Mama’s got a new ride.

I used to be the kind of momma who drove a pickup truck. I'm not sure what that means exactly, but I just know that it felt kind of cool to hoist the baby into the carseat and take off in our powerful truck, maybe with a bed full of cargo in back for some project or trip or something like that. It felt kind of rough and tumble, safe, powerful and kooky at the same time. Not your average baby-mobile.

Last week a mechanic told me not to invest more money into repairing my truck. This news came at a particularly bad time, as I have recently (as you know) re-entered the work force and started commuting to the city with my girlfriend. We share the driving – two weeks on, two weeks off – and we were just coming on my weeks when the truck noises led me to the mechanic's door.

There followed approximately a day and a half of research, comparison shopping, asking around and scoping out every car on the streets. Hubby and I came up with a list of vehicular requirements which included:

• Safety
  


• Cargo space
  


• Freedom from worry (i.e. a new model)
  


• All-wheel or four-wheel drive
  


• Power
  


• Towing capacity (for the fishing boat etc)
  


• 
  
  Fuel efficiency
  
  
  

  
  

And after filtering out all of the too big, too expensive, too weak, too small, and too ugly options, we came up with the idea that we'd go for a Hyundai Tucson.

When we got to the dealership a couple of things happened. Firstly, we looked at the Tucson and realized that the 2012 model is quite a lot like a large Pontiac Vibe, which is what we already drive. The car had been subtly redesigned so that the back end is less boxy, which means the 2012 has a hatchback that is more rounded than straight up-and-down, which means that the upper area of the cargo space is limited. There is no way we'd fit coolers, backpacks, fishing equipment, Nora's porta-crib, bedding and potentially our dog in that back space. If we ever decided to have a second child and the back seat space became occupied, we'd have a pretty hard time fitting our 80-lb Labrador in there let alone all of the necessities for a quick weekend at the cottage.

In the end, we allowed ourselves to be up-sold a bit. Coming in at just a hair over the price of the 2012 AWD Tucson was a 2011 AWD Santa Fe, which had all the cargo space we'd ever need in the interior of a vehicle. They just happened to have one on the lot that they wanted to get rid of (yeah right, I believe nothing) so we were able to negotiate the inclusion of a nifty cargo mat, a gas card, a tow package, four winter tires on rims, and 10 free oil changes.

I picked it up three days ago. It's black. It has bum-warmers in the front seats, and I can control my radio on my steering wheel (which I strangely find much more distracting than doing it the old-fashioned way). If my cellphone has its Bluetooth activated, I will be able to make phone calls simply by speaking loudly into the car. I have a remote lock on my keychain that goes "Woop woop!" so I no longer have to pretend by actually yelling "woop woop!" when I approach my car in parking garages. The seats are comfy and the engine purrs softly. It is AWD and has a v6 engine so it's nice and perky to drive – indeed, this car wants to go fast. Sorry officer! Not my fault. My car wants to go fast.

Now I am a mom with an SUV. I have a ginormous top-of-the-line carseat in the back seat – rear facing, natch – and when I blow-dry my hair and wear my pressed work clothes, and drop my toddler off at daycare with her little lunch baggie of wholesome breakfast food and overpriced bottles, I no longer recognize myself. At some point in the last year I became a full-fledged yuppie without even realizing it, but oh well, I see how it happens. My urge, when choosing a car in which to drive my baby around (and everything else to do with baby, of course), was to get the biggest protective bubble I could possibly find.

Today I wore my black converse sneakers as compensation. I may have to go out and get an edgy haircut and some funky sunglasses to disguise my newfound yuppiedom. I am avoiding Starbucks at all costs.

But I am now a momma with a hot new ride, no doubt about it.