It’s time to sell the GT 💝

[Idlewilde]

Ford Explorer as you will need the room in the back seat as well as in the rear cargo space - you're going to be carrying a lot more stuff.

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[Awt2858]

First look at your finances! House payment, taxes, insurance, medical costs, etc. can bite into your dream car needs. Some of the vehicles mentioned above are big dollar items. I hope you have well over 6 figures rolling in the house to support these dreams. I was young once. Sometimes experience is an ugly teacher. Look at your budget! Most cars are money pits!!!

Solid advice

 

[Awt2858]

First off. Congrats. First kid is always a life changer. However, I will say take some time to think about it because one kid can be managed with a mustang. I was in the exact same position as you in 2018 (kid #2 for me). Got rid of my 14 GT for an 18 F150 SCREW. Never looked back tbh. The flexibility a crew cab gives you plus the safety cant be matched. That said, I understand truck prices are insane and may not be viable. For my wife we've had a corolla, CX-5, Accord, Tiguan, and now a Tesla Model 3. Best car we've had for her was probably the M3 or Accord. Camt go wrong with most just be safety minded.

Since we are keeping my wife’s Mustang, I thought having one four-door would be a practical move. Truthfully, the focus RS has been in the back of my mind for a long time. I’d LOVE to have an M3 comp but that is outside of my desired budget.

 

[sl8anic]

Congrats!

Can't go wrong with WRX. It's fun, roomy, reliable, safe. Plenty of space for kiddo in a back-facing car seat, not too deep to reach to get at it when unlatching, rear doors open wide, a huge plus.

 

[tastetickles]

Definitely not a Focus RS if you are thinking of having a baby seat in there. I have one sitting in the garage, the interior is small for a hatchback. I had a hatchback sti at the same time as my RS so baby seat goes in the Subaru. Eventually sold the sti after ten years and got a Jeep gladiator when 2nd daughter was born. The taller truck made getting a baby in and out of baby seat easier.

 

[Ken H.]

Explorer ST. Fun & room to grow. Ford quality #1 in 2026 according to JD Powers survey. Hired back 300 experienced engineers that they fired when moved their operations to Brazil.
On my 2nd. No regrets.

 

[ValidusTalon]

Sometimes having to do the smart thing can be difficult. When that time came for me a couple kiddos and a sports car to daily just didn't math. Tires, fuel, car seats, etc.... While much further down the road now with adult kids, I have a pretty long commute to the office and decided I didn't want to put those miles on my garage queen (Mustang), was burning through fuel at a stupid rate (RAM 1500) and my wife reasonably didn't want me taking her car. So I did a bunch of test driving various cars at several local CarMax and ultimately settled on a Kia K5 GT w/the GT1 package (which I tracked down new at a local dealership). Its not slow (quick compared to the segment), has some cool tech, and with some solid negotiating can be had at pretty good prices. 4 doors, car seat and kid friendly, cheaper to insure, and at least so far I'm getting 35+ MPG using 87 octane fuel on my looooong highway grind.

It was not what I expected to land on. Oddly, I get more comments from the kids in the neighborhood about the Kia (mostly college age kids) than the 'Stang. To them the Kia is obtainable and cool...the 'Stang is a loud ass old guy car many struggle to imagine buying while they try to figure our rent and jobs in this economy.

Good luck on your search and congrats on the upcoming child!

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