Foodgoat Drives!

Four years after his Volkwagon Jetta went up in flames, two years after we first started to think about replacing it, months after our first test drive ... Foodgoat finally has a new set of wheels!


It's a Subaru Forester! It's amazing how the tiny GoatSpawn that prompted us to buy a big ole SUV when we've been such fuel sippers.

What I like about the Forester:

• There is room for GoatSpawn's stroller, and luggage, and maybe even other stuff, in the trunk. It's also incredibly roomy for passengers.
• It has air conditioning and a working radio.
  
• Reliability. We keep cars for a long, long time.
  

What Foodgoat likes:

• "I can now stop having nightmares about driving with GoatSpawn on steep, icy hills and driveways in the Cleveland winters."
• "I can stand in the backseat and have your head outside the gigantic moonroof."
  
• "How bad-ass it looks with tinted windows and red lights on the dashboard at night."

What GoatSpawn likes:

• "It has 4 doors, which makes getting me and my carseat out of the back seat much easier. My feet no longer get banged up on the way in and out of the car
• "All the big windows to look out of."
• "It has a nice, smooth ride ... I fall right asleep once we get going."
  

What we don't like:

• Mileage (20 mpg city/26 mpg freeway)
• SUV guilt

(The runner-up car? The Toyota Prius Touring, which is a great car - fun to drive, surprisingly roomy for a family sedan, and of course, it blows the Forester away in fuel efficiency.)

Among the things I learned about car shopping:

1. Do your research and know as much as you can about the car, the options, the financing (including your credit score!), before you walk in. Most helpful site: True Car.
   
2. Don't go on a Saturday afternoon of a holiday weekend. Crowded, crowded, crowded.
3. Do go immediately after the baby's nap, so she's well rested for the long (and for her, totally boring) day ahead.
4. Do eat first! You'll be there longer than you think.
5. Breastfeeding? Do bring a nursing cover! Otherwise you may find yourself nursing behind the desk of the service department.
6. Do take the carseat! You'll want to know how well it fits and how easy it is to get baby out.
7. Do make sure the car will fit in your garage.