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- [00:04]
Kelly
Welcome to the carpool podcast with Kelly. The thing is, it's not my kids that would bother me. It would be my husband. He's so difficult to take grocery shopping. He buys the most out of pocket stupid things and he tries to buy so many of them. Like if we like are out of ketchup, he'll try to buy like four bottles of ketchup. And I'm like, Tyler, what are we gonna do with this? I'm storing four bottles of ketchup. And Liz, your mom. Time off starts.
- [00:32]
Samantha Taylor
Welcome back to the carpool podcast with Kelly and Sam.
- [00:36]
Kelly
Samantha Taylor from Mama Knows Car Seats is co hosting. You're not even here as a guest, so like, I hope you're not looking to relax. No. You're like, you're not being interviewed. Like you're gonna equally help me carry this conversation to deliver these people a 40 minute episode.
- [00:52]
Samantha Taylor
Equal is big. So let's hope I can rise to the occasion.
- [00:56]
Kelly
Elizabeth is still with child at the time of this recording.
- [01:00]
Samantha Taylor
Yes.
- [01:01]
Kelly
But we'll see.
- [01:04]
Samantha Taylor
Hopefully not by the time you're listening to it.
- [01:06]
Kelly
Maybe not by the time you're listening to it, but as of now, she is not in labor. We really thought last time we were all at my parents house, it was my dad's birthday. Like it was so giving the night.
- [01:17]
Samantha Taylor
Yeah.
- [01:18]
Kelly
You know, we were all there like, you know, she's so pregnant and nothing happened. I know. I'm so ready. She's so ready to be done, but she's just like resting because the doctor was like, you need to relax. Like your body's not gonna go into labor until you're relaxed.
- [01:39]
Samantha Taylor
You know, I have heard that before. I will say every time I've given labor or gone into labor on my own, I was just doing the most. I walked like miles around the zoo one time. I was swimming with my toddler all day the other time and I was like, man, I really need to rest so I can be prepared to go into labor and then surprise. It was baby time. So I don't know about that advice.
- [01:59]
Kelly
I think you can either go to it. I think you can stress yourself out into labor or I think you can relax your way into labor. I think it's kind of. Or sometimes you just can't do anything. Yeah. So Samantha has four children. Kind of a similar in age to my children.
- [02:15]
Samantha Taylor
Yeah, yeah. Seven, six, three and baby. I mean, I call him a baby. He's still a baby. He's not walking yet. That's baby, right?
- [02:24]
Kelly
Yeah, but he's over One. So I think he is. I think he's in a toddler.
- [02:28]
Samantha Taylor
Okay, no, no, Stop. Stop right there.
- [02:30]
Kelly
Sorry. Whatever you want, that's fine. And Sam is so. She's Mama's Car Seats over on Instagram. She's also a huge part of the Car Mom Team. Like, she is the left side. If she's part of my brain, Matt's part of my brain. But we're kind of all just like one big brain over here at the Car Mom Team.
- [02:48]
Samantha Taylor
Big brain energy.
- [02:49]
Kelly
There is no one smarter than about car seats than Samantha Taylor.
- [02:55]
Samantha Taylor
You're so sweet.
- [02:57]
Kelly
Well, fine. I'm not trying to be sweet. Find me someone and I'll be like, oh, no, they know more than you. Like, I've never met anybody who understands the cars and the car seats as good as Sam. So once I got whiff of that, we had to kind of poach her. And now she's. Now she's on Team Car Mom.
- [03:13]
Samantha Taylor
Absolutely.
- [03:15]
Kelly
So anyway, today's episode, we're just going to kind of catch up. I haven't told you or anyone about the Kentucky truck plant, which you would have loved it.
- [03:25]
Samantha Taylor
I was refreshing your stories, like, every second. And I had that, like, embarrassing moments like, oh, she uploaded this 23 seconds ago. Like, I almost want to swipe away and come back in a minute or two. Because that's how obsessed I was following you at the plant. Okay.
- [03:41]
Kelly
And then there's kind of been some major car news, specifically some car car seat news. There's kind of an article that's going viral because Cars.com released their best cars for car seats. And Sam and I plan on basically poking holes in the entire study. Then after. In. During industry news. Sorry, we're not. We're really not trying to be rude, but we're just a little protective over car and car seat information that gets speed on the Internet. And one thing about us is we're not here to be clickbaity. We could actually stand to be more clickbaity. We'd be more successful, but we won't do it. So we're going to talk about that. We're also talking about the Tesla model Y L because, like, that's something that I'm excited about.
- [04:20]
Samantha Taylor
Very.
- [04:22]
Kelly
We can talk about the Kia Telluride press car. I think it's gonna kind of be like a very carry episode. Like, I think we're gonna kind of check our box to stay on the auto charts today.
- [04:29]
Samantha Taylor
Thank goodness. Gotta get that in a couple times a month.
- [04:33]
Kelly
So I tell her, and I went to the Kentucky truck plant this past week, which is the largest truck plant in the world, which was kind of a fun fact for me. Yep. And it's. So this. This plant, it's one of the oldest plants in the country, too. And it's where they build all the super duty trucks. So F250 and above. They don't build F150s there, but F250s and above, and it's where they build all the expeditions and the navigators.
- [05:01]
Samantha Taylor
Oh, wow.
- [05:04]
Kelly
So we got to go see. So once I. Once Ford found out that I ordered an expedition, they were like, hey, send us your vin number. We're going to track your expedition, like, as it's being buil built. And then we want you to come to the plant to, like, see it come and roll off the line. And I'm like, well, that's, like, so cool.
- [05:22]
Samantha Taylor
They've never done that before. Right? Like, that is a car mom exclusive.
- [05:26]
Kelly
It is a carom exclusive. I wish it was something they could offer to more people. But no, like, they. I, like, don't think the plant has a lot of visitors, because I'm telling you, like, people were gooped and gagged. The fact that, like, we were there, like, everyone was coming up to us, taking a picture. All the factory workers were, like, waving to me as they saw me. Like, I think the whole plan was, like, so happy to have some outside people there. But. So, yes, we drove down to Kentucky. It was only about four and a half hours from St. Louis, so very easy drive. And it was such an incredible tour. I've never. I've never seen anything like it. I've never seen vehicles be built before. It was. It was so. It's, like, genuinely hard to. It was, like, hard to explain. It felt like Monsters Inc. With, like, the doors.
- [06:20]
Samantha Taylor
Yes.
- [06:20]
Kelly
But instead of, like, children's doors, they were, like, vehicle doors. Because he'd be like. And it was just so cool to see. I. I was expecting it to be like, okay, so they, you know, they are building all white platinum expeditions today. And, like, that's not the case. Like, the navigators and the expeditions are built on the exact same line. Oh. And then all the app trucks are built on the exact same line. But, like, it's. I mean, they have Max's short wheelbase, different trims, different colors, like, all coming across the line at different times.
- [06:49]
Samantha Taylor
That's not what I would have imagined.
- [06:50]
Kelly
No, I agree. So they do a lot of, I guess, like, obviously organization, because when they were putting on the split tailgates, which was one of the coolest things to see. They had just like, trays and trays and trays of split tailgates in different colors. Because, like, they know which colors are coming. And so, like, they're all in order. But yeah, that was. That was really, really cool. And then they also showed us some of the testing that they do. So, like, one of the tests they do is they take a car and put it on this track that makes the car go 70 miles an hour, but, like, it's not going anywhere. And then they also do. Which is one of the things I gotta do. I was actually gotta be the first person to do it in my expedition is they go on this outdoor track that has, like all these, like, crazy different. I don't know, like, areas, like, I'm talking, like, cobblestones, rocks. You go over all these, like, really bumpy things, and they're listening for, like, any rattles or shakes. They do 900 drives on this track a day.
- [07:50]
Samantha Taylor
Oh, my gosh. I mean, I guess that makes sense, but I never envisioned that that was something that they did at the plant.
- [07:57]
Kelly
So they took us all over. There wasn't as many robots as I was thinking either. Like, there was one robot named King Kong who, like, I don't know what he did. He did something. He picked up the entire frame of the car, which they did. Tell me that an Expedition has a much. Has as much aluminum as 25,000 Diet Coke cans.
- [08:16]
Samantha Taylor
That's crazy.
- [08:17]
Kelly
Which felt like a good. Just felt like a good stat to put in my back pocket.
- [08:21]
Samantha Taylor
I mean, aluminum sounds and is lightweight, but at what point? Like 25,000. How much does that weigh? That's got to be a lot, right? Right.
- [08:33]
Kelly
So then I didn't know. So Ford told me that my car wasn't going to be ready. And they told me that because I guess. So I got the Stealth performance package, which includes a black painted roof. But they don't paint the roof there, which I thought was kind of interesting. They have to send it, I think, to Detroit. Oh. Or maybe it's not Detroit, but they have to send it out to get the roof painted black on any of the Stealth packages. So I was like, oh, okay. So in that kind of. I was kind of bummed at that because I haven't seen a white on black Stealth completely done yet. Like, I haven't seen one on the road at all. And so I was like, dang. Like, I really wanted to, like to see it, like, in completion also. It's just, like, been better for the lore. I was like, okay, this is really mine.
- [09:15]
Samantha Taylor
A bummer.
- [09:16]
Kelly
So they totally had me like pulling my leg. And then we pull up to like the last part of the tour where it's just where we're gonna go drive them over all these cobblestones. And I was like, that looks like that is a white on black stealth edition. Like, so it was like they were being kind of awkward about it, but I'm like, so is this mine? Because like you told me like we were gonna go see mine after this. And then I got. And then they obviously had like that plaque there that said, like, especially made for that.
- [09:40]
Samantha Taylor
The car mom that was calling at my heartstrings. I'm like, stop. What a special surprise. And for you to have no idea that it was even yours until that moment. Oh, I'm so glad you got it on camera.
- [09:52]
Kelly
I know. I was really, I mean, Tyler really kind of like MVP cameraman. Like, Tyler filmed everything. Tell her film A plus everything. Like, he doesn't put the camera down.
- [10:01]
Samantha Taylor
And you would have thought Liz was there. Like, he did a great job.
- [10:05]
Kelly
He did. He did do a good job. So then they took us to like this really cool room. And I gotta have like an hour with my car to make all the content. So I filmed a long form video. I filmed a couple short, short reels, took some pictures of her. Like, she was just. It was just such a pinch me entire day. And she should be in this week, which is very exciting.
- [10:24]
Samantha Taylor
That was my next question. I would say you can't be away from her for too long now.
- [10:30]
Kelly
I know I am ready for her. This was. It was just a really big deal. I did buy the car. People were confused about that. Like, I wish before to not give me a car.
- [10:39]
Samantha Taylor
No, that's crazy talk.
- [10:42]
Kelly
No, no, no, no, no, no. I am paying for it. And I'm. I don't know, I'm just jazzed. I'm happy. I waited to get the 27 though, because I don't think you could actually get the bench in the Stealth until 27 for sure. Not in 25. They might have brought it in 26. But it is my dream specked out car. Like, truthfully, it's something that I've been wanting. I've wanted this car for so long. So now to like have it almost home. I think I'm gonna name her Pandy.
- [11:11]
Samantha Taylor
Oh, stop. That's so cute.
- [11:13]
Kelly
I like it because it's like black and white and like Hattie loves Gabby's dollhouse. So like, I Think her name is gonna be Pandy.
- [11:18]
Samantha Taylor
Pandy. That's cute.
- [11:19]
Kelly
Pinch on my left. Pinch. Pinch on my right.
- [11:23]
Samantha Taylor
Hold on tight.
- [11:24]
Kelly
There's something there. So, yeah, it was awesome. It was hard to come back to mine, but mine will be available for sale in the next couple of weeks, so if you are in the same loads area, it will be listed at BMW of West St. Louis, about 68, 000 miles. It is a 23. I do drive a lot, but it's got the bench Limited Max Black with like the reddish brown seats.
- [11:49]
Samantha Taylor
She's nice.
- [11:50]
Kelly
Just letting you know. I can throw some. I can throw some merchant PR in the trunk if you'd like.
- [11:55]
Samantha Taylor
There you go.
- [11:56]
Kelly
I really haven't. I really haven't had any issues with it, so. But yeah, so we'll see. So. Because people were like, I hope you're honest about if you have any issues. It's like, guys, it's. Of course I'm gonna be honest.
- [12:07]
Samantha Taylor
I paid for it. Me. Hello, Nothing. But honestly, I'm still waiting to hear how the transition goes from the not max to the regular size trunk. I. I do think you'll be fine, but I fear there will be a little bit of an adjustment period.
- [12:24]
Kelly
People are really concerned about that. For me, I'm so unfazed by it. I'm telling you. I'm just not. We're. I'm kind of on my travel stroller grind. If I'm even bringing a stroller. Like, it's just. We're not. I used a stroller so much when I had an infant, but now we just don't. I mean, Fred, I mean, I don't know about your kids, but, like, my kids don't want to sit in them.
- [12:46]
Samantha Taylor
No, no, not at all.
- [12:47]
Kelly
Frequently bringing the stroller just to push it. To push an empty stroller and then carry a kid, like, that's the life I'm living right now.
- [12:54]
Samantha Taylor
Oh, it's not an empty stroller. It has the water bottles and the other crap in the basket. And you know what? That's what matters. I have something to push my stuff.
- [13:02]
Kelly
The kids can walk, but I still can fit. I mean, I still can fit a full size mockingbird in the third row of the Expedition for sure. The split tailgate actually helps a lot with like giving you more trunk space because it keeps things in place. Like, you're not having to like, do the hold and try to close really quickly.
- [13:20]
Samantha Taylor
Yes, the Holden Jackson.
- [13:22]
Kelly
Would I be able to go to the grocery store and bring my stroller? Probably not. But, like, why would I bring my shoulder to the grocery store?
- [13:27]
Samantha Taylor
Yeah.
- [13:28]
Kelly
First of all, I'm not trying to take my kids to the grocery store anymore. I'm such. I'm so on my grocery pickup grind right now. Like, I'm obsessed with grocery pickup.
- [13:37]
Samantha Taylor
This is where we couldn't be more different. It is my favorite weekly family activity. We all go to the grocery store together. I'm such a weirdo. I know I'm in the minority, but I love it. Love it. We all know I take the stroller out of the trunk to have extra room, strap Lincoln in the shopping cart. Like, it's a whole experience.
- [13:56]
Kelly
Okay, so it's something to do for you guys.
- [13:58]
Samantha Taylor
Yeah, it's just an outing. It's a fruit. Well, it's free in the sense that you're not paying admission. You are paying for the extra, like, cereal tax. Like, okay, fine, we can get the Lucky Charms, but I'll enjoy them too. So it's. It's okay.
- [14:10]
Kelly
Yeah.
- [14:10]
Samantha Taylor
You do.
- [14:10]
Kelly
Like, you guys do like to do a family outing? No, not us. I would. The thing is, it's not my kids that would bother me. It would be my husband. He's so difficult to take grocery shopping. He buys the most out of pocket stupid things, and he tries to buy so many of them. Like, if we, like, are out of ketchup, he'll try to buy, like, four bottles of ketchup. And I'm like, tyler, what are we
- [14:29]
Samantha Taylor
going to do with this?
- [14:30]
Kelly
Or in four bottles of ketchup. Oh, it's. He's obsessed with having, like, a backstock. It's so insane. He's so insane.
- [14:38]
Samantha Taylor
Like, I don't want to save the $2 on these four bottles of ketchup. I want to pay $2 to have one singular bottle.
- [14:44]
Kelly
And he buys. He's like. With that guy who's like, which. I'm not saying this is he. I will buy some things off brand. I will buy the cheapest versions of some things. Some things I won't. And he will nep. He doesn't understand what to me is like, a brand name must have versus not.
- [15:01]
Samantha Taylor
Yeah.
- [15:01]
Kelly
Okay, so if I, like, sent him or if he's there, he'll be like, oh, why are you getting that when we could get this version? And I'm like, because that's not. It's. I'm not doing. I'm not.
- [15:08]
Samantha Taylor
I'm not.
- [15:09]
Kelly
I'm getting jif. Like, I'm sorry.
- [15:12]
Samantha Taylor
Yeah. I mean, it's skippy over here, but like, yes, Correct. Or like the Hawaiian rolls. It has to be the Hawaiian rolls. I've tried all the off brands. They're just not the same.
- [15:21]
Kelly
No, they're not. So there's. I mean, there's some things I'm fine to go off brand, but some things I'm just. I'm not. And he doesn't know. And I don't even know what those are. It's just. It's the vibes and the feelings that I'm going off of.
- [15:31]
Samantha Taylor
I think that's where we differ. Because my husband does all the cooking. I know. I'm so blessed. I recognize it every single day. For every meal that I don't cook, which is most of them. But because my husband does the cooking, he also has like the master grocery list. So maybe that's why I like grocery shopping. I don't have the mental load in the grocery store.
- [15:49]
Kelly
You're the Tyler in this scenario.
- [15:52]
Samantha Taylor
Maybe he would enjoy grocery shopping without me. Actually,
- [15:57]
Kelly
yes. Tom is the chef. And do you. Has he always been like that? Is that you hated cooking so bad that he had to pick it up or like, kind of. How did that.
- [16:06]
Samantha Taylor
I have. I've never enjoyed cooking. I mean, I lived on my own for quite a few years, so I did cook. I can cook a very limited number of things. I'm not like a bad cook. I just. It's not great. And I'm not like, you know, getting creative in the kitchen. And then when we started dating, one of our first dates, I went over to his house and he's like, oh, like, let's make some lunch. And he made me some shrimp scampi. I was like, what? That's just not a casual lunch. But it. It was. And it was great. And I'm like, oh, okay, let's see what else you can cook up. Turns out a lot. So our ditch the drive thru. Something that he makes regularly that I'm obsessed with. So you'll have to wait around to hear about that.
- [16:44]
Kelly
I literally can't imagine Tyler cooking anything. But I love to cook, so I'm so. So I'm fine with it. I'm fine with it. Like, for my birthday, he was like, what do you want for your birthday? I'm like, I just want to cook in my kitchen and I want you to take the kids, leave me alone, and then possibly clean up the kitchen after me. Where I am blessed is he does like to do the dishes and he is very good at cleaning. Like, very good. So I'm. I'm lucky there as Long as somebody's
- [17:11]
Samantha Taylor
good at cooking and somebody is good at cleaning, like it'll work.
- [17:15]
Kelly
Or at least if someone is willing to watch the kids. So I can do those things. But like, don't ask me. You asked me to do all three. I actually like you. Turn on the carpool podcast. You do, you get in your groove, you're doing the dishes, that's fine. Once I have a child on my leg, it's a lot less now.
- [17:29]
Samantha Taylor
I'm over it. No, no. And then like Lincoln will be climbing in the dishwasher. It doesn't matter what I set him up with. It's just the second that door opens. Beeline. And now we're climbing on all the racks. Someone's gonna fall. Something's gonna break. Get out.
- [17:42]
Kelly
Yeah, exactly.
- [17:45]
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- [18:55]
Kelly
No.
- [18:55]
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- [20:16]
Kelly
Well, anyway, so let's, let's see, what do we go for? Do I have anything else that I want to tell you? Let me just check my. Check your notes and see if my
- [20:26]
Samantha Taylor
sister and say, well, Kelly's checking her notes. I can tell you that I'm so excited that you will be visiting me again. So Kelly got to come and visit a couple months ago and that was a fun time. My kids loved her. And now she gets to come back for Kids in Motion, which if you don't know, that is our International Child Passenger Safety Conference. And every year it's in a different city and it just so happens to be in Wilmington this year, which is extremely convenient because I moved to Wilmington a month ago. So no air travel for me. Yay.
- [21:00]
Kelly
Not even a direct flight for me. And there is so few people I would take two flights for. And there is like, I can't tell you if people knew the things I turned down in effort to not take two flights. It's like you would be so shocked
- [21:13]
Samantha Taylor
a layover could never. But I'm so sorry about that.
- [21:18]
Kelly
That's okay. I am taking two flights to Wilmington to go to see Samantha and go to Kids in Motion. I've never been to Kids in Motion. I don't really know what to expect. Like, what's an example of like, like, so I'll just like, go to like, different like breakout sessions and like learn about things.
- [21:36]
Samantha Taylor
Yep. You'll have different. You'll know what the sessions are in advance so you can pick what sounds interesting to you. Although you choose for one of them. Because I will be presenting with some of my other CPST friends. So you're going to have to sit through that one because I'm going to need your emotional support.
- [21:53]
Kelly
What is that one about?
- [21:55]
Samantha Taylor
That one is about the continuum of good, better best practice. So in summary, like real, real short here. I feel like a lot of the online education is very best practice only. So you hear like rear facing to the maximum limits and that's great. Like I like to rear face for a long time too. But there are other extremely safe options and they get enough attention online. Whereas if you met with a CPSD in person they would give you like very personalized info and you would never feel like oh gosh, I'm doing something wrong by turning my two year old forward facing. Like that would not be the conversation you have in person with a cpst. And that's just missing online.
- [22:33]
Kelly
I see. I've been thinking about this and someone did some cpsd, did a reel about. I'll put a little trigger warning on this but I think it's, I want you guys to hear this. I think it's important how the most at risk children are those 8 to 10 year olds who aren't boostered. And I agree with you, there is so much energy for maxing out your rear facing, rear facing, rear facing, the chest clip. Like there's so much energy for that and then there's just not the same energy for like 9 year olds. Not in a booster.
- [23:03]
Samantha Taylor
And yeah, it just dwindles and that's scary.
- [23:07]
Kelly
It's so weird because I'm telling you people all the time or they're, they're. And I'm not saying they shouldn't be obsessed with those things but it's like where does the energy go? It's like as soon as you flip a child forward facing, like the energy of that just like kind of go, I, I genuinely feel the energy kind of goes away.
- [23:23]
Samantha Taylor
I agree, I totally agree. So we just want to talk about like there is more education than best practice only and kind of talks about the harms of best practice only education which sounds a little bit counterintuitive but like groups of people are being left behind. This sounds so unattainable for some people that they just almost, I don't want to say abandon it altogether but like you, you're not Feeling encouraged to look more into it. And then that's how you end up with these like 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 year olds not in booster seats who are super vulnerable. So we're just going to kind of talk about ways to approach car seat safety education online that is just more encompassing.
- [23:59]
Kelly
So do you want to like plant me with some questions in the audience? Like if you're happy. Okay. Like I'm happy to just be your plant.
- [24:08]
Samantha Taylor
Yes, absolutely. But we won't tell anybody, so everyone. Shh.
- [24:11]
Kelly
No, I'll be like, hey, I don't think I've met you, but my name is Kim Kelly.
- [24:17]
Samantha Taylor
Can you say Kelly?
- [24:19]
Kelly
Yeah. So anyway, so we do have that coming up. I am excited. We also are going to in September, me and you are going to the Volkswagen Atlas first drive event.
- [24:27]
Samantha Taylor
I am so excited. I know most of you already know, but I drive an Atlas. I am like, day one Atlas. Stan got an atlas because Kelly influenced me into getting one. I love my car because the Atlas,
- [24:42]
Kelly
the Alice doesn't get enough love sometimes. You have a 21?
- [24:46]
Samantha Taylor
I have a 2019.
- [24:47]
Kelly
Oh, you have a 2019.
- [24:48]
Samantha Taylor
I have a 2019.
- [24:50]
Kelly
How's your reliability been?
- [24:51]
Samantha Taylor
Excellent. Excellent. Excellent.
- [24:54]
Kelly
I just think that's an important, I just think that's an important people to hear. We need.
- [24:57]
Samantha Taylor
Yeah, you always hear about people who have the problems. And don't get me wrong, like I've seen the comparison reliability ratings and like, yeah, other brands are doing better than Volkswagen. But like on a personal level, I've never had an issue. Plenty of people don't have issues. So I had one thing that was covered under warranty. It was minor and it's been fine ever since. And that was years ago.
- [25:16]
Kelly
Agreed. I'm with you not to say they're. Yes. I mean the early atlases, it's honestly surprising to me that your 19 hasn't had any issues because I do feel like the early atlases did have some issues.
- [25:27]
Samantha Taylor
Yeah.
- [25:27]
Kelly
But it's just a testament to. That's why the reliability question is so hard to answer. Because we can tell you, you know, with a pre owned car, we can tell you what the data looks like for all of the cars. But I also think a car when you're shopping pre owned, especially as Pre owned as 2019, like let's say you're, you were in the market to buy a car right now you could look at all the proven reliability that's on your car. And I feel like with the Atlas and with a lot of these newer cars, it's like if they didn't have the issue in the first two years, they're probably not going to have.
- [26:00]
Samantha Taylor
Yeah, the issue.
- [26:02]
Kelly
Yeah, that's not for some things, but it was kind of a. I don't want to call it a quality issue, but in the beginning it was like you either kind of got a stinker or you didn't.
- [26:11]
Samantha Taylor
I feel like. So if I took your advice and I was looking specifically for a certified pre owned because I knew that there were some reliability issues and you know, it paid off. So I had a little bit of a longer warranty, had one minor issue fixed under warranty. Something about an air. It was some. Something that ended up with air in my coolant line. Like it happened to a bunch of 18 and 19s but it was a very easy fix. Like I said, no problem since. So I'm almost scared to get out of her. Like she's paid off. I'm gonna ride that no car payment for a while and just kind of see how my family evolves as the kids get older, what my needs are gonna be.
- [26:49]
Kelly
But yeah, Anzan has four kids in the Atlas too. Because I think a lot of people kind of sometimes write off a mid size SUV when they have those amount of kids. But something Sam and I always talk about is the fact that the Atlas really is a very versatile car for lots of kids in car seats. Like it really is. I mean truthfully, like if. If you. There's not a mid size SUV that can do four kids in car seats better than the Atlas in my opinion.
- [27:15]
Samantha Taylor
No, not at all. Nothing comes close. And it has a good amount of trunk space.
- [27:19]
Kelly
So it does have a good amount.
- [27:20]
Samantha Taylor
I agree.
- [27:21]
Kelly
It does have a good amount. See, I'm gonna be fine. Yeah, because my Mac.
- [27:25]
Samantha Taylor
I know you'll be fine. It just takes like a little bit of getting used to. Like when I moved from. Because I did three across for the longest time. So I had a huge trunk and when I had to start using the third row with my fourth kid, I just had to get used to not like throwing everything in the trunk or like keeping extra things in my trunk. And it's just a change and it's. I don't even notice it now. It's fine. I agree.
- [27:45]
Kelly
I kind of think it's like you use what you have kind of situation like I don't see. And I'm so excited to have a small the max. I'm telling you, if you're considering an expedition or any full size suv, the difference between the short wheelbase and the long wheelbase, I'm telling you, is so intense. Like, it's not. It's so staggering. It changes the drive. It changes the park. It changes if it can fit in your garage easily. Like, I almost think it's a bigger jump than going from, like, an Atlas to an Expedition.
- [28:13]
Samantha Taylor
No, it totally is.
- [28:14]
Kelly
I feel like that feels less big than going from an expedition to an Expedition, Max. Like, I'm telling you, I cannot wait to be in a smaller car.
- [28:22]
Samantha Taylor
You're driving a boat when you have an extended wheelbase and like, yes.
- [28:27]
Kelly
Like, it's very floaty on the top. Like, it's. I really don't. And I'm not even like, a huge performance driver. I do not like driving along wheelbase. I think it's. And there was a season, like, sure, there was a season when I. When I was utilizing it, but I also would probably would have been fine. I don't know. Just my opinion. Hey, we'll see you guys. We can play this back. If I regret it. And you. One thing about me. I'll tell you, if I regret it, I'm not. I'm humble enough. If I regret it, I'll let you audio.
- [28:53]
Samantha Taylor
We'll clip it.
- [28:54]
Kelly
Yeah.
- [28:54]
Samantha Taylor
Check it in a few months.
- [28:58]
Kelly
Okay. Anyway, so then. Yeah, so we have that coming up. And then let's get into, I guess, industry news, where we spell the hot tea going on in the auto industry. And an article that I have been sent. No, no less than thousands of times. It's getting a ton of traction online is cars.com puts out this article every year, and it says 2026 best cars for car seats. And the headline is that only two cars earned straight A grades. The two cars are the 2025, which seems insane.
- [29:32]
Samantha Taylor
Yeah.
- [29:33]
Kelly
The 2025 Mercedes Benz GLS and the 2026 Volkswagen Tiguan. Those are the only two cars that got straight A's for car seats. Question mark.
- [29:43]
Samantha Taylor
And. And go. Go into how they earned an A. Like, what was the criteria here?
- [29:51]
Kelly
So, yes. So let me. And you know, they do. The problem with this is I can tell how much work they put into this. And I just think. I don't want to say. It's like, I'm really, like, I am trying to. I appreciate the effort. I just don't understand the takeaway, I guess. Do you know what I mean?
- [30:17]
Samantha Taylor
The results shocked me because I. I don't remember every single car on the list, but when I was going through that list, I was like, I wouldn't have picked this car. This car, this Car. This car or this car. And definitely not this one.
- [30:28]
Kelly
And so hold on. So let me, let me get there. So it says, how do we conduct the car seat checks? We use a Kiko key fit 30, a Graco extend a fit, and a Graco turbo booster, which is just also like, again, I get that they're trying to. I mean, it's like a science experiment. Like, they're trying to have like a control and like use the same car seats, but that's not okay. So then these cars have to be built around these car seats. Like, that doesn't make any sense.
- [30:51]
Samantha Taylor
Yeah, and those are very limiting car seats because the Chicco Keyfit 30 is extremely compact. So that's great. But you're not really looking at any sort of driver leg room using that car seat because it's so compact. Same exact thing with the extent of it. And then the turbo booster is like a great small booster. Then you have like all the headrest compatibility issues, which seems to be missing from the evaluation here, because some of those cars, I can tell you that the turbo booster does not work in. So.
- [31:20]
Kelly
Right. So I think it should just be. It's. I don't think it's a good way to do it. So then it says, then they go into like, you know how they're doing it. So the three child seats are installed in the second row. The booster seat sits behind the driver. The infinite convertible seats are installed behind the front passenger. We also installed the forward facing convertible in the second row middle seat with the booster and infant seat on the outboard seats to see if three car seats will fit, which the extended fit is not a slim car seat.
- [31:55]
Samantha Taylor
Extended fit is one of the widest car seats. If you're trying to do three across and you tell me I have an extended fit, I say, congratulations. Like, now grandma has a new car for her vehicle. Like, it almost never is compatible in three across. So again, it's an interesting choice.
- [32:08]
Kelly
Why aren't they thinking about. Okay, so also. So now cars have to. You're expecting cars to be built for. Again, a rant to me, a very random car seat combination. Like, you're not setting that car for success. If you wanted to say. And when we, when we test for three across, we are almost. And when we say a car is three across friendly or three across approved. We are still almost, almost always using slim seats, at least in the middle. If not, if not, probably all three. We're doing slim seats.
- [32:34]
Samantha Taylor
Well, yeah, because then you're going to write off a car that could do three across. If you're testing with wide seats, like, you have so many more options as long as you're testing with the right narrow car seat. That's why we're always using that Graco or the new Kiko.
- [32:49]
Kelly
Okay, so then we get. So then they do they give every single car. I guess you could call it a report card is what I'm looking at. Okay. But then I'm just a little confused because I'm like, not. I'm not like, every car's listed on here. So like, that's a little strange. So like. But then let's take for example, the Ford Expedition. So it says latch, they give a B too. But like, okay, whatever. Rear facing car seat, they give a B. Like, why?
- [33:16]
Samantha Taylor
How? How and why?
- [33:18]
Kelly
The Chevy Traverse for a booster, they give a C. You're just like, well, but like, tell me why. Like, why is it so they. They're not really giving us that. Like, they're not giving us the notes. So we don't really know, like, why it had that.
- [33:32]
Samantha Taylor
Yeah. And like, would it be an A with a different car seat? Because that's what really matters. I'm not going to write off a Traverse because a turbo booster doesn't work in the third row. I'm going to use a different booster seat, which works just fine.
- [33:44]
Kelly
Yeah. So
- [33:48]
Samantha Taylor
I don't know. I remember reading something about like, the latch. They were doing latch ratings. And I'm like, you know who does latch ratings? The ihs. And we've seen how they do those latch ratings. And that is nothing if not the scientific method. So I don't need anybody else to do what they're doing. They're already doing it. Great.
- [34:06]
Kelly
I mean, cars.com. like, I mean, they're. They're a lead source in. I mean, they're just not really. They're not. I don't know. Here are the ones that. Here are the cars that got an honorable mention. The Acura adx. What? The Blazer ev, The Honda crv. The Passport, The Hyundai Tucson, the Jeep Wagoneer S. Lol.
- [34:25]
Samantha Taylor
Absolutely not. Get off that list.
- [34:27]
Kelly
The Kia Sportage, the Lexus LX earns an honorable mention.
- [34:34]
Samantha Taylor
What?
- [34:35]
Kelly
What? And if I'm thinking about, like, what cars are the most car seat friendly. Samantha, let's give our list. I know you're gonna hate this. I put you on the spot.
- [34:44]
Samantha Taylor
I already hate this. But okay, I'll do it. We can leave the passport on there. That.
- [34:50]
Kelly
No, I like the passport.
- [34:52]
Samantha Taylor
I like the passport.
- [34:53]
Kelly
I think I like The Passport. I like the Atlas Cross Sport. I actually think I do like the new Honda crv. I think that's not. Yeah, I think the Subarus are great. The Outback and the Forester are pretty good if we're looking at mid size. I mean all that. See this is hard because all the mid size SUVs do good with us with some combination and some car seat combination.
- [35:14]
Samantha Taylor
That, that's the answer. It's that you need to know the right car seat for the car. You can't write off a car without trying the right car seat.
- [35:22]
Kelly
And that's why I think this is like a really good segue and a shameless plug to what we've actually spent the last two years of our life working on, which has been the new car mom website, which is launching. I don't know if I'm gonna say the date, but I, I just signed the invoice for our launch event.
- [35:41]
Samantha Taylor
Oh my gosh.
- [35:43]
Kelly
September 10th.
- [35:45]
Samantha Taylor
Kelly, you're gonna have another baby born in September. Your fifth child.
- [35:49]
Kelly
Literally.
- [35:50]
Samantha Taylor
No, literally, literally, literally.
- [35:53]
Kelly
Actually a child would have taken less time than this website. Yeah.
- [35:56]
Samantha Taylor
So true.
- [35:56]
Kelly
If I'm being honest.
- [35:58]
Samantha Taylor
Less stress for sure.
- [35:59]
Kelly
Something that Sam and I were so passionate that we have lost many hours of sleep on is what Sam and I feel like the biggest issue with the, with the car and car industry right now is the two act like the two. Honestly. Don't talk like the cars and the cars, the car brands and the car seat manufacturers, they have some relationships but they're not, they don't have. From the consumer's perspective. There's no information telling them like what car seat works in what car. So this is something that Sam and I were like. We don't have all the answers, but we have some answers that we feel strongly enough about to help people make a better decision. Similar to probably what your presentation's about. It's. We're taking a good, better, best approach.
- [36:44]
Samantha Taylor
Yeah.
- [36:45]
Kelly
So we wanted to give multiple car seats at multiple price points that are personally selected for those cars. And I think we can get a week. Go ahead. You go ahead.
- [36:57]
Samantha Taylor
We can, we can tell you for sure if some car seats work in some of these vehicles. And if you have a car seat that's going to install without an issue in a car, you're more likely to be using it correctly. And using a car seat correctly is so much more important than anything else about.
- [37:14]
Kelly
Yeah.
- [37:15]
Samantha Taylor
You know, keeping your child rear facing until they're 4, 5, 6, 7, or keeping them in a harness for however Long, like using your car, using the car seat, number one, and using it correctly, number two, you have done so much to keep your child safe, and it's really hard when you have these vehicles that are just not easily compatible or completely incompatible with a car seat. And like, that was frustrating as a consumer and even as a cpst who had all this knowledge to know what to look for and still just being stuck, like, oh, let's, let's buy this car seat and try it in this car and see how it goes. Like, how ineffective is that? So we're going to fix that for you.
- [37:51]
Kelly
It's so ineffective. So I think a great example we have is. So I had the Kia Telluride this past week, and I actually am loving, like, actually I'm like, loving the new Telluride. I think they did a really good job and they actually made some really good car seat improvements. However, the third row, you're going to be a little tight on leg room if you have the wrong car seat back there. So it's just little things like knowing, like, we know what low profile seats work well with those head restraints that are going to maximize your child's leg room while you're still getting a safe installation. And like, that's something that maybe Cars.com just doesn't know because they're throwing the extend of it back there or the transition, which, which probably doesn't work with a headrest, which is probably too high of a profile seat. Like, that's just the wrong seat.
- [38:34]
Samantha Taylor
Yeah, being able to have the right seat is just gonna make your life so much easier. And like, just that, you know, you're like, oh, I can actually still use this car for my kids now that I'm having a third baby or a fourth baby. Like, it'll work with the right car seats. It might not work with the ones that you currently have, but you can keep your vehicle and use it longer.
- [38:51]
Kelly
So we're super excited. We, we've literally, we went through every single car and gave it. I think we did like, around eight options. We kept it small because the thing was, we're not putting every seat there. And there are seats that will work outside of our recommended seats. But yes, you know, but it's like, what are we gonna do? We had to just, we had to get something out there. And this is, this is our version of it. So, yeah, get excited.
- [39:15]
Samantha Taylor
And these are seats that you guys use and love. That we use and love. And like, over time, we'll absolutely be adding, like, there's so many cars. There's so many car seats. Like, we gotta start somewhere. And you, I have to remind myself, and you say this to me, Kelly, all the time. Like, it doesn't have to be perfect. Like, I very much want to have like a finished, final, polished product. And like, people aren't going to see these recommendations for five more years if we do it that way.
- [39:41]
Kelly
And I fear if we don't put out something else, then people are going to go buy Volkswagen Tiguans over atlases because Cars.com said they're more car seat. Like, it's like so much, much bad information out there.
- [39:52]
Samantha Taylor
Yeah.
- [39:53]
Kelly
That if we don't give the good information, at least try to give the good information. Like it's just gonna get, it's just gonna get lost.
- [39:59]
Samantha Taylor
So, yeah, even if it's less information, at least it's good and it's accurate, it's correct and it's helpful. Like, we just want to be helpful.
- [40:06]
Kelly
We're only looking at, I mean, if it's not a meat, if it's not mean potatoes, I don't want it. Like, you won't find you are. There's no salad course on the Carmine website. Like, it's just straight to the point.
- [40:17]
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- [42:48]
Kelly
Okay, let's move on to our next story. And that is kind of a major, major news is the 2027 Tesla Model Y L, yay. Was released. So the X is gone.
- [43:04]
Samantha Taylor
Gone. Okay.
- [43:04]
Kelly
Ended production of the X, which is done.
- [43:08]
Samantha Taylor
Okay.
- [43:08]
Kelly
Now they're bringing the Y and they're making it have a longer wheelbase. I think it's about six or seven more inches. And most of those inches are actually in between the wheels. So, like not the trunk space. But truthfully, to give more.
- [43:23]
Samantha Taylor
So the third room, like work. A third row has more room now.
- [43:26]
Kelly
Okay, it says the model Y L's wheelbase is 5.9 inches longer than the standard model. Yeah. Okay, so you're getting more of the third row legroom now. I, you know, it's hard because, like, it looks the same to me. Like, okay, it's not like they like. I mean, it still looks like a model Y, which I like. It's fine. It's Good. It only has two seats in the third row, which is good.
- [43:50]
Samantha Taylor
Good.
- [43:50]
Kelly
I think it has four full sets of latch, which is good.
- [43:54]
Samantha Taylor
Okay. I'm curious to see what the headroom situation is in the.
- [43:58]
Kelly
So they did say it's 1.9 inches more headroom.
- [44:02]
Samantha Taylor
Oh, great.
- [44:03]
Kelly
If that. Which doesn't sound like a lot. Oh, sorry. The roof gains 1.7 inches of height, which should welcome. Which. Which should be welcome news for the occupants, particularly in the third row.
- [44:14]
Samantha Taylor
Welcome news. Yeah. Okay.
- [44:18]
Kelly
So that's kind of all there is to it.
- [44:21]
Samantha Taylor
Well, I mean, I guess 1.7 inches. You're thinking like you're sitting. So it's not like overall height. Like it's just your torso, I guess. Yes. So, okay, that sounds considerable compared to the old one. I'd like to sit back there, though.
- [44:34]
Kelly
They're excited about these armrests that, like, come up and down, which, I don't know. That doesn't really do much for me, but okay. It's cool, I guess. I don't know. I'm excited.
- [44:45]
Samantha Taylor
I'm excited to see it.
- [44:46]
Kelly
And, you know, third row looks kind of horrendous for. Let me take this picture. You're going to, like, probably have a panic attack when you see these buckles.
- [44:54]
Samantha Taylor
Oh, all right, let's see.
- [44:56]
Kelly
I don't really want to ruin your day, but the third row looks like it's going to be tough for boosters. Maybe not if it's wide enough, but the. The buckles look very like they're like, built into the seat.
- [45:08]
Samantha Taylor
Let's see.
- [45:10]
Sponsor/Ad Voice
Oh.
- [45:12]
Samantha Taylor
Oh, that's interesting.
- [45:13]
Kelly
Oh, we've sparked her interest.
- [45:17]
Samantha Taylor
I mean, it does look a little hard to buckle, that's for sure. I would love to. I would love to put a peg flex back there and see how it all. I would.
- [45:29]
Kelly
Well, we'll be sure to get one.
- [45:31]
Samantha Taylor
Yeah.
- [45:31]
Kelly
I actually think I have a call with Tesla this week, believe it or not.
- [45:34]
Samantha Taylor
Oh, good.
- [45:34]
Kelly
Well, hey, we got to put the peg flex back there.
- [45:38]
Samantha Taylor
We gotta put the peg flex back there. We need to try it out.
- [45:40]
Kelly
Have you put the peg flex?
- [45:42]
Samantha Taylor
We need to get it on the website. Add another. Another page.
- [45:46]
Kelly
I know. We do need to have an. Add another page.
- [45:48]
Samantha Taylor
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Gotta get it on there.
- [45:51]
Kelly
You guys have no idea how you. You'll find out soon enough. But it's been really fun, actually. Fun stuff to watch.
- [45:57]
Samantha Taylor
Liz and Steph are absolute saints and whizzes. And I. I hope everybody can appreciate how much work those girls have put in to this never ending Task. It is unbelievably impressive.
- [46:13]
Kelly
I know. I'm very proud of them. Okay, Samantha, before we let you go after a long day of installing car seats, well, actually, what is your husband making you for dinner?
- [46:23]
Samantha Taylor
Let's say my husband is making me Mongolian ground beef. It is.
- [46:29]
Kelly
Stop. I love a ground beef recipe.
- [46:32]
Samantha Taylor
First of all, ground beef's so easy. Like, you already know. This is gonna be a quick dinner recipe, you know, and we love to dress up our ground beef to something that's, like, not taco flavored, not ground beef flavored. So this is. It's from. He adapts it from. I think it's called I wash you dry is the website, their recipe. But basically, you take ground beef and you add garlic and ginger and just cook it. Like, cook the ground beef until it's cooked through, and then you add a mixture of soy sauce, hoisin sauce, something else, and then you pour it on top of the cooked ground beef. You let that kind of simmer for a couple minutes, like, soak up on all the flavors. And then once that has happened, then you add a slurry of water and cornstarch.
- [47:21]
Kelly
Yum.
- [47:22]
Samantha Taylor
And that's the key. Like, you could enjoy the ground beef before that, but that is the key, guys. It's the key.
- [47:27]
Kelly
Once I learned how to thicken a sauce with cornstarch, like, the next chapter of my life started. It totally changes the way you cook,
- [47:36]
Samantha Taylor
like, the texture of your food, the flavor delivery. I'm sure I sound so crazy right now, but I'm telling you, it will level it up. Get yourself some cornstarch in your pantry.
- [47:45]
Kelly
And it's so. I know it sounds so intimidating. It's literally so easy. It's like you put a little flame.
- [47:50]
Samantha Taylor
I can do it. Like, I'm terrible in the kitchen, and I can do it, so. And then you pour that in, and you just mix it all together till it thickens. And then the best part, you can just turn it on, like, low or keep warm or whatever and leave the lid on so that you can enjoy your dinner hot when, like, you're actually ready to eat it. Like, nothing's going to happen. But then you serve it over rice. I like to add sesame seeds on top and cut up some scallions or green onions.
- [48:14]
Kelly
Yum.
- [48:15]
Samantha Taylor
But I will say, this is the game changer. A rice cooker. I know. I feel all of you coming at me right now. My gosh, Another kitchen appliance. I can't do it. I don't want to clutter up my storage, my counters. This is coming from somebody who got rid of their air fryer because I don't like another kitchen appliance.
- [48:34]
Kelly
Like.
- [48:34]
Samantha Taylor
Yeah, I know, I know. I don't like an extra kitchen appliance. I just use the oven or I use the toaster oven. Like, it's. It's fine. So I got rid of my air fryer because of this and instead got a rice cooker. I'm telling you, we use it at least twice a week. It is incredible. It's not that big.
- [48:52]
Kelly
You're not convinced? I just make it on the stove.
- [48:55]
Samantha Taylor
Yeah, to have another pan to wash and, like, scrape it out of the pan. No, I'm telling you, get yourself a rice cooker. All you do, you rinse your rice, you pour it in, you add the water, you close the lid. It's done like your dinner. You can be cooking your dinner and not touch the rice, and then it's perfectly fluffy.
- [49:13]
Kelly
Yeah, because my rice. The thing is, my rice is not always perfect. It's kind of a hit or miss. But, I mean, my family eats it. My family eats it regardless. So sometimes it has a bite, sometimes it's a much. Sometimes it's perfect. It's kind of. You don't know.
- [49:23]
Samantha Taylor
It's always perfect. There's no, like, gamble tonight. You know, you're gonna have perfect rice, and then it just falls out of the rice cooker. And it's so easy to clean. And then it's small and it stores away. You don't even have to look at it. I just keep it with my pots and pans. I'm telling you, rice cooker is game changer. And then you'll make rice more often because it's less of a hassle and you know it's gonna turn out right. So put the ground beef on top of your rice from your rice cooker. Delicious. We made it this week after swim, and it was like 40 minutes, I think. Okay, Shum, enjoy. Delish.
- [49:57]
Kelly
Well, I think that's our episode. I. You know what? I actually. I actually have to go because you know what I have to do today? Something so horrible.
- [50:04]
Samantha Taylor
Oh, what is it?
- [50:05]
Kelly
Go renew my license.
- [50:07]
Samantha Taylor
Oh, Kelly, I don't even want to hear. I don't even want to hear it. I told you when I moved here, I had to get a North Carolina license and I had to take a test. A road sign test.
- [50:19]
Kelly
Well, hopefully you did fine, Samantha.
- [50:21]
Samantha Taylor
I mean, you have to pay money. I was fine. I mean, I was fine. There is one that I needed Some help with. But
- [50:28]
Kelly
making money to take the road sign test.
- [50:30]
Samantha Taylor
Yeah. No, like, you're. It's not. You don't drive like it's a computer test.
- [50:34]
Kelly
Yeah, no, I.
- [50:36]
Samantha Taylor
They took the text off of the signs. They literally, like, it wasn't this sign. Guys, I know what a school crossing sign looks like. Chill. But imagine a school crossing sign and then removing the word school crossing and being like, what is this sign?
- [50:50]
Kelly
Well, why would they take it? Why would they take the word off?
- [50:53]
Samantha Taylor
Why would they take the word off? I know what the sign is, and it wasn't a school crossing sign, guys. It was, like, something a little bit more difficult, but I'm like, what is this? Am I supposed to know the answer? It was crazy. There were, like, 12 of them, and they all were, like, a partial sign, and you had to get it right. Well, I don't want to hear it. Renew your terrible license. Maybe I don't have to do it.
- [51:10]
Kelly
I don't know what to expect. I mean, it's. It's time to renew.
- [51:13]
Samantha Taylor
I don't know. I've every. Because I've had a license now in Connecticut, New York, in North Carolina, and this is the first time I've had to do something like that.
- [51:22]
Kelly
Okay, well, so I'll keep.
- [51:24]
Samantha Taylor
Oh, no. Good luck.
- [51:26]
Kelly
Well, Samantha, thank you so much for running the carpool podcast today. We will talk to you soon, and hopefully I have a fun update next week. Maybe we'll have a baby by then. Who knows? Honestly, I hope so. I hope so, too. All right, bye, guys.
- [51:40]
Samantha Taylor
Bye.
- [51:42]
Kelly
Thank you for listening to the carpool podcast with Kelly and Liz. Make sure you're subscribed so you never miss an episode. And if you enjoyed riding with us, tell everybody you know there's room in the car for everyone.