baby and my taco advice.

Yes, those are the Latch anchors, so you should be able to use any kind of infant seat in the truck.

 

good to know. If it ever has to be done it would be in a pinch. My wives car is in great working shape so the likely hood of it ever breaking down is slim to none. Ill have to try and install the baby seat tomorrow just to figure it out.

 

I was in the same spot 5 years, but I had a reg cab 96 Taco. The wife got worried Id need to transport my daughter so I sold it and then NEVER took her anywhere in my vehicle. It seemed like a logical move at the time... but we apparently didn't need 2 vehicles for that. It comes down to need, don't stress about it. In a year if you need it, do it then.

In 5 years since, I've only had my kid in my vehicle 3-5 times. My wife stayed at home so we never needed day care.

Now though, I wish I had at least an extended cab because I want to start taking my truck overland camping with the family. Too many episodes of Expedition Overland

 

Can't you just install the seat backwards and disable the airbag???? It should have Latch. I'd have no reservations doing that with my kid. Still probably safer in that truck than all the kids in Priuses and Honda Fit's I see....

Shit... when I was a baby I think my mom just threw me on the dashboard of the Oldsmobile.... and I made it.

 

I think your child's safety has got to be the deciding factor. I don't know if its safe or recommended to have a child seat anchored in the front seat of your Tacoma or not. You'll need to find that out first.

However, I can offer my experience related to having only one "family" vehicle. When my child was born I was driving my 2005 Nissan Frontier extended cab. The extended cab Frontier has an option for anchoring a child seat to the rear passenger side seat. It requires the front passenger seat to be pulled all the way forward and folded flat. So when I transported my child it was just the two of us. The only time we all rode together was in my wife's vehicle. We did it that way for 3 years. We did need to be able to carry our child in either vehicle because there were times when one might drop off at the daycare and the other pick up, etc. But any trip to the grocery, out of town, or anything where we all rode together was in her vehicle. Either she drove or if I did, it meant adjusting the seat and mirrors, making sure to grab my sunglasses or anything else I needed from my truck.

The Nissan started showing signs of transmission problems. I had to decide to either spend the money to fix it, and keep doing what we were doing, or roll those funds over into a down payment on a new vehicle. I did consider other options too. I looked at leasing a small SUV for a few years but it seemed like wasting money. I considered just keeping my Nissan and having two trucks. As a side note, the Frontier was a Nismo, which is not that common and I had a huge emotional attachment to that truck. My dad helped find that truck in 2005. I drove to Louisiana to pick it up and we drove it around for a bit. Seeing my dad in the passenger seat that day was the last time I saw him alive. So giving up that truck was not an easy decision. But I considered my available funds, the idea of two car tags, insurance & maintenance and in the end decided to just put all my money into a new double cab. I think I made the right choice. Anyway, that's my experience. Also, congratulations.

 

Buy TWO car seat bases. That way you can have one for the car and one for the truck/other vehicle. They aren't that expensive and much easier than having to strap the seat in without the base.

 

I bought a 06 4x4 crew cab with 100k miles for 14k because I wanted back seats for family and the dog..

 

Just trade it in on a TRD Off Road. Be sure to get water proof ballistic seat covers and all weather floor mats to take care of all the vomit and urine. Don't ask me how I know so much about the mats and seat covers. Or the vomit and urine. You'll get used to it. Just part of being a Daddy, I suppose.
Edit: Don't forget a car seat that they can't escape from.

 

So hard to explain.

 

Worst part is I found out later, that the DC models aren't even the best with fitting baby seats in them. We don't use my truck as the family vehicle, just our SUV which is far more practical. But we have the truck if the SUV is in the shop though.

 

Congratulations on the baby. Every situation is different but I would keep the truck you have and stay financially stable if at all possible. You will soon have so many things to spend money on it will BLOW YOUR MIND. I have three kids all in sports... I spent a lot of money on a double cab for the "just in case we need to take everyone" situation... I have taken the five of us once in four years. Is it a need or a want? Because if it's just a "I want a bigger truck" hey dad -you sir are among friends. Good luck.

 

Congratulations.

It sounds like you have a latch setup in the truck, and you can use the seatbelt in a pinch, so safety isn't an issue.

There is no reason you need two cars to move the baby, but it depends a lot on your lifestyle and activities. We had to carseats, but the one in my truck got pulled out very early, and became the loaner that we put in Grandma's car or a friends SUV for field trips.

The only wrong answer here is one that makes your wife angry.

Good luck.

 

Never seen anybody's woman that was happy for very long.

 

Oh yeah def right, not good for me I'm 6'3 lol, but still workable regardless for anyone, just not a lot of space to work with lol.

 

Same here when I was in the service. Good car for the family and a junker for me!

 

Being in the service myself it seems like this is the trend. I notice a lot of my guys have one car and make it work. But do we dare to say my Tacoma is the junker in the family? Lol my wife's car is much nicer, the only thing that blows is taking equipment to and from work in a single cab might invest in a nice system for the bed that I can lock.

 

I drove a junker as I was in the service quite a while ago when the pay wasn't so hot.

** Hint: I retired from the US Navy over 22 years ago.

 

Update, OP?