Should I drive my car or my truck when the baby is here??

[JillyHemp316]

This is a weird question but i have no idea who to ask. I drive a 1997 GMC Jimmy, but right now there is something wrong with the front end, it has no air conditioning, it needs a new battery(it refuses to start every now and then), it needs a new catalytic converter, and the front windshield has a huge crack running the entire length of it...I think thats all of it. Anyway, we can't afford to fix it really, I mean we could but it would mean not paying other bills for a while. It's a 4 door, its very safe and it drives great and only has 90,000 miles on it. Buut..the only other vehicle I have to drive is my farm truck (we own a horse farm) which is a 2001 Ford F-250, it has an extended cab, not the full crew cab but a bench seat in the back. So I guess I'm just asking for input, because I dont know what to do. I know the backseat in the truck wouldn't be very safe for a carseat, but to fix the Jimmy right now would be really expensive. So what would you guys do? Would you fix the Jimmy and not pay your other bills or would you drive the big truck even though it might not be the best for the car seat. Also, I keep reading that you should put the carseat in the front seat if you're the only person in the car...is that true? So yeah, I know this is a very strange question but I'm stumped. Any input would be great...thanks.

[JillyHemp316]

Yeah, I just talked to my husband about it and I think we might try to take it in and see what we can get for it. I hate to write it off cuz it has such low miles and it really has been a great car..yeah..I get emotional about my vehicles lol..then if we can't get crap for it I think we're going to take it and have somebody do an estimate on it to see how much it would cost to fix the air and see whats wrong with front end then we'll go from there. I'm not sure if the truck has LATCH or not, I remember looking at the manual but I can't recall what it says. lol

[Ashelen]

does your F250 have a LATCH system? You should check your owner's manual, because you can place the carseat on the bench seat if there's a LATCH system...ALSO...

no, do not put the carseat in the front seat UNLESS you can turn off the airbags and you have a good reason to need to. the backseat is designed for carseat safety, the front seat is NOT. if you only have a 2-door truck, however, and can turn off the airbag..chances are that carseat precautions have been taken.

Here's what I would do...local fire and/or police stations will install your carseat for you for the first time and teach you about carseat safety. I would call around and find a program in your town at one of these places, and then I would drive both vehicles down there and honestly lay it on the line and see what they say. I would say that the bench seat would be a better bet than an unreliable car that could break down at any time....but there are experts who can advise you better on this.

if it were me, I would use the F250. can you maybe trade the Jimmy in for a sedan of some sort...I mean obviously it wouldn't be brand new or anything but anything reliable would be better, right? It might honestly be cheaper to put a little cash into a trade than fix the Jimmy...that's a long list of problems and if it were me they would ALL have to be fixed before the baby could go in that particular vehicle.