Refusing to drive on a motorway/long distance in a Fiat 500?

So the OP doesn’t want to do lifts due to drinking? Well that changes things a bit! Surely no car is safe to drive after a tipple or two.

Except it isn’t just about drinking to his house. She also does t want to have to drink her son to school….the school that she choose.

I think if she didn’t put the fear in the post and asked if she was unreasonable to not drive their child to see him because he chose to move away I think the vast majority would be agreeing it’s his job to make the journey both ways. What she did was give him an excuse to say she’s being unreasonable

Why can't you get them both in the back? I have a Fiat 500 and managed to get two car seats in, including one rear facing. Means the passenger seat has to be quite far forward but fine if you don't have a passenger!

This might be a situation OP where taking the attitude of “I’m going to show myself how resilient I am, I CAN do this, it’s not a big deal at all, I do not need ex-dh to provide a fancy car for me” will reap rewards in terms of confidence. Don’t allow yourself to feel hard done by- even if the situation (that we don’t know anything about) suggests it. Crack on with being fabulous and bossing your own life.

On the experience of several friends who’ve purchased new range rovers and land rovers and had serious problems. Indeed, I am currently in France with a friend who has a Defender. We drove in separate cars me from Italy, her from the U.K.. The Defender broke down yesterday and my friend is returning to the UK by train, because Land Rover in France cannot fix the car due to parts not being available for 5 weeks. So, I think my comment is warranted. Your experience might be fine of course :)

30 minutes???? Thats less than most people commute to work.

It is known for its less than reliable reputation oil and electronics are the two culprits

What car seat is your youngest in? Could you afford to upgrade to something that might fit better behind you?

definitely stick rear facing, but they should also be fine in the front! Why isn’t ex collecting and dropping them back off to you?

What Car reliability rankings had them pretty low down initially, but to be fair they have improved and new models are doing reallly well.

Lol local road to me blocked today by a broken down defender

Yeah, there's some very odd ideas on this thread about big cars being good and small cars being bad. The thing is, just about anything on the road now that's looked after properly and has an MOT, is going to be perfectly safe enough and adequate enough to cope with 99.9% of the roads in the UK, even in quite bad conditions.

My car has el-cheapo tyres on it of the sort petrolheads sneer at, and I've still never had any trouble.

To be fair a Defender is probably a terrible car to be in on a motorway, as it’s more likely than most brands to break down,

What are you basing this on? My Defender has been great

To be fair a Defender is probably a terrible car to be in on a motorway, as it’s more likely than most brands to break down, and the last place you want to be stuck with children is the hard shoulder! Then of course the fact that in accidents SUVs are more likely to roll over, and child seats aren’t really designed for that scenario, also makes them good but not great at protecting occupants

I replied to the original question......did i read all posts. I did not.....thank you so very much for pointing out my lack of thought.

So why is she complaining then? If the kids are closer to him. Why isn't he picking them up from school dropping them off then she picks them up and drops them in her visiting times. I had the impression she was doing all the travelling......from the original post....I don't like drip feeding. Get to the point.

I do! I'm in the northern/western Lakes (and/or North Pennines/Howgills) very regularly, and live in the North York Moors where 25% hills are not uncommon. So I know full well that talk of small cars being unable to cope with the roads you find there is complete tosh; I've been over all the main passes in a Yaris so many times I could do it with my eyes shut.

I drive in the Highlands regularly in a small car, as I've already stated. Never had any issues.

Take it you regularly drive in the Lake District, oh wonderwoman?

You don't need fantastic driving skills to manage a couple of hills and a motorway in a Fiat 500, anyone can do that.

Isn't it amazing how all the wonderwomen with small cars and fantastic driving skills have congregated on this thread?

It's as if they just want to give the OP a good kicking for having made regrettable choices and being left without money.

Shameful

I've got an automatic and even in the 2 low gears they give you, it's not easy especially when you meet someone coming downhill, in winter

Well, I'm not an anxious driver, been driving up & down the country for 40 odd years and wasn't too keen! It's when you meet someone coming downhill when you're going uphill and they won't give way. Once you stop, it's a bastard to get going again

I drive to Italy and back in mine almost every year!

Thinking back to traversing the whole of the UK in an 800cc VW Polo in the 90s...

@CheeseSandwich1 how much time are they spending at your ex's? Is he willing to have them more? If he has them 50/50 or more it removes the risk of having their school place withdrawn, takes away the maintenance issue and means that you won't have to drive so much.