7 Tips on Buying a Family Car

Buying a new car for the family is always exciting. Your first thoughts are likely to be about great new levels of comfort and enjoying long road trips with the family. Although it might be easy to ask your mechanic about his or her opinion, choosing a car for the family often involves more than engine specifics.

Sure, you need to take into account the servicing costs and the manufacturer’s reputation, but there are a myriad of other things to consider when it comes to buying a car for the family.

To help paint a clearer picture here are some tips you might want to consider when making your choice.

• Depending upon the size of your family, you need to think about how you will be using your vehicle on a regular basis. Will you be driving to and from school or to the children’s sporting events? Or will you be using the car mainly for road trips and holidays? In other words, think about how you’ll be using the vehicle because this will help you determine the size and specifications you really need.
• Safety first. Every family vehicle needs to have a strong pedigree in the safety department. Check consumer safety ratings to ensure that the vehicle you are considering passes the standards you require.
• Think about the resale value. Every motor vehicle purchase involves a considerable financial investment, so it is important to bear in mind the resale value you can expect when it comes time to sell. This also means you have to think about servicing costs and the practical issues of keeping the car in good condition.
• Is the car child friendly? If you have to transport children to and from school or sporting events, you might want to consider the practical issues of size and how much room you will need to open the doors. From a safety point of view, and for other practical reasons, sliding doors could be a better option than the normal swing open doors. Sliding doors allow you to park the vehicle in more confined parking spaces and may avoid accidental damage to adjacent vehicles when the children open the doors too quickly.
• What options do you need? These days most vehicles are air-conditioned which adds to the comfort on long hot summer drives, but you might have other needs too. What about more sophisticated entertainment systems? Would you get value from watching movies during long trips? These are questions that only you can answer to help you decide what inclusions you will find valuable.
• Storage space. It is easy to overlook the amount of storage space you will require for your family. Make sure you take into account your maximum requirements to ensure that the vehicle you are considering can carry your load adequately.
• Ongoing service costs. Only your mechanic can give you an accurate estimate of the likely servicing costs so it’s a good idea to include this figure in your deliberations.