Mama Life - Collaborative post
Family life can be so much easier if we're lucky enough to have a car to help ferry us around for all our daily jobs, school runs and trips away. Knowing which car to go for though isn't always that easy, with so many things to consider from the safety aspects, reliability and of course staying with in your budget. With all these things considered, it can be a real minefield out there knowing trustworthy places to buy from and what to look for, so I've put together a few tips that we've found helpful in the past for getting the right car for your family.
Consider you main needs
Before even beginning to look at cars, it's important to note down the most important things for you and your family when it comes to a family car. Start with a rough idea of budget, but also think about how much it will cost to run/tax/insure, as well as the overall outlay for the car. Also think about what kind of boot space you'll need, whether you'll need space for a bulky pram at any point, how many child seats will need to fit across the back and whether you'd need five doors or would do just fine with three. It's worth thinking about what the future may bring too, such as planning more children or even just getting a dog that will need space to travel with you too. Once you're armed with these key needs, you can filter searches to vehicles that match your desirable criteria and go from there, and if you've thought ahead, you'll be all ready for future changes without the need to change cars again in a year or two's time.
Decide if you're buying or leasing
Buying a car in cash is a straight forward option, but if you decide to lease a car, you may be able to get something more reliable and newer, and it's not as complicated as you may think. When leasing a car, you're able to put less money down upfront and you'll have less repairs to pay for and best of all, a much greater choice of cars available to you, without the hassle of selling it on at the end of your lease as you could trade for a new car or maybe even pay a balance to own the car outright.
Do your research
Whether you're a car nut or have no clue about cars, it's always worth doing a bit of research to find out unbiased car recommendations for families, reading reviews from other parents and finding out about all the up to date safety regulations and features that may be useful to you to keep you and your family safe on the road. Being on top of all the must have info can be extremely beneficial, especially once you're on a forecourt faced with a sales person.
See cars in the flesh
Once you have a good idea of what cars fit the bill on paper, it's time to get out and see some in the flesh. What may appear or sound like a spacious practical vehicle, may well have less appeal in person. It's really surprising how different some can seem in person especially once you load in the kids/dog and all that family stuff!
Hopefully this will help give you an idea of the kind of things to think about when on the hunt for a new family wagon, just take your time and get a good idea of what you want, as it can be easy to get carried away on a forecourt!
