Me or DH! My car...

[myfingersarenotsogreen]

So DH, DCs 5 &3 and Me are supposed to be going away for half term to a self catering place about 5 hours drive away tomorrow. Yesterday DHs car (family size hatchback) packed up. It is at the garage and they will phone us at lunchtime to see if it can be fixed in time...

I suggested we might be able to go in mine - a Nissan Micra but DH has refused and wants to hire one... but we now find there is no availability locally. I raised my car again wanting to discuss pros and cons but he was just rude to me!

I know mine is small, its a town car and not great at long motorway trips but AIBU to say that it has air-con, a decent radio and is actually running?

Can't the garage offer a courtesy car? Obviously they normally only do this for the length of time the repair takes so maybe they won't let you as you will be away longer than the repair will take - but if you explain the circumstances they might be able to help.

Failing that, if there are no hire cars available locally, then there really only is the option to go in the Micra or not go at all.
Or one of you could go on the train with one of the children so there are fewer people in the car.
Or you go next week when the car is fixed losing a couple of days of holiday but it can't be help.

Your 'd'H sounds like a twat. He should be able to calmly discuss options with you without being rude to you.

I used to regularly do long trips in a Nissan Micra - 5-9 hours was no problem. Only had one child though, and we know how to pack light, but certainly no issue with space. I think the front actually had more headroom than my current estate car.

5 hours is not that much, stop half way for lunch.

I did a road trip across Europe with 2 young kids and DH in a Fiat 500 for fun, it was absolutely fine, just needed to be super organised with the luggage, but everything fitted.

Is it some sort of macho willy-waving thing, do you think? Doesn’t want other men to see him driving a small car? Some men can be weird about stuff like that.

I’m a fully functional female and I wouldn’t get in a Nissan micra for 5 minutes, much less 5 hours.

Why on earth would you hire a car when you have a car available?? Nothing wrong with a Micra. Dont get it! However if he wants to pay for something else, let him - mans an idiot!

Do you have a lot you need to take?

We have a 9yo and 2yo (so similar to you but with one less car seat), and we take my car for self-catering which is a Seat Leon estate with a huge boot. It's still a bloody struggle getting everything in it, so I wouldn't take anything smaller.

I agree that its silly to not use your car as it's available. However I have a car with a low break horse power and I find it painful driving on motorways. I really notice the lack of power when my car is full of passengers and struggle to get up to speed and overtake. Could that be what he is worried about? Next time I'm getting a car with a bigger engine.

YANBU He is. Perfectly reasonable to go in your car under the circumstances.

I'd hire a car.
I'd hate to be crammed into a little Micra for 5 hours, especially if you have to travel on motorways. You'll feel every bump and get buffeted about in the wind. If you have 4 people in it there is little space for luggage.

Go for comfort. You have a family so need a family-sized car for holidays.

When I owned a micra briefly I wouldn’t have liked to use it to try to pack for a family holiday.

I think for everyones comfort if you can arrange and afford a hire car it would make for a much comfier trip

Oh just go in the Micra! My husband used to have a stupidly expensive sporty estate car, that yes was perfect in size but did 28mpg, when we used to do long journeys I would often refuse to pay the fuel and demand we all (4 of us) go in my KA instead. The tracking and shock absorbers needed replacing ha but was fine, needless to say we have something a bit more economical now!!

(and just to add we did use it once to drive to the airport with suitcases for a week away! I guess it depends if you can fit your stuff.

Go further afield to hire a car, the next major city or the nearest airport.

You're not going to be able to go fast on a motorway at the start of half term whatever horsepower you've got! You'll probably also spend a lot less in fuel too. You just have to plan your packing carefully. He's being an idiot.

What is your husband suggesting OP? That you cancel the trip?

I’m a fully functional female and I wouldn’t get in a Nissan micra for 5 minutes, much less 5 hours

WTAF? Why not?

It's not Willy waving or any other claptrap if sitting in a micra is going to end up with cramp.

I used to drive a Daewoo Maria at 800cc it was ok for the daily commute and cheap as chips.

But for long journeys I insisted on a car with space and a seat that gave adequate support to my back or I spent a day with back pain ruining the holiday. Hence I paid for a hire car.

You'll feel every bump and get buffeted about in the wind. What utter utter shit. Small cars don't automatically ride badly or wander any more than larger ones.

Are you talking about a circa 2002 style Micra:
www.google.ie/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwiAspHa7LPiAhWPQRUIHdOwCDgQjRx6BAgBEAU&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FNissan_Micra&psig=AOvVaw1CwyezBAzE1DiZV3_kZ8nj&ust=1558776386060727
or one of their more recent models:
www.google.ie/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwijsZ7x7LPiAhWUrHEKHf8OCBwQjRx6BAgBEAU&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.carmagazine.co.uk%2Fcar-reviews%2Fnissan%2Fnissan-micra-2017-review%2F&psig=AOvVaw3t3nSdH5_f6jEHZYuMGKFF&ust=1558776438133614

(hope those links work)
If it's the former, I'd go with hiring a car (and I speak as someone who owned a 3 door Micra from 1998, so would have been one of those models).
If it's the latter, then your DH is talking out of the top of his head!

I think he's mad to try and spend yet more money if your car works and is reliable. Pack smart and you'll be fine in a micra. It'll be a squeeze, but it can definitely be done. We've done loads of self-catering family holidays and camping festivals with two kids in our old car, which was a teeny polo, and it's definitely doable. I recommend vacuum bags for everything you can possibly squash down (I pack an air bed pump to use on the car packs for the return journey), and if the place has a washing machine plan to make use of that. Good luck!

We drive a focus estate now, have done for nearly three years, it's still a novelty that the kids have legroom and we don't have to take out the parcel shelf!

When you say that his is a family hatchback, am I right in thinking VW Golf or similar size? How big do hatchbacks actually get? If so, is the Micra so much smaller that it makes it worth paying to hire another Golf-sized car and leave a perfectly fine one at home?

If his car had been a big estate or people carrier - and your normal holiday habits, plans and packing had become geared around that - I'd see his point; but, unless I'm missing something, isn't a hatchback already a pretty compact car anyway?

I suppose his could have a significantly bigger engine than yours, but otherwise, however high-spec and luxurious it might be in comparison, the ride comfort can't be that much different as this is usually only significantly improved by using a longer wheelbase and bigger chassis to start with.

WTAF? Why not?

Underpowered, uncomfortable and almost exclusively driven by people that can’t drive.

You might have to compromise on what you take, but believe me I'd still be going. We have a Nissan Note, so a little bigger than your car, but we find ourselves squeezed in there with a tent, sleeping bags, pillows, food, cooking stuff, picnic cars, clothes, but we do it because we want the end result - a much wanted break.

THe first link is to the Nissan Micra Wikipedia page and it's the K11 model I'm referring to.

you just have to restrict what you are taking, its doable, kids are in car seats so there is room for baggage in footwells at the back and a bag of stuff between them. Then a bag of clothes for kids a suitcase between you and DH and a box of essentials for house, enough for meal one and brekkie and you are done. If you need a stroller (mine didn't at 3) then umbrella one on the bottom.

I think he just needs to get over himself