City Car

It is not unusual to use Google to figure out what car to buy.  But I'll bet "what is the shortest car that has a third row of seats" is not a common search.  Yet that was what drove (no pun intended) our recent purchase of the Mazda 5.  Asher's arrival rendered our 2006 Chevy Aveo obsolete, and while we were newly in need of that third row of seating we dreaded the endless circling that would be required to find a parking spot near our house that was big enough to fit a minivan.

Hence, Google.  And, hence, the Mazda 5.  Our Aveo was super stubby, able to fit just about any parking gap on the street.  And yet, unbelievably, the Mazda 5 is only 14 inches longer than that. 

Sure, it's a squeeze for us inside, which will only worsen as the kids get older and bigger.  And we haven't yet piled everyone in the car and a bunch of luggage.  So it's not without its downsides.

But it's a nice car, and a nice-looking car.  Aaron and Jada like being in the very back and having more room than when they were crammed into the Aveo.  And Amy and I like looking back and seeing our little baby Asher snug in his seat.

And most of all we like seeing spots on our block that we used to be able to squeeze our old Aveo into and be able to squeeze our new 5 into.  It may seem a strange way to pick a car, but maybe you can relate if you live in a city too.