First new baby on the way and looking to upgrade the wheels. (I can only run the one car and do sub 6k per year.)The wife is set on getting an 05 plate SAAB 9-3- convertible . We were both very enthusiastic about the test drive and the 5 stars from NCAP. Less keen about the latest JD Power results.
Anyway, I think the whole idea is probably bonkers because that boot with the hood up isn't going to accommodate all the gear that goes with a sprog, not least a decent buggy chassis. And then there is the soft top/safety issue.
But of course I may be wrong. Does anyone out there have any experience of running a 9-3, or indeed any other 4 seat convertible as their only car with a new baby?
Views gratefully accepted
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I'd forget the idea completely. I've only put my daughter in the rear of a two door cabrio once - a friend's Eos. A baby and two doors is a nightmare - you have to open the door fully, so need wide parking spaces and then lean in to get them out. Manouvering the baby seat to get it through the door can put our back out. If the Saab has bucket seats the baby seat may not fit correctly.
Bottom line is you need a four door car.
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You don't need an MPV either!
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Get driven a few miles in the back of a cabriolet, and tell me how much fun it is removing flies, grit etc from your mouth and eyes.
Also, feel the wind whipping around ... Then think how uncomfortable it would be for a nipper...
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you're brave........at my advancing years i'm in the same position as you and already planning a roof box to go with an estate car!..........(albeit 2 dogs as well)
can't imagine it would be much fun having a pram/pushchair in the back seat 'cos it won't fit in the boot.....and the kid sat right next to it can't be all that safe
and to echo what has been said above, was sat in a jam yesterday watching a young mum struggle to load a kid into a 3 door Polo......it was a right awkward combination....(not helped by the perve in the Jag).....you most definitely need 4 doors if not the full 5
there's plenty of decent lifestyle type estates e.g. Audi, Jag, BMW, Alfa Romeo etc if you want some decent driving and a bit of space to go with it
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Remember too that a Group 0 baby bucket requires as much room behind the front seat as an adult passenger (and that the back seat in a cabrio is further forward to make room for the roof mechanism.) Even biggish cars (Saab 9-3 hatch, Volvo S60 in my experience) won't take one behind a tall driver, but at least they have big boots for the other kit.
In other words, get all your baby kit first, then find a car it will all go into. A former colleague of mine in your situation scoffed at my suggestion that the Golf he wanted wouldn't be big enough; six months after his baby came, he had to persuade the fleet department to let him swap it for a Passat!
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just run this scenario past your wife then see if she still wants a cabrio - it's summer in the UK, the sun is shining and you're gently cruising along the motorway with the roof down and music playing, junior gurgling happily in the back. Ten seconds later there's black clouds overhead and a deluge that would have impressed Noah pours down. Do you keep going to the next exit while the car fills up with water or pull over onto the hard shoulder and risk being mown down by a spaghetti eating 40 tonner driver as you wait for the roof to go up?
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>...a deluge that would have impressed Noah...
LOL
Couldn't happen here, surely!
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If you get anything with 2/3 doors, you will probably be trying to sell it again within a month!
Earlier this year I had to borrow my sister in law's fiesta to get my three kids home, didn't want the hassle of a recovery since I fixed it myself the next day.
Putting group 1 seats in the back was a complete nightmare as you have to thread the seatbelt through the back of the childseat from the side, I didn't realise just how awkward that would be, not to mention the severe lack of legroom!
BTW I know passenger airbags are dangerous for babies in group 1 seats, but what about older children who only use a booster seat?
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Something like an old Scenic, so you can take one of the back seats out and actually stand inside the car whilst strapping in the nipper. Worth its weight in gold.
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rubbish
get the convertible and turn off the front passenger airbag....there may even be a key inside the glovebox to turn it off
and its actually easier to put the baby in the front....rear facing where ALL the safety crumple zones are....
true u need to open the doors further...but that isnt actually hard to do..just modify where/how u park..it really isnt hard
And as for all the stuff u need..all u have to do is plan the individual journey in advance...ie get the bag ready early and keep it mimimal
we had a baby with the following cars and had NO problems really...just other peoples so called advice was the problem
we had a 2 door A3...then a 2 door bmw mini...then a 2 door coupe bmw all i did was put the wife and passengers in the back..quite a simple solution i thought.!!
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sometimes a little bit too much opinion....but its only because i care !!!
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And you wife is how tall?
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5ft 6inchs..about average
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sometimes a little bit too much opinion....but its only because i care !!!
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"And as for all the stuff u need..all u have to do is plan the individual journey in advance...ie get the bag ready early and keep it mimimal"
Fine for a day out - try a week at relatives. You need a bit more than a bag full of nappies.
As for putting the baby in the front - I'd never do it, airbags or not. What about the partner who has to sit in the back of a cramped cabrio? When my daughter was very young she sat in the back with mum alongside.
I also agree about getting seatbelts tight when you come to the next stage car seat. I've just fitted one and to get it fitted so it didn't move I had to pull the seatbelt with all my weight from outside the car. With a three door I wouldn't have been able to do this.
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Hello....Saab 9-3 Cabrio' owner here.
The seats are a pain the the proverbial. They have a mind of their own. Slide them forward (after you have undone the awkward catch) and they slide back again with a will of their own. You almost have to get into the back of the car to put anything in the back.
Luggage room in boot is OK (took a shoe besotted wife on 2 weeks hols this month) Swallowed all our luggage easily.
Also, as an experienced father, get a four door, or a hatch. Leave the cabrio' for the mid life crisis period like I did.....you would enjoy it more.
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Excuse me .. what is all this 'put the wife in the back' rubbish. Would YOU men travel in the back, as you will have to do in the cabrio' sometimes, sharing your space with the baby gear?
I agree that for one day trips you need very little gear for a new baby - nappies, wipes, vaseline and a change of clothes for baby and probably parents (babies always leak at one end or the other if you are in your best), a few toys, buggy and a mother. You need far more when a. they get bigger (very quickly) or b. you are away for more than one day.
How much do you value your back and that of your wife? The strain will be considerable in a cabrio' just loading up, as per other posts..
Are you changing car again next year when sprog two is on the way?
We had friends who ran two porsches + two small children, but both parents were under 5'6" - they soon changed cars when they realised they had to go everywhere in tandem to fit the gear in.
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Is the baby/toddler going to be happy in a cabrio? Wind noise, other vehicle noise, grit in eyes? If she/he is distressed will you be as tuned in as you would be in a saloon? What hapens if the second one follows sooner than planned?
As others say the kit required up to at least three is voluminous - buggy, travel cot, bottles/steriliser and other feeding kit playpen(?), booster seat (for where there's no high chair), toys and multiple changes of clothes.
We filled a BX estate with just us and a six month old - but learned to edit later.
Good luck if you can make it work but I suspect you'll fund yourselves having to give up and taking a massive depreciation hit. Does the Saab hatch or estate do anything for you?
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well my wife didnt mind being in the back....she got used to it.
Now we have a 4 door car she still sits in the back, and gets quite used to being driven around.
maybe i just have an understanding wife who doesnt take it as sexist when asked to sit in the back. :-)
now she has her own KA, which is 2 door, I SIT IN THE BACK when necessary...now that is sexist :-)
come on..lighten up..there is a solution to every problem...look for the good points for the guy/girl and dont always find the bad points.life is for living...he wants a soft top.
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"Excuse me .. what is all this 'put the wife in the back' rubbish. Would YOU men travel in the back ... ?"
Of course not - speaking on behalf of all us men, the very idea is against the natural order of things. Oh, and my sense of manhood would never allow it. Grrr.
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andymc
Vroom, vroom - mmm, doughnuts ...
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depends what you're willing to put up with versus a reasonable solution
in some parts of the world the whole family pile onto a Honda C90 or a cheap Chinese equivalent
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Oh dear. Looks like I'm buying a second hand eurobox after all. But which one? The Saab hatch and estate depreciate in a very scary way. The new SEAT Leon looks great outside but the penny pinching within is extraordinary. (you have a prop to keep the bonnet open on the top model) Tried an rx8 and was accused of being a boy racer by the wife...
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what's wrong with a BMW 3 series estate; Jaguar X Type estate, Audi A4 Avant.....you can get one of them for the price of the Saab Convertible and there's all sorts of engine/trim options
none of them are bad cars and all look good.
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Sold my Colt to buy a Carisma because it had two doors and getting a baby in the back was too much of a struggle. If you like Saabs get a used one - they do depreciate a lot but this can make them good second-hand buys.
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Enjoy Yourself!! You only live once.
SWMBO has a Merc CLK240 Cab and our kids love it! OK, they're out of nappies (6,5,3) but there is plenty of room and the boot is surprisingly roomy even with the hood down.
Some buggies fold surprisingly flat and can be slid into small spaces. And you will soon learn NOT to take everything including the kitchen sink with you on your journeys.
Good Luck!
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The 9-3 Cab is a tricky car to get into the back of at the best of times with the roof up, even though the front seats move on the rails the access is still relatively small and I wouldn't like to have to strap a child in the back.
The other issue I've found is that anyone sat in the back can't hear a normal volume conversation being held in the front due to the wind noise at the back of the hood. They are pretty refined for a rag top in the front, but the back isn't so quiet. This may be a problem if you want to comfort the baby without taking your eyes off the road.
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