baby and my taco advice.

So I bought a regular cab since we went planning to have kids any time soon and it happened a lot sooner than we expected. Well the wife has a mazda cx5 for a family car. She's also a stay at home wife. Now my question for you parents, do you need two cars that can accommodate your family or do you deal with what you have? I don't want to get rid of my regular cab since it will be paid off soon but Im worried I will need to tote the little one around some times (you never know what can happen) Please help me with this.

An option was that someone gave me an offer for mine that would pay it off and theres an 02 quad cab 3.4 thats a 1 owner. The kicker is that its 3 grand more than mine right now. What would you do in my situation?

 

We have two boys, 3 and 1. I have a 2014 DCLB and it fits the whole family well. In your situation, I think you can make it work at least for a while. Infants are small and somewhat easily transported. It is very nice/convent to have two cars to take the kids in though. Things come up and it's a huge relief to have a second vehicle to transport the kids. Also if you plan on any camping or overnight trips it's nice to have the truck. I would guess that in the long run, having two kid capable cars will be the way to go. It also comes down to $$$. Kids and trucks aren't cheap. Let me know if you have any more questions or want pictures of the car seats.

 

First and foremost: Congratulations. Now strap on your helmet and get ready for a great but crazy ride.

You are going to get LOTS of opinions on this, but as a father of 2 young kids I will offer mine:
With kids, be ready for the unexpected. Even the best laid plans turn to shit when it comes to little kids. Having a vehicle that you can't put them in will bite you in the ass eventually. I sold off a truck that I built and loved like a child because it was not a reasonable way to carry both of my kids around on a normal basis and I'd do it again without a thought.

If you can do it financially, sell the single cab. Having 2 cars that you can carry him/her/THEM (yeah be ready for more) in just makes life easier. And anything that makes life easier eith kids is HUGE.

Good luck!

 

They'll be plenty of moments when you wished you had the ability to drive your child in your vehicle. With that said, don't put yourself in debt over it. You have one family car and that's all you need for now.

 

I'd say just get rid of em... The vehicles on the other hand are up to you. Lol I'm just kidding man! Follow ur heart and go with your instincts.

 

Double your payments on the truck pay it off ASAP then park it and buy a second family ride. You'll be happy you kept the reg cab seeing that they stopped making them.

 

tough decision. The one Im looking at is a 2002 dc trd 4x4 with 160k but the 3.4 is reliable as it gets. He will take 13.5 its mint and has a matching shell. Still don't know what do do though.

 

Yes a second vehicle helps tremendously. I had an access cab Craptier and it was such a pain when the baby got here.


Dude that is a crazy price for something that is nearly 15 years old and that many miles.

 

tacomas around here are high. But its a 1 owner with all maintenance records. It is high miles but then again my old 3.4 had 320k on the odometer when I sold it.

 

First off, congrats!

Eh, I'll throw in my two cents.

When I was a young Marine and my wife stayed at home with the kiddos, we only had one car - a shitty one, at that - and we were fine. Did that for about five years. Once I started making more money later on, we got two cars, but we usually kept it to one 'family car' and then one for me.

Above all else, I'd recommend staying financially stable, especially with young kiddos and learning that whole gig.

So, in short, I think you're just fine w/ one family car. I did it for years and did just fine.

 

Just sold the same model 02 dcsb 4x4 TRD or with 187k in excellent condition. New brakes, rotors, radiator, tires, and no rot for under $9 grand. That was on the upper end of kbb value. Even with the cap it's way overpriced.

 

I'm a stay at home mom to I drive a double cab Tacoma and my husband has a Chevy work van. It hasn't been a problem having only one vehicle to haul my son around.

 

Thanks for the input guys and gals. Still deciding, it's a tough decision.

 

FWIW I sold my old truck when our son was born for this reason. He was 11 by the time I was able to buy another truck.

 

I had a regular cab Ford Ranger when my first child was born. My wife had a minivan which was the family car obviously, but when I had to drop my son off at day care or take him to the doctor etc. I was able to put his chair in the front seat and do what I had to do. Even a few times when my wife had to go also (if minivan was in for service etc.) she would sit in the middle on the bench seat and he would still be strapped in the passenger seat - not ideal, but it worked for a while until I was able to find a good deal on my Tacoma (double cab).
So, long story short, keep your regular cab for now until you can get a good deal on a DC upgrade. No rush to get it done just for the sake of getting it done.

 

I'd say keep it! One question - can you disable the passenger side airbag in your Tacoma? If so, definitely keep it, and that way you can always transport the child safely in a pinch. Most infant seats you can thread the seatbelt through the seat even without the base. The child and the wife together may be harder.

My old Miata has a simple keyed switch to disable the passenger airbag, and my daughter loves to ride in it - she's just in a booster now, but as an infant she loved it, too. She didn't ride in it much, but was nice to have the ability.

We have a CX-5, too. Great car, my wife likes it and it's been very reliable. Still have the Miata, too!

 

It does have a cut off switch and the spot to attach the car seat. I don't know it theres anything special I need to hook it up. In a pinch is this safe? Id love to switch back and forth but the wife cant drive stick and gets very frustrated when trying to learn. The reason Id like to keep it is it will be paid off within 2016 and is a sexy truck lol.

 

Having an infant/child seat up front is safe as long as you do 2 things - #1, remember to disable that airbag, and #2, buy a child seat that you can thread the seat belt through safely. Our local fire dept will show you how to do this free of charge - call them and take the truck and the seat, and they will show you what to do. Many local police depts do as well.

I'm not familiar with newer regular cab trucks, so I don't know if they have the LATCH system on the passenger side, which are the tethers that most all vehicles have in the back seat (my DCLB has them on both rear seats, and your wife's CX-5 will as well). Those latches make connecting child seats easier, but using just the seatbelt is fine as well, provided you thread it right through the child seat and make sure it is tight.

When you go buy a child seat, just ask and make sure you can use it with or without a base, and that you can connect it with LATCH or with just a seatbelt, and all your bases are covered. Most all major brand child seats should do this - Graco, Britax, Chico, Evenflo, etc.

 

So are the tethers under the covers where it has a picture of a baby seat behind my bench seat? I haven't been by my truck to go look.

 

What if wife's Mazda breaks down? Need 2 family rides dude. Either pay off reg cab quick and finance a 2nd family car, or sell yours and buy the 3.4 and pay off difference before baby comes ( which is what I'd do)