What's The Best Car For A New Parent?

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I spend a fair amount of time thinking about what cars work well with kids, or at least well enough, but those first three months with a new baby are their own special category. For new parents, there's so much going on, you just want a car that works well with your terrifying decision to have a kid. So what car is that?

Let's just break down what's going on during those first three months of parenthood with a first kid. Remember, in these early stages, your baby is basically an external fetus, and you're inundated by all these things people are telling you that if you mess up, you'll kill your kid. You're exhausted from the irregular sleep, you're excited, and you're always at least a little terrified. Terrified that you'll do something wrong, terrified that you'll be a terrible parent, terrified that your personal life is gone forever.

Of course, most of this is needless worry. Chances are really good you won't kill the kid, you won't turn them into little Adolf Dahmer-Hitler, and you'd be surprised how well you can incorporate them into your life and not give up what makes you you. But all this still needs the right car.

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For that early period, you want a car that's easy to drive and park and deal with, you need lots of cargo room because new babies have a crapload of associated equipment, and you want it to not be some awful soulless thing to make sure you don't go crazy and run away with a stripper or something.

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We used an AWD VW Passat V6 wagon (and my Beetle, for when the Passat's stupid oil pan kept cracking) for this period of my son's life, and it wasn't bad. Good cargo room, pretty easy entry/exit of the larva, and a pretty easy car to drive. It was fun to drive as well, and I always liked the look of Passats of this era, so I didn't feel awful in it.

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I'm not saying it's the best choice though — that's where you come in. Tell me!