Mom-Mobile

Remember when I posted a couple weeks ago about how I was seriously stressing about our car search? Seriously stressing. My face broke out, I was losing sleep, I was nagging my husband to finish up all the paperwork we needed. When has stressing ever helped anyone?

Well, blog-world, behold! My Mom-Mobile!

2009 LandRover LR2 HSE in Santorini Black. Hot!

Yes, that deserves it's own short paragraph! We had always planned on me driving a LandRover... but we expected that to be in another decade or two! I never dreamed that a LandRover would be in our price range now. We had planned on getting a Jeep Commander, but there weren't any in my top three color choices in a 200 mile radius. So I had to decide if I would settle for the car I wanted in a color I didn't really care for or if we would look elsewhere. So I started researching other SUVs (I had a Jeep Cherokee Sport since my 16th birthday, so I am pretty sure I will always be in a SUV. Matt drives the Jeep now). I liked Honda Pilots and VW Touaregs... but those weren't really in our price range. I asked Matt for other SUVs that I should look at. He laughed and said, "Not LandRovers!" So I began to research. Surprise surprise, the price was right! We wanted 2008 or newer so this car was perfect! We had looked at buying new (other makes, of course) but didn't see anything we really liked. 

When I found this LR2 I was in love. The color is perfect, it is a shiftable automatic- so the best of both worlds, had plenty of space for car seats (once we need multiple), and has two sunroofs- so Jack can look up while we drive. The color is Santorini Black, which is more like a dark grey... that was my top choice for the Commander. Score! Matt likes Black cars so he loved the color as well.

I knew I loved the look. When we test drove it (my parents went with me while they were in town since Matt had the Jeep at work) I loved it even more. It is so smooth for driver, passenger, and those in the backseat. Definitely an upgrade from the Jeep which is a bit more rugged. The final test, the car seat fit. I put Jack's seat in and was able to slide it all the way across the back row with no problem. It would only fit behind the passenger seat in the Jeep. This will be awesome once baby number 2 comes so the infant seat can be in the middle and Jack's convertible seat on the side.

The interior is leather, which is surprisingly nice. I have never been a fan of leather interior because it gets so hot and sticky during the summer. Living in OK, I am preparing for a super hot summer. Since the color of the leather is so light, it may not be so bad. For now, its super comfy! There are heated seats, perfect for the cold front we've had this past week.

Before we test drove it I had asked if the media screen was included since online it didn't show it attached. The saleswoman said yet. Umm, it's not. Bummer. The previous owner had taken it out and installed a Garmin powercord in it's place. Unfortunately, it doesn't work. So we'll have to take it into the shop to get checked out and fixed. But, we now own a nice Garmin GPS so we'll be all set once the power cord works. It fits nicely in that spot on the dash. I honestly am not a fan of all the other features of the built in media screens (like reading email and text messaging) because it seems so unsafe. So having just a GPS is A-Ok with me! 

You can see that there is a strip of wood trim on the dash. Neither Matt nor I are fans of this, but it's small so we can live with it. It was supposed to be a classy feature, but seriously, no one truly liked the woody look.

The trunk is so nice. The spare tire is a full sized, regular tire that is under the floor of the trunk. There's a little extra room around it so I can put a car kit back there as well. The top cover can be removed and slides into the backseat, but we'll plan on keeping it up for the most part. I had also looked at an LR3 that had the optional 3rd row seating... but the more we think about our future, the less likely having more than 3 kids seems. If we decide to further expand our family past 3 kids then we'll cross that vehicle bridge when we come to it.

Yes, this is my mom-mobile. I love it.

As soon as I saw it online (thanks so much Kelley Blue Book and Autotrader.com for all your assistance in my car search) I couldn't help but think, "I'd look good in that!". Matt agreed. And yes, it is true. I do look rather good driving around. I love having a safe vehicle to drive my son around in and it looks just sporty enough, but still looks like a Mom-car. Not mini-van, mind you, but mommy-ish.

Love.It.