wagon.

Easy tiger ! I used the Glass's guide which I emailed you and went higher not lower. I'll email you tomorrow fella. In fairness you started @ £11,400 which was pretty optimistic to say the least ( & yes you have gone lower now). I'll be in comm's tomorrow by email

Roll on Saturday

[the squiggle]

I agree with JohnS, we had a 94 wagon with a decat exhaust and my daughter loved it. She went straight to sleep in it. There was plenty of space in the boot for the usual crap.

See and you thought i was mad

Well, sort of

[iainc]

See and you thought i was mad

Well, sort of

Both my kids have loved the scoobs.

Had my first daughter asleep in my arms when I went in to get some new brakes for the other car we had at the time, she stayed asleep the whole way thru' the shop and only woke up when we came outside again and she heard Jools appearing in the car park with someone elses P1 She woke straight up then... trained them well

[speech]

Part of the justification for getting the scoob was due to it's "family friendly" characteristics - 4 door, ISOFIX rear anchor points and decent boot. The boot really surprised me when I was able to get 2 sets of golfclubs in there without having to remove the drivers or other woods!!!

[G.Mac]

I had a look at this http://www.litchfieldimports.co.uk/stocklist.asp?inc=202

But it'll drink like Graeme after 4 weeks offshore !

Hey, Ive been sober for 4 1/2 days now!!!!!!!

mmmmmm beeeerrrrr, must have beeeeeeeer

Graeme