WRX hatch vs sedan as a family car

[Ajax2112]

I was just surprised by the wife and told that we have a litte one on the way. With that in mind it's time for me to trade in my 2009 2 door GTI for something a little more kid friendly. As I look at the hatch vs the sedan it appears that the sedan may offer more room. Here is my dilemma. I have to be able to fit a stroller in the back allong with groceries, packages and all of the babies needs. As I look at the hatch it looks like once you have put a stroller in the rear there is no room left over. As I look at the sedan is appears that it offer more room.

This will be my first child so I'm no expert on this subject so my logic may be entirely flawed. Can some of you that have either a WRX sedan or WRX hatch please lead me in the right direction.

[Pdot]

If you have a little one on the way, I would actually suggest not to get a WRX. The last thing you want is people wanting/trying to race you while you are trying to keep the little one safe. I would suggest a used small SUV so you can save yourself some money once you sell your GTI, because you will need all the money you can get once the little one pops out. With all the new expenses that you will incur, every dollar counts especially if you are paying a mortgage.

Beleive me, it sucks going from performance car to a block on 4 wheels. I did it 10 years ago when I had my first child. I went from a 1993 Camaro to a 1996 Dodge Caravan to a 2005 Hyandai Santa Fe and now to a 2011 WRX. It's like I was born again!!

[mangostick]

Congrats man!!

Get the hatch.

While I dont have children, friends of mine were thinking about a child friendly awd sporty car and wanted to "test fit" .. so I offered my wrx up for the trial since they were looking at one. We fit all their goodies in without issue and because of the short bumper/wide hatch opening it was easy to get things in/out of the back. I also work IT and have most of the eastern seaboard for my operating range so I use my car quite often to haul equipment. Just recently I had 6 Dell Poweredge T310 servers/three pc's and my own gear all happily stuffed in the car for a trip to Charleston from Va beach. Granted this was with back seats down as I wanted more weight between the wheels fore-aft instead of the car being completely rear heavy (servers aren't light) ..if I didn't need/want it mid weighted I could have gotten all that in there without putting both seats down. That would have left room for a little one. The sedan has a really funny bump in the trunk floor between the strut towers that will limit being able to push taller objects all the way up against the rear seats and the opening though wide is not very tall.

If you're serious about it.. get a friend that has kids to go shopping with you and stuff all their baby gear in there. If it fits.. you're good.. if not.. move on.

otherwise, as a guy who's friends are almost all married with kids.. there's no way you can actually plan for whats about to happen to you lol.. its wonderful and crazy all at once (so I'm told) so all you can do is make the best guess you can and roll with it.

personally, I'd go with the hatch.. the design is much more flexible when it comes to hauling cargo as well as people.

As for punks racing you.. who cares? let em go.. they go away and their out of your fuzz. A mature adult with little one in the car isn't going to go racing some street punk anyway.

[MainFrame]

I say LGT, or a Forrester XT. My car seat is a really tight fit in the back of the Impreza, but it does fit as long as no one in the front wants any leg room.

[MakeItRoar]

If you have a little one on the way, I would actually suggest not to get a WRX. The last thing you want is people wanting/trying to race you while you are trying to keep the little one safe. I would suggest a used small SUV so you can save yourself some money once you sell your GTI, because you will need all the money you can get once the little one pops out. With all the new expenses that you will incur, every dollar counts especially if you are paying a mortgage.

A little self control would do well for the racing thing And Subies are reliable, so saved maintenance costs could make up for any extra shelling out. Safety features that put other sedans and hatchbacks to shame, I'd say Subaru is a pretty damn good choice for safety and reliability. Consider an Outback or Forester if you need massive space, but I'd say a sedan offers plenty of space, and the hatchback is good if you need to PACK those groceries in. A big part is preference and taste. Drive both, see how you like the sedan and the hatchback, because they do drive differently, and maybe bring a stroller to a dealer and see what space you can have left. Dealers would love to see you checking out the space available in each, and could probably offer a little insight (to be taken with a grain of salt ) and also ask your lovely wife, she would probably have some choice too!

[teflon_jones]

I might know a little about this subject. I have a 3 and 5 year old. The 5 year old was born when I had my first STi, and I used that for 3.5 years. Now my 2nd STI is going on 1400 miles.

There's plenty of room in a WRX for your kids. They're very safe cars in a crash test, and offer AWD too. Yes, backseat room is a little cramped, but I'm 6'4 and still fit my 3 year old behind me. Trunk space on both my old one and my new one was huge. You'll have no trouble fitting a grocery trip in there with a stroller. Plus remember you have a 2nd back seat still that can be used for groceries in a pinch.

My '04 had a bit more room in the back than my new one, but they're both pretty good.

[Ajax2112]

A little self control would do well for the racing thing And Subies are reliable, so saved maintenance costs could make up for any extra shelling out. Safety features that put other sedans and hatchbacks to shame, I'd say Subaru is a pretty damn good choice for safety and reliability. Consider an Outback or Forester if you need massive space, but I'd say a sedan offers plenty of space, and the hatchback is good if you need to PACK those groceries in. A big part is preference and taste. Drive both, see how you like the sedan and the hatchback, because they do drive differently, and maybe bring a stroller to a dealer and see what space you can have left. Dealers would love to see you checking out the space available in each, and could probably offer a little insight (to be taken with a grain of salt ) and also ask your lovely wife, she would probably have some choice too!

I'm not worried about the kids who want to race. There easy to take care of. You rev the engine and make them think your going to race them. When the light turns green you just pull off normally and wait for them to get pulled over. I'll have to teach the little one to flip them the bird as we slowly drive by them while their getting a ticket.

As far as bringing a stroller, I tried that and my dealer said no way. They are worried about the car getting scratched.

As far as the wife goes she loves the hatch but also thinks the sedan appears to have more room behind the seats.

[Ajax2112]

I say LGT, or a Forrester XT. My car seat is a really tight fit in the back of the Impreza, but it does fit as long as no one in the front wants any leg room.

I don't think 10 grand more is worth it. For that much money I'd buy an srt8 Grand Cherokee

[MainFrame]

I'm not worried about the kids who want to race. There easy to take care of. You rev the engine and make them think your going to race them. When the light turns green you just pull off normally and wait for them to get pulled over. I'll have to teach the little one to flip them the bird as we slowly drive by them while their getting a ticket.

I wouldn't count on that. I have totally ignored people trying to race me before and they got so mad they tried to ram me and ran me off the road. One time I had a guy chase and try to ram me for over 30 minutes on the interstate until I pulled off and pulled into a police station, then he got out of his car, yelled some profanity, flipped me off, burned out and sped away.

[SeattleJeremy]

I don't think 10 grand more is worth it. For that much money I'd buy an srt8 Grand Cherokee

Now that you bring it up, what is your budget?

[SeattleJeremy]

I wouldn't count on that. I have totally ignored people trying to race me before and they got so mad they tried to ram me and ran me off the road. One time I had a guy chase and try to ram me for over 30 minutes on the interstate until I pulled off and pulled into a police station, then he got out of his car, yelled some profanity, flipped me off, burned out and sped away.

You can't fix stupid. There will always be the crazies, thankfully things like this don't happen often.

[rage-wrx]

I believe the sedan & the hatch have the same legroom in the back.I have a 20 month old.Forward facing ,the child seat has enough room in the back,although if the child seat is rear facing the passenger in the front may be a tight fit.I fit my stroller and all groceries in the hatch easily.It also depends on the stroller that you get.The less expensive ones are usually bigger & heavier.

[Ajax2112]

I'm trying not to go over 30k. That's why I'm looking at the WRX. This is going to be my daily driver.

[Pdot]

I think if your budget is unlimited, then by all means if you have your mind set on something then go test it out and see how it would fit your lifestyle. Ya never know, your wife may pop out twins! Plus once you have your first, most likely a second is on the way in the near future. Women get baby crazy after the first. If you buy a new 2011 and your wife has a child in the next year afterwards, you will or may have to get a new ride to accomodate the bigger family. It would be a shame because you would lose so much value on the WRX if you had to get rid of it.

Talk it over with the wife and see if more children are in the future. That may sway your choice...but like my first words...all depends on the budget...

[2002_wagon]

First and foremost Congrads I have a 22 month year old. It is the best feeling in the world. If u are not against going used 02 through 06 wrx wagons are baby friendly and super fun. I can fit strollers grocers and my sub woffer in my wrx. As for the idiots who try to race I sorta fixed that problem big old baby on board sign does wonders I live in Florida where everyone with a Honda or Nissan 240 want to race. Let them squeal there tires and humble be away just the fact of knowing you can work most of them is satisfaction. I say most because even though I hate Honda there are still some monsters out there lol. Again Congrads