[Notes] Farewell, CX-60. I am falling into the minivan life
Hello, everyone.
This is Mimikyu.
As the title says, I am changing cars.
From a Mazda CX-60 to a Nissan Serena.
I had quite a lot of inner conflict before reaching this decision.
It might sound dramatic, but I believe that for a man, choosing a car is a matter related to his identity.
The CX-60 was a truly great car.
The torque of the diesel engine, that solid driving feel, the acceleration when merging onto the highway, and the sturdy, SUV-like presence.
For someone like me who sometimes drives 200 kilometers a day for work, a car that doesn't make me tired while driving was a true partner.
So why am I letting it go?
Because we now have two children.
It really comes down to just that.
When you put two child seats side-by-side in the back of the CX-60, there is no room for anything else.
Once you load a stroller into the trunk, there is no place for shopping bags. If my wife tries to take care of the kids in the back seat, she can't move.
And of course, there is no space to change a diaper.
The other day, on the way home from a family outing, our older child threw up in the car. My wife tried to clean it up from the back seat, but she couldn't turn her body while wedged between the child seats, so I ended up pulling over to the shoulder and handling it from the outside.
At that moment, I realized, 'This car is impossible for raising two kids.'
My wife had suggested, 'Why don't we get a minivan?' several times before. Each time, I brushed it off, saying, 'It's still fine.'
It wasn't fine. It was not fine at all.
That was one more 'I told you so' from my wife.
The reason I chose the Serena is simple: because my wife said, 'This is the one.'
When we test-drove it, the look on my wife's face when she opened the sliding door on the second row said it all.
'It's spacious.'
It's only two words, but those two words contained everything I couldn't get with the CX-60.
Since it has a third row, we can also take my parents along when we go out.
This also solves the problem when we visit my wife's family farm.
However, I will be honest.
I still have some resistance to driving a minivan.
I remember teasing a friend when he bought an Alphard in his 20s, saying, 'So you've finally become a family car guy.'
I want to punch my past self.
I want to tell him that he'll be following the same path in a few years.
Come to think of it, my own father drove a Skyline when he was single, but the moment I was born, he switched to a Stepwgn.
The father I saw in photos with the Skyline looked incredibly cool.
The father with the Stepwgn was just a dad.
Is this fate?
Do all fathers in the world go down this path?
Does the irreversible transformation from SUV to minivan trigger in proportion to the number of children?
Does the door to the sliding door open the moment the second child is born?
Looking at X, I felt a little relieved to see so many fathers struggling with the same conflict.
'From CX-5 to Noah,' 'From Harrier to Stepwgn,' 'From Levorg to Serena.'
It seems everyone follows the same path.
The one thing that all the posts from senior dads had in common was this:
"Once you switch, you never want to go back to an SUV."
Apparently, convenience wins by a landslide.
Is that really true?
Will the acceleration and design of the CX-60 all be defeated by a sliding door?
Well, come to think of it, a car is a means of transportation, not a tool for self-expression.
A space where my children are safe and my wife is comfortable is 100 times more important than the pleasure of driving.
The fact that I'm 32 and only just realizing such an obvious thing shows that I am still immature.
Delivery is scheduled for next month.
I only have a little time left with the CX-60.
I thought about taking it for one last drive on the highway by myself, but
my wife told me that if I have that time, I should spend it at the park with the kids.
It was such a logical argument that I couldn't say a word.
Serena, I'm counting on you.
There is probably a new view waiting beyond those sliding doors.