"Idle Father's Day Chat: New Cars for New Dads" Edmunds Daily

Idle Father's Day Chat: New Cars for New Dads

rondo v. rav

Last month we celebrated Mothers' Day by suggesting cars for our car-shopping mothers. For Fathers' Day, which is today, dads all over are opening packages filled with the ugly ties, pungent cologne and lumpy crafts made in school that so often pose as Fathers' Day presents. To counter, we'd like to give a little Idle Chat gift to soon-to-be dads (and their partners, too, actually). Today's Idle Chat Topic is Recommended Cars for Parents-to-Be.

Ms. MacKinnon: It ain't sexy, but I've got to recommend the Kia Rondo (anyone who knows me knows I'm all about unsexy cars). The Rondo's sort of a mini minivan without the sliding doors, and it's the perfect starter family vehicle. It seats seven (when properly equipped), so it'll be great when the grandparents are in town. If you put the third-row seat down, it opens up a nice, big and fairly tall cargo area just waiting to be stuffed with the strollers, diaper bags, playards, bouncy seats, massive toys and all the rest of the baby junk incredibly essential items you'll be lugging with you for the foreseeable future. Sure, it looks a little like a jelly bean, but the Edmunds staff drove a Rondo for a year and was surprisingly impressed by it.

Mr. Romans: I've met quite a few couples with their first baby on the way, and they often wonder if their current vehicle will work or if they need to sell it and get something else. The Rondo's a really good pick. But if you're one of those dads that feels like your manhood is dribbling out the tailpipe for every mile accrued because you're driving a jelly bean with screaming children in the back, you might come to resent something like a Rondo. So to help these dads out a bit, I'd also recommend taking a look at the Toyota RAV4 V6. It's right-sized for a budding family, and uncorking Toyota's sweet 269-hp V6 will quickly snap you out of the new-parent haze.

Want even more family car options? (What, two isn't good enough? --BR) Check out the list of family-friendly vehicles we put together for Parents magazine's June 2009 issue.

Idle Chat is hosted by Brent Romans and Bryn MacKinnon, two editors at Edmunds.com. Each Sunday in the Idle Chat Lounge (read: tending the grill wearing "World's Sexiest Dad aprons"; yeah, Bryn has one, too), they pontificate on a topic that's kinda about cars.