As young parents, you want lots of space, good value and (if possible) some fun. With these ten cars, you can have it all.

Your child's first encounter with cars will be powered by a BMW V8. :

E39 M5, because it's a beast that will get you very far away very quickly when you need it. And you can tell the wife it's a practical sedan with a large trunk (and built-in windowshades!).

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9.) Jeep Wrangler

It looks just like a toy car, but can go much further. Adventures are guaranteed. :

It's got space for everybody in the family and your stuff. It's going to take you on all your adventures. Your kids will love you for owning a Jeep because let's face it, they're just damn cool. The DOORS COME OFF!!!

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8.) Honda Element

Suicide doors, plastic covers and an interior you could wash using an elephant. can't help himself:

I hate this thing, but doors that open the whole damn thing up and an interior you can spray down.

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7.) Mitsubishi Evo IX

It's a four-wheel drive sedan with a trunk and an interior you don't worry about. I doesn't have to be used as a rally car all the time, but it's good to know that it can be.

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Both my kids came home from the hospital in one of these. I'm conviced they'll be better human beings because of it.

In all seriousness (mostly), the Evo is pretty roomy inside, far better than out Mk IV Jetta. I was able to score some Bilstein shocks and struts from a later MR model and replaced the harsher stock KYB units with them. I may be a fanatic, but I'm not a monster.

Extra benefit: If your kid can sleep in an Evo, they can sleep ANYWHERE.

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There is no best car. There is the cars that work for you at the time. Our kids are 7 and 4. For the entire time they have been with us we've had my 2003 Evo and my wife's 2005 Mini Cooper S. They have worked out just fine 99.998% of the time. Would we like something bigger every once in a while? Sure. Does it make sense to buy something bigger for those rare occasions where we need one more seat? No. We just take both cars.

The Evo's truck was big enough for the huge two seat stroller we used for a summer (waste of money). No SUV or minivan required.

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6.) Toyota Sienna

It will work as a family car. The challenge is to make it cool somehow. :

I know the typical "Jalop" thing is to hate Toyota because beige. But for a family hauler. The Sienna is it. From what I've seen when driving them, it's better than the Odyssey in the looks department, it's got more room, and build quality I think is just a bit higher. And you still have something relatively "sporty" looking without that weird dipbehing the rear door like the Oddy has. That and if you ignore the door handle on the sliding door, it almost looks like a normal door. Not to mention it's a damn comfortable ride.

And let's face it. For new parents... It doesn't have to be flashy or great. You've already hooked the fish and reeled it in. You don't really need to cast your line out again.

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5.) Buick Roadmaster

It costs nothing, has plenty of room and can be a woody. The one true answer.

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4.) Scion xB

It's a cube on wheels that's still funky. :

Stupidly reliable, great gas mileage, TONS of room. It's still cool (YES IT IS, SHUT UP), so the parent's wont feel bad. Plus it'll last until the kid's 16 and then they can take over.

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3.) BMW 3 Series wagon

Get it with the leather, that's easy to clean. Having kids shouldn't mean you can't have nice things anymore. :

Just ditched my 350Z for one since I have a kid coming in 6 months, couldn't be more pleased with it.

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2.) Mazda5

A minivan with the biggest smile you've ever seen. You'll be smiling too. :

Sliding doors for ease of getting car seats and crap in and out, small and sporty, good on gas so you can spend the savings on diapers and formula.

PLUS, no one calls it a mini-van (though technically it are one), so you avoid that stigmata. Wife and I had one when our kids were non-walkers, and it was great at what it did. OH, and the large low cargo area for diaper changes on the go was nice.

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1.) Volvo V60 R-Design

Before the French invented minivans, humanity had these Volvo wagons, and we all grew up just fine.

These new ones are also pretty fast.

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Welcome back to Answers of the Day - our daily Jalopnik feature where we take the best ten responses from the previous day's Question of the Day and shine it up to show off. It's by you and for you, the Jalopnik readers. Enjoy!

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