The Life and Times of MSCH Grimes: January 2009

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Monday, January 5, 2009

Our Frustrations

In our efforts to prepare for the upcoming arrival of our little man, we packed our bags and prepped the car - - - in doing so, we realized that we were LIED TO.

Toyota. GRRRRRrrr! (yes, that was me growling.)

A little over a year and a half ago, Matt and I purchased an FJ Cruiser. It is an awesome vehicle. It had almost EVERYTHING we wanted (missing the heated seats) in a car. It is rugged. It is 4x4. It is completely washable inside and out. It is a blast to drive. It has 4 doors (back 2 are "suicide doors"), power stuff, an awesome stereo, luggage rack, tow package... we installed cargo nets on the back door, arm rests, side visors, - and most recently due to the new law, a hands free phone system that played my calls through the car stereo speakers.

We were TOLD when we purchased the FJ that it would hold 2 carseats. TWO. Us, being the novice parents that we were at the time, believed the sales guy, the book of features, and the little "car seat" picture-dots adhering to the back seats.

Little did we know, THERE IS A HUGE DIFFERENCE in "car seats." YES, it will hold two FRONT facing toddler seats - but it doesn't hold (with any sort of comfort) even ONE REAR FACING INFANT car seat!

Because the infant seats hang so far over the seat, into the leg room zone, it SHOVES the front passenger seat into the dashboard - or the driver.

Either option really doesn't work!

Imagine our faces as we figured this out - 4 weeks til my due date.

I felt ripped off.

I felt mad.

I felt cheated.

I LOVED MY FJ.

Matt tried to make me feel better by saying "this time, we could get heated seats too!"

It was the only thing that made me want to start working with sales people again.

So, off we went. EVERY free moment we've had together - and separately in the past 2 weeks, we searched, we test drove, we price checked...

We wanted something that would last - AT LEAST the next 7ish years.

Our wants: