Quinny or Bugaboo? Or another you an recommend?

[Qally]

We live in a city, no car. We'll be using the buggy to get around town, and walk the dog in the park once the baby's too heavy for a sling. The problem is that our hallway is REALLY narrow, and a friend's Quinny was a struggle to navigate into it last year, as the wallpaper bears witness. The Quinny is about 12 cm wider than a Bugaboo, I'm feeling a bit fraught at the idea of precision driving the wheels with a baby, dog, and shopping. And Bugaboos seem to hold their value brilliantly on Ebay, plus DH is 6 ft 3", so a long handle is useful. But the Bugaboo is eye-wateringly expensive. I'm wary of fashion bumping up prices; everything else we're getting (bar cot mattress and car seat) is second hand. But I was impressed by the Quinny and the Bugaboo in the shops, and the Quinny is too wide.

I don't want a 3 wheeler as they're a hassle to steer IMO, and the Micralite looks too small for a 6 month old to lie down and sleep in.

Help? This stuff is so confusing, and I don't want to make a very expensive mistake.

i was the same. i was going to buy a buzz but then someone said that they were crap & to go for a bug so i did & wow its lovely. i'm very impressed with it, i can push it one handed with a toddler on the buggy board as well as a 4 month in the pushchair. they are pricey new but you can pick up good bargins 2nd hand. i sold my frog for £220 as i got a new cam so they are out there at a good price.

Might be helpful if you said which Quinny - they make several.

Don't know why you say a 3 wheeler is harder to steer. My Mountain Buggy Urban (which would almost certainly be too wide for you, so am not actually recommending it here) is the easiest pushchair in the world to steer - I can do it with one finger.

Have you tried folding down a Bugaboo - notoriously difficult?

i looove my mb urban. its steers like pushing air lol.

qunny buzz is wide.

do u use the bus? if so, then folding down the bugaboo wikll be a bugger.

another member of the mountain buggy fanclub. honestly, it's lovely (i miss mine as gave it to my sil). the urban is very easy to steer indeed, with the swivel wheel.

bug is easy to fold !!! I love it no better pram to push. Buy off ebay is my tip or ask on mn if anyone selling. Half the price

If you use public transport I'd look at the bugaboo bee, the MB is lovely however I do love my frog it is fab!

I dont know if you've seen this thread bee for some chat on the bugaboo bee recently. I plumped for this (before I discovered bugaboo's were either loved or hated ) because it's light, seems easy to fold, I dont always have the car etc.

Incidentally, there's lots of chat about whether a toddler can fit in it ok; I've not put mine to use yet (I'm not due till June) but when I was in John Lewis the other day the sales assistant sat in the bee to demonstrate that if she could fit in it a toddler would.

I had a Micralite Fastfold, with the carrycot, I loved it, but I do agree after the carrycot is out of use, the buggy itself is not quite as good, but they have since brought out the Toro, with a proper reclining seat.

I loved the Buzz, but read some reviews and decided against it, but again since then they have brought out a new version of it, don't know if that is any better or not though.

I have a bit of a hatred for anything Bugaboo, I really do not see the big thing them. I did really try to, went to shop tried them out for a bit, but I just don't get it.

I've no experience of the Mountain Buggy, the look of it always put me off, but have since heard a lot of good things about them.

Out of the buggies mentioned here, I'd go for the Micralite Toro, it's light, easy to steer, it is great off road, easy to fold, it's as practical as the others mentioned, and it is quite cheap compared to the others.

I'd go for a Bee or a Maclaren XLR - both nice and narrow. The Bee rear-faces which is nice, and I think both take a car seat. There seem to be quite a lot of Bees on ebay at the mo.

If your park is 'off-road' it may be worth also getting a cheapy second hand 3-wheeler with big tyres if you have somewhere to store it for non everyday use. Mountain Buggy Terrains are great (and have lots of seat space for toddlers) but a bit pricey even second hand. There are cheaper options, eg Mothercare Urban Detour.

If you look after them then sell them on it doesn't work out too expensive overall.

i have both a buzz and a cameleon at the moment and im selling the buzz. great buggy really is but i love the cam had it once sold it regretted it and now i have another

Get the new bugaboo that folds down as one unit. The older models need the seat removed from the chassis before you can fold it and it is a complete faff. One of the reasons ours was sold!

oooh xlr good too but only rear facing with car seat

bee hmmmm im just not sure?

mountain buggy is a definate on my list when i get fed up of staring at dd2 as its not rear facing as a puschair

one of the best easiest buggys i had was a m&p pramette with dd1 cosy looks good and easy fold etc

3wheelers are good but the quinny buzz just doesnt feel as sturdy as most and definately not so against my cameleon

the cameleon is easyto fold onec you know how! but not the best if you have to keep folding up and down. i used mine ok in london and brighton as it fits in the big taxis easily too without folding

We won't be using buses, nope! (I'm lucky - I live in centralish Cambridge, which is a very walkable city indeed.) Train sometimes, but there's a lot more storage there. I didn't have any problems folding the Bugaboo in John Lewis, though I loved the Quinny's bouncing up ability. I don't know which Quinny it was, but it was a good pushchair, just really wide. I did have a look at the Bee, but it seemed really flimsy, especially as we're going to be using an Amby rather than a cot the first six months or so, and so the pram will be the downstairs sleep-area for the earliest months.

I also can't remember what the three-wheeler was called - but it just wasn't as manoevrable. It steered well, and for my Mum's place in Shropshire it would be freaking wonderful, but the turning circle was a lot bigger and as I'm dealing with really narrow streets (so narrow cars have to be able to legally park on the pavements to make them passable - and the pavements are under 4 feet wide) that's a major issue.

My current thinking is that I buy new and sell on after about 18 months, when I can get a cheapie McClaren and the buggy still has some guarantee left to run which should reassure buyers. Less than 2 year old ones seem to fetch more, so we'd lose more resale value on one after it's say 4 years old (plus they may bring out a newer) and I'm wary of buying any big-ticket item without a guarantee. Does that sound at all sensible? I'm also pondering calling up John Lewis and asking if we can arrange to buy their ex-display model from them - they didn't look especially battered about, no more than they will be after a month with us, anyway, and they'd still have that precious guarantee.

i would say bugaboo definately. the quinny buzz is what you have explained and i have now just sold that as i don't find it steers as well as the cameleon and doresnt feel as sturdy. also like you say it is wide.

the bugaboo will be great with the carrycot too.

you also get a better re sale price with them

If you are a walker, a Bugaboo is hard to beat - and then sell for a Maclaren around 18 mts as you say.
I'm a London walker, we keep maclaren in the boot but Bugaboo everywhere else - she's nearly 2 and she loves facing me and chatting away.