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It would appear from the title of this blog that I’m expecting a highly developed child who will trot into the RTA and go for their provisional license at six months of age. Not so. Mind you, how much easier would life be if this was possible?

Science fiction aside, a new car is going to be a necessity for this ‘soon-to-be-Sydney-Mum’. Baby needs to be moved from place to place and until Sydney’s public transport system improves about one million fold, car it is for the time being.

I would like to opt for a more compact car or better still a hybrid or electric car in an effort to reduce my impact on our fragile planet. The former is no longer practical. The latter is not affordable (for the moment anyway).

So it was with much sadness that I embarked on the trudge around Sydney’s various car dealerships in search of a good second-hand car to do the job. The experience was – as always – every bit the soul-destroying demonstration of chauvinism I always fear it will be. I largely went it alone…unless you count the bump, which I don’t think effectively communicated my ‘empowered female’ attitude at all.

Car advice for baby

I asked around in advance for what I needed to keep in mind, and got a bunch of advice – including thoughts on specific brands and their mechanical prowess that made absolutely no sense to me or registered on the ‘care much radar’ at all.

However, helpful advice from seasoned parents included:

• Make sure the boot accommodates not just the buggy or pram or stroller or whatever you call it, but your shopping and any other stuff you need to put in your car too. Including yourself.
• Ask about the anchor points: Where are they? Do they reduce the boot space? Are they easy to get to?
• Four doors are a must. How often have you seen a poor parent bending their spine into the shape of pretzel around car seats to get to the capsule and waking/possibly dropping/certainly disturbing their blissfully slumbering infant in the process
• Auto vs Manual: a heated debate. More stuff goes wrong with an automatic. The stop-start of a manual combined with the eight-arm dexterity and rearward-facing eyes required of new parents may not be the best. Jury is out. Mine was, anyway, to lunch I think.
• Seats that fold down are a good thing. The space needs to be flexible, and so do you.
• Side opening boot doors are a preference – easier to maneuver when you’re short on hands, but upward opening is ok if the lip of the boot is low. Big fat tyres on the back of boot doors aren’t really an appreciated design feature when you’re already laden with various heavy items.
• Low boots win, high lips on boots not a great thing. Heaving that buggy in and out of a car is going to be the bane of any parent’s existence, so access is key. Also a friend pointed out that that a low and roomy boot allows you a little space for an emergency nappy change. Quite nifty!
• Consider safety very carefully. It’s important. You’re transporting very valuable cargo here.
• Central control on window and door locks is a great feature. Curious little hands do get the hang of these things quite quickly.

Car for baby: the expedition

I don’t cry easily, but a hideous man from an unnamed car dealership in Auburn in Sydney’s western suburbs had me there.

It was a 32 degree summer’s day, I’m eight months pregnant, had driven there on the Sunday because they advertised they were open then – and weren’t. Returned on the Monday (in equally scorching temperatures) and asked to test drive one of the cars and mentioned my husband would come with me in the afternoon to take a look if I liked it. I was told it was too much hassle to take the car out twice in one day and to come back later. I didn’t.

Twenty or so dealerships later and a few private sale investigations and we had the following shortlist:

• Suzuki SX4 Crossover: really fab car, but the boot was too small for pram et al.
• Holden Zafira: suited our needs in every way, but the seat sits too high for my short little arms and I had to reach down to get to the handbrake. Fine for the longer limbed of us. They don’t make this anymore, which is a shame.
• A Toyota Corolla Ascent wagon (up to a 2005 model): great little car with a fair sized boot…if you can find them. They’re like hen’s teeth.
• The Subaru station wagons – Liberty or Outback: just fantastic, really. Great sized boots, safe cars, roomy cabins, run like a dream. A little pricey for our budget, but if I had a bit more cash I’d go for it.
• Subaru Forester: as with the station wagons of same brand, great car and sort of between a station wagon and an SUV. Besides, the in laws drive one and they make sensible choices, so there was a good family endorsement there.

The decision

I got a call from the lovely Seddon at AMR Motors in Petersham, located in Sydney’s inner west. Seddon seemed to defy the entire stereotype of car salespersonship that I had encountered previously and I honestly thought I was hallucinating when we went to meet him. He was decent, and straight talking and helpful. I asked the Hubby to pinch me, but I was in fact awake. So then I asked him to please stop pinching me.

Seddon had a great 2002 Subaru Forester in impeccable condition with just over 70,000 kilometres on the clock and going at a great price. We drove it. We measured the boot. We went for a little spin. We bought it.

I do feel like I’m driving my parent’s car because it’s all so roomy and grown up. So I keep expecting to be asked for the keys back. Then I realise we’re ‘The Parents’ and that freaks me out even more. Anyway, it won’t be roomy for very long. I’m about to fill it with a buggy, a bassinet, a capsule, a baby and bags and bags and bags and bags of stuff.

Watch the films on YouTube: Subaru Outback, Subaru Liberty, Subaru Forester.