Do you really need to upgrade to an SUV when you start a family?
If you’re about to start a family, buying an SUV is seen (by many couples) as a price of admission to the new club. Keep reading, though, because this report will save you $5-$10k
This is all one question, but I split it up into parts, the better to deal with the components.
QUESTION
I need some help!
We're about to have a baby and it's time to upgrade the wife's car (currently a VW Golf GTi) and get her something bigger and safer. I've been watching a lot of John's videos to narrow down the options.
We want something new-ish (dealer demo or very low Ks). The wife is a tech-savvy car enthusiast who likes her cars to have a sporty feel/performance. She's also big into design and branding so looks (interior and exterior play a big part).
She's big on sunroofs (panoramic a bonus). She want's boot space (pram/shopping/suitcase).
The upper limit of my budget is around $35K. I'm not really much of a car/brands man, so I just want bang for buck around a time where we're going down to one income and we can better use the money elsewhere.
ANSWER
OK - so let’s weigh up the above in the domain of objective facts: $35k is insufficient for a new/demo sporty, hi-tech, fully loaded SUV that’s objectively larger than a Golf (which is really a conventional ’small car’ segment car like a Hyundai i30 or Corolla/Mazda3, etc).
Medium to large SUVs under $100k are not as sporty as a GTI. Conclusion? It’s time to compromise.
Fact: The Golf and all other cars in this segment are large enough for a pram, suitcase and shopping. Especially as the rear seat split-folds. They’re also quite safe. Get a pram and some shopping bags, and a suitcase, and leave the kerbside rear seat up (because you want to be taking your kid out of the car on the kerbside) and fold the other part of the rear seat down. Guess what? All that crap fits - without leaving the baby compromised.
Conclusion? I’m not seeing an objective reason to upgrade, beyond just a personal preference. And a nice, sporty SUV with all the toys - like a Tucson Highlander or a CX-5 Akera - is going to be around $50k. And that’s $15,000 more than you want to spend, on the cusp of sucking it up financially and going down to one income.
QUESTION
She loves her VW, but I hate everything they stand for so I refuse to buy one. She likes the look of the Kia Sportage and Kia Seltos (the Seltos is more in our budget) over the Mazda and we haven't looked into much more than that.
ANSWER
Kia is a great carmaker - in terms of quality, warranty and support -
Seltos and Sportage are roughly the same size as a Golf, except for a small difference in height - the least useful cargo dimension.
Golf: 4.268m long (on 2.626m wheelbase).
Seltos: 4.370m long (2.630m wheelbase).
It’s a 10cm difference in overall length and no tangible difference in wheelbase. (Pro tip: wheelbase = cabin space.)
Sportage is 11.5cm longer again than Seltos, and just 4cm more in the wheelbase. A fully loaded Sportage GT-Line (petrol is recommended drive-away at about $49,000). Negotiate right and you’d probably get one for $45k, which is still $10k over budget. It’s a hell of a lot of cash to drop on about eight inches of additional cargo bay length over the Golf.
These dimensional differences don’t constitute the potential to satisfy the desire for a substantially bigger vehicle with considerably more space (although you can easily fool yourself into thinking they do).
QUESTION
I heard John recently say that it's a myth that you need an SUV as a family car and that for example a Cerato hatch 1.6 Turbo would be better bang for buck - but I'd need to see it to make sure it's "big" enough.
ANSWER
This is an objective fact issue to me - and the pro tip there (as an engineer) I’d suggest just ‘seeing’ something is the worst possible test imaginable for the definitive dimensional analysis (of anything). Humans are absolutely crap at volumetric and other spatial perception of this nature. (It’s why they make bottles long and thin - the least efficient shape. They do it because it convinces people they’re getting more…)
People get into SUVs all the time, and because the ceilings are higher they convince themselves the $5-$10k price hike over a comparable car is worthwhile - because it just feels so much more spacious - and yet because of the actual dimensional similarity in length, width and wheelbase, the SUV is in practise no better at accommodating a new baby and all the equipment the little buggers demand for logistic support.
CONCLUSION
If you’re a breeder, money is about to be tight. Babies cost heaps, and your total household income is about to be halved. Financially, it’s not an uplifting time. Don’t do this to yourselves. Breed (not like it’s optional at this stage). Spit out that new kid. See how the Golf goes facilitating the transport logistics. If it’s really too small, after you’ve actually tried it, with a baby on board, and all the crap you have to carry (yes - I have done this, but only three times…) Then put the $35k on the table and upgrade.
I know this is not what you and your up-the-duff, tech-savvy, car enthusiast, brand snob wife want to hear, but it really is A-grade advice to impending breeders who are about to be financially constrained. Really, it is. Stick with the car you have. Keep the $35k for a rainy day - because the weather ahead is uncertain.
