Disclosure: This is a sponsored post. All opinions are mine.
One of the biggest decisions you will make as a family is choosing the right car for your family’s needs. Let me tell you, we have a family of five with three kids of varying ages. So for us, we need a vehicle that is large enough for all of us to sit comfortably that is not going to guzzle gas. What do you look for in a family vehicle?
Here are a few tips on what to look for when choosing the right vehicle for your posse.
1. Evaluate the car’s safety features: Obviously safety is huge! You want to go on road trips or to Grandma’s house and get there in one piece. As creepy and scary as it sounds, you should really check out the website: National Highway Transportation Safety Association (NHTSA) website to see which vehicles performed the best in crash tests.
2. Consider size: How many kids do you have? Will you be toting pets with you? Will you be taking a lot of family trips together? How far will you be travelling? How much storage will you need?
3. Test drive with the whole family: I know it sounds like a pain, but if you are looking for a family vehicle, you should bring the entire family with for a test drive.
4. Weigh the pros and cons of the vehicles on your list: Make a list and seriously evaluate each vehicle. What do you like about each vehicle? What don’t you like?
5. Visit Cars.com: One of the best things you can do is get feedback from other people who have owned or currently own the vehicle that you have your eye on. The best form of advertising is word of mouth, right? Cars.com is a great resource to learning about your potential purchase. Check out the website for information that will provide you with everything including extensive reviews. If there is a vehicle that isn’t very highly rated, hasn’t performed well or is not a good purchase, you’ll find that information on cars.com.
Image via Getty Image and Cars.com
Hubby and I are planning on looking for a new car in the next couple of months. Thanks for this suggestion. I didn’t think about looking online.
There are lots of things to consider when buying a new family car. I recently got myself a new car in preparation for starting a family. I wanted to make sure it would be the right one for me into the future.
I like the idea of bringing the entire family with you when you test drive a car. That does make sense so you can see how it will work in action. It’s great that we have so many options these days for families. I remember when I was a kid and you had more than 2 kids, you had to get a station wagon.
We used cars.com when we purchased our latest car and it was a great thing to find out what was available in our area, all in one place!
Great tips!! We always test drive vehicles before purchasing or leasing. I know we need a large SUV so we start there.
I never tried cars.com. But the next time we plan to purchase a new car, this sounds like an excellent resource.
We don’t even have a car! I’d love to have an SUV some day in our lives and I will take into consideration these tips. We are public transport and taxi kind of people because we hate to drive, it makes it easier when you move around a lot. Great tips for families!
These were great tips. I was thinking of getting me my own car just not a family one but I think these would help me just the same. Thanks for sharing and great read.
Wow. what an awesome post and I love to read more about this we don’t have a car but we’re planning to buy this year and I love these tips I will keep this in my mind.
It’s really important to have a car that fits everyone and still have space for all the stuff that we have to bring. I’d love to check out this website, it sounds so helpful when you’re shopping for cars!
I think having the whole family present for car buying is so important. I have two growing boys and need to make sure they can fit in the backseat!
wow, these are all great tips and very handy once I decide to get a car later on in life and have to think of a family at the moment it is just me and my cat. Hehehe Thanks for sharing these wonderful tips !
Choosing the right car is such an important decision for a family. These are some great tips for doing so.