This is a collaborative piece
A family car is a vehicle that’ll be involved in your life on an almost daily basis, so it’s a purchase you need to be completely comfortable with. The average UK car travels around 6,600 miles per year and it’s easy to see how that adds up between holidays, work and ferrying children to and from school, hobbies and socialising. You’ll want your family car to meet all your practical needs while being comfortable and reliable, and there are plenty of factors that go into that.
Size
As a baseline, you’ll obviously need to know how many bums might need seats at once. If you have very young children at the moment, make sure to consider how much space they might need a few years into the future so that your purchase will go the distance. This could impact not only how many seats you need but also how much legroom they have and cargo space.
Try to envision the fullest your car might ever be – perhaps a big family holiday with everyone and their luggage aboard. Use that idea as your guide.
Ease of maintenance
Your time and money investment doesn’t end upon purchase, so consider maintenance demands. Brands and models with reputations for reliability are good places to start but you can look into things like how easy the seats will be to clean – if kids are going to be in the back, you might want to think about how stain-, water- or scratch-resistant the seat materials will be. Similarly, how many nooks and crannies are there inside that will make cleaning fiddly?
The impact of your car on your ongoing budget will depend in part on your location, so don’t forget to factor that in. It’ll cost less to get a new set of tyres in Chesterfield than it would in London, for example.
Engine type and fuel economy
The rise of electric vehicles (EVs) continues, with over 1,100,000 now operating on UK roads. And whether you want to join that revolution should be part of your decision-making process. Electric and hybrid vehicles represent more environmentally friendly choices and their use is being incentivised, so choosing one might make sense for you – although it could narrow your options for suitable vehicles.
Safety features
Safety is paramount when you’re transporting your children but the good news is that standards are very high on this front. The quickest way to check a car at a glance is to look at its Euro NCAP rating – many good models are rated at five stars, and that should be your baseline. You can look out for features like automatic emergency braking and blind-spot warning devices that will offer you extra peace of mind.
Entertainment and technology
If you see yourself taking long road trips with your family, entertainment systems become more important. Connectivity features for music and podcasts might be the bare minimum but, on the top end, you can look for Wi-Fi hotspot capability and integrated seat-back screens to keep little ones occupied.
