quote:

Originally posted by Aglifter:
It’s our first kid. I’m 6’4”, 280#.

/laughs

Your perspective on a lot of things will instantly and forever change, and what seems like a reasonable size vehicle now will look your very own clown car when you're trying to pack the wife and carseat plus your own large frame into one bench seat. Kids also come with accessories. The diaper bag might could go in the bed of the truck, but your wife isn't likely going to want to put the nursing stuff and bottles back there, and she won't be thrilled about contending with it on the floorboards. You're going to want to allow for more space than you think you'll need. I wouldn't do anything smaller in terms of cab space than a crew cab if I were doing a truck. In addition to the safety aspect, changing and nursing is a back seat type thing.

I couldn't speak to the Tahoe in terms of anything other than general internal space, and in that aspect, that class of vehicle is about where I would start if I was going to have another kid or could go back in time to do it over again. We had a Mazda 3 and a CX5, and while we got it all done with those up until my son was about five or six, there were more than a few times I wished we had a larger vehicle. That's why when the 3 was starting to grow long in the tooth, it one day turned into a crew cab Ram. That amount of space was what was missing the whole time.

This thread brings back memories. Back in 2006, I had a 2003 Silverado with no extended cab. I loved that truck. The wife and I found out we were expecting and I tried to figure out how to make it work with my truck. I just couldn't do it. So, my wife and I talked it out and decided we needed a family vehicle and one that could fit all the humans and all the pets at once in case we had to bug out because of a hurricane. It was then that I met one of the loves of my life, The Chevrolet Suburban. I will never own any other vehicle. I am on my 3rd and I love it just like the day I bought it. It is the gameday assault vehicle for when we go cheer on The Troy Trojans. It has been a camper with the second and third row laid down and an air mattress. It has been an escape from the heat during power outages.
So, if you can, embrace this change.

^^^These guys speak the truth.

My wife still brings up that she didn’t get a last nap before giving birth to our first. The day before he was born we were at the Nissan dealer getting extra crossbars installed on our brand new Armada. We needed them for the Yakima SkyBox. Seven years and two kids later, we bought the Odyssey because my wife was tired of parking the Armada in tight spaces and worrying about the doors and cars next to her while loading and unloading the kids. Surprisingly, the Odyssey has more room behind the third row than the Armada and I never installed the crossbars I bought for it because we never needed the SkyBox.

quote:

Originally posted by Aglifter:
It’s our first kid. I’m 6’4”, 280#.

My wife’s car will hold a car seat and us, but it might be a bit tight for her. (She’s quite lithe, but fairly tall.)

Maybe a Tahoe with one of those carriers? I don’t mind putting plants inside, but fertilizer etc is another matter.

I drive a Yukon now (2 kids 7 and almost 10) and it's the best. Still miss my truck at certain times, though. Like hauling 16' lumber home the other day or deer hunting. I have a hitch mounted cargo basket that works well.