We have a pretty compact sedan - the Acura TSX - and I love it, but if either child is rear-facing, you will have a hard time. When my daughter was rear-facing, I couldn't really have passengers in the front seat because her seat swallowed up all the passenger side leg room. So if you typically go places as a family, check that a rear-facing car seat and a passenger can coexist.

We don't have a ton of trunk space, but I once fit two strollers (jog stroller plus maclaren) in the trunk with a set of golf clubs. never achieved that again.

you will regret choosing a sedan as your primary transport, having kids takes space and a 3rd row seat SUV is a God send.

OP again -- I know lots of people like hatchbacks, and from a space perspective I can see why. But I've never driven one I liked, and I've driven a bunch. It seems the consensus is to go with the bigger car, though, so we'll probably focus on the standard size sedans as we'd originally planned. We may sneak in a test drive of the Hyundai Elantra, though. Thanks all!

We love our 2005 Civic. Our kids are 8 and 10 and we don't have problems with fitting stuff in the trunk, but we are light packers. It's been a great city car, zippy, comfortable, easy to park.

Go bigger as it makes life far easier with car seats. You may never need to do three across but sometimes it nice with a friend's child or two (or neighbor's children).

We loved the backseat in the focus when we testdrove this weekend. The front seats have a sort of cutout in the back that gives more legroom. We had two kids in there no problem.

I would think about a hatchback, though. I'm pretty anti-hatch, but man, the first time you have to haul a pack and play and stroller and the like, you stop thinking they're anything but awesome.

I know you said you don't care about hatchback but hear me out.

My parents have an Audi A4. We have a VW GTI (Golf). They use the same frame.

I have sat in the backseat of both cars many times. Our GTI has much more back seat room than the A4, because of the hatchback styling.

Great gas mileage too. Just sayin'.

This is OP. Thanks for these great responses. We are definitely going with a sedan, not an SUV or minivan. I have driven those and they're nice, but we want a smaller car. Also not a hatchback, I don't care for those. We expect to do lots of city driving and park on street. We don't have a driveway or garage.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're about to buy our first car, with upcoming kids in mind. 2 kids planned. We hope to keep the car for at least 10 years. We don't commute by car, nor plan to, so it would be a weekend/family outing/trip type car. Should we buy a standard sedan (Ford Fusion, Hyundai Sonata, Toyota Camry) or a compact sedan (Ford Focus, Hyundai Elantra, Toyota Corolla)? We'd been thinking we'd want the larger car, but then it occurred to us that maybe that wouldn't be important when the kids are smaller. So perhaps it's better to go with the smaller, cheaper car now, and a larger car when the kids get older. Any thoughts?

How about a VW Jetta station wagon with the turbo diesel for great gas mileage?

Truck space great!!
But have to pull the front seats up for car seats! We have two carseats (infant carrier kind) & any one sitting in the front has to pull seat so close to the front, anyone with long legs won't fit

Anonymous wrote:We're about to buy our first car, with upcoming kids in mind. 2 kids planned. We hope to keep the car for at least 10 years. We don't commute by car, nor plan to, so it would be a weekend/family outing/trip type car. Should we buy a standard sedan (Ford Fusion, Hyundai Sonata, Toyota Camry) or a compact sedan (Ford Focus, Hyundai Elantra, Toyota Corolla)? We'd been thinking we'd want the larger car, but then it occurred to us that maybe that wouldn't be important when the kids are smaller. So perhaps it's better to go with the smaller, cheaper car now, and a larger car when the kids get older. Any thoughts?

How about a VW Jetta station wagon with the turbo diesel for great gas mileage?

Get an suv with a third row, you will thank me later

Most sedans, compact or otherwise, can fit 3 carseats as long as you have the right combination of seats. We can fit 3 in a Ford Fiesta (one Graco Turbobooster, one Radian, one Safety 1st Onside Air. Ironically, it can't fit more then 1 Radian).

You would definitely want to consider trunk space. You'll want enough space for a stroller. And when you travel you'll want enough space for suitcases and stroller/gear.

go bigger. even when they are small there is a lot of stuff you need to put into the trunk. we had small cars w/ two kids and had a hard time fitting all of their stuff in the car for road trips or trips to the airport with suitcases. might want to consider a hatchback or something like the mazda 5 -- which is basically a mini minivan.

I love small cars. I drove a civic until recently -- when I traded it in for an odyssey. The civic wa great when they were young, but once the oldest started school, it didnt work because I couldnt fit a third carseat in the back seat. Even though we only have two cars, we wanted to carpool, drive friends home, etc., and that just wasnt possible.

My civic was from 1999 and they've gotten bigger since then, so I don't know if they are now big enough to fit three across or if the accord would even work. But if you're going to keep it for 10 years, I encourage you to think about having room for at least an extra person.

We're about to buy our first car, with upcoming kids in mind. 2 kids planned. We hope to keep the car for at least 10 years. We don't commute by car, nor plan to, so it would be a weekend/family outing/trip type car. Should we buy a standard sedan (Ford Fusion, Hyundai Sonata, Toyota Camry) or a compact sedan (Ford Focus, Hyundai Elantra, Toyota Corolla)? We'd been thinking we'd want the larger car, but then it occurred to us that maybe that wouldn't be important when the kids are smaller. So perhaps it's better to go with the smaller, cheaper car now, and a larger car when the kids get older. Any thoughts?