Deciding on the best people mover for your growing family can be quite tricky. Often, parents who are in the market for a new vehicle have a long list of things to consider which makes finding the right vehicle for your family a drawn-out process.
It is important to categorise these requirements into must-haves, wants, and nice-to-have features to manage expectations.
Here are essential things you must consider when choosing a family car.
Number of kids
The size and model of people mover you chose may depend a lot on how many kids you are wanting to fit lawfully into the car.
As well as your own children you may also want to think about whether you will be transporting other people’s kids and if your vehicle has room for them also.
Size of the car
For most couples, a compact, smaller car is often enough. However, it becomes a different kettle of fish when kids are added to the mix.
Considering that kids come with a lot of “extras;” you will be hauling nappy bags and toys in and out of the car; plus, carrying bigger items like portable playpens and strollers for example.
You will want to make sure the car has enough boot room to stow away and reach for the items easily. This can be a flaw in some people movers, is the lack of room for carrying all the added extras.
Consider the interior of the car
In addition to the size of the car, you also want to be sure you can get to the car seat easily.
Getting a child in and out of a baby seat can be tricky depending on the model of car. Often you, as the parent, are bending and twisting to get the child into their seat and harnessed correctly. I know this was the case with our first car. It is not ideal.
When we switched cars, the accessibility was so much better. Far more comfortable for parent and child. This also makes it easier for transporting a sleeping baby in and out of the car without them waking.
Child seat anchors
In regards to your baby’s safety, you need a car that can be fitted with a child safety seat easily. Check to see where the anchor points are for your child’s seat bearing in mind babies from newborn to 6 months must use a rear-facing child car seat and it is recommended to keep them rearward facing for longer.
If you are a family that require more than one child safety seat, check there is enough room for the number of seats you require and the adequate number of anchor points.
Safety features
When you are carrying your precious little bundle of joy in your car you want to be sure the vehicle handles well, meets all safety regulations, and even offers extra precautionary and safety measures for your baby’s safekeeping.
Check and be sure the baby door side can only be opened and locked from your end. Are the windows on the baby side tinted to minimize sun glare?
Some other family-friendly features you should also check out include: automatic forward brake, a lane departure warning to alert you when you are leaving your lane while driving.
And, an electronic stability system that senses when the car is skidding out of control in heavy cornering and helps correct the car’s direction.
Budget
Of course, your budget will play a significant role in which car you finally decided to go for. Hence, it should probably be the first thing you work out; then start looking for cars that fall within that price range.
Also, factor in the cost of servicing the car once you purchase it – are the parts readily available? Is the vehicle energy efficient? What will the cost of insurance be?
If you noticed from the points above, our goal is to help you focus more on practicality and safety of the family vehicle you choose rather than on aesthetics.
Once, you have selected a car to go for, ask to test drive it, and if possible, have your baby with you so you can get a feel of what it would look like when driving the car.
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