What You Need To Look For When Buying A New Family Car
A car is a necessity for a busy household, and most American families will keep a new car for 12.1 years or longer. However, as your family grows, you may need to think about replacing your vehicle with a bigger one. Things you considered in buying your first car may no longer hold when choosing one for a growing family. So, if you need to replace your existing vehicle with something that will fit your loved ones, here are some tips for choosing a new family car.
Look for Overall Performance and Engine Reliability
Before going over details such as child-friendly features, cargo, and safety systems, you need to consider the vehicle’s overall performance. It is best to choose a car that has an engine powerful enough to carry your entire family while being fuel-efficient at the same time. One way of selecting a vehicle is to check the consumer reports for auto reliability to see the car model’s consumers trust the most. However, a reliable engine will only remain reliable if you do your part in following its maintenance and service schedule. Having your car break down in the middle of the road due to poor maintenance means that you’ll have to call a towing company. The price of towing a vehicle varies, depending on the towing company and your type of car. You may also expect to pay more for long distance towing, so make sure to keep your car well-maintained, especially if you live in a rural area.
Seek Out Child-Friendly Features
Selecting a vehicle for a family with young children can be challenging, and one factor to consider is how easy it will be to clean the car’s interior. A leather or pleather interior will work best for a family car, especially if you have toddlers. Likewise, choose a vehicle with amenities for backseat entertainment, such as a video monitor on the backseat, charging ports for devices, or connection to the internet for streaming services.
Go for Maximized Cargo Space
Your kids will have a lot of things that they will need to bring to the car with them. Therefore, it is essential to choose a vehicle with a lot of cargo capacity and storage spaces. Many new car models have inventive storage nooks such as under-floor bins to keep muddy soccer shoes or under-seat cubbies to keep laptops, headphones and other devices. There are also new car models that will allow you to change the configuration of the rear and third-row seats to give you more cargo space. Some cars fold their seats automatically with a push of a button, while some may require you to flex your upper body muscles to fold them.
Spend on Safety Features
Having a growing family means that you have to be more responsible when you drive. Therefore, it may be best to choose a family car with additional safety features, even if it means spending extra. Rearview cameras are becoming a standard safety feature for all new car models. However, there are still other safety systems you may want to have, such as automatic emergency braking, blind-spot warning, and parking assist.
If you plan to buy a new family car, you should consider the reliability of its engine, the capacity and amount of cargo it can carry, and what type of safety features it has. Knowing what to look for when choosing a new vehicle will ensure that your growing family will be safe and entertained every time you go on a drive.
