Choosing the right family car

This is probably not going to be the most exciting article in the world but until recently I had no idea how hard it would be to actually go out and find the right car to suit our family.

I mean it's not like the old days when you

could see something that you really liked and say "GOD I'D LOOK GOOD IN THAT"!!!!!!!!   Now when I look at cars I can't choose a Make and Model that I would look good in, I have to look for something that's practical and meets the needs of my family.   The hardest part is getting the rev head of the family to agree to something that isn't going to chew through the fuel and go from 0 - 100 in a split second!!!!!!!!!

Three years ago when we bought our last car we thought we had finished having babies (2 was more than enough!!!).  So off we went to find a nice car that would fit our two little ones comfortably, be economical but still look nice.   Trouble was that lurking inside was baby number 3 (of me and not the car!!!!!) of which we had no idea about until 2 months after we bought our car!!!!!!  So not only didn't we account for bundle number 3, we also didn't account for all the things that we would like to do.  Not only that, we could get the pram in the back but not very much else.

So after going to car yards recently to look for the elusive perfect car, I came up with a few points that I thought were all important when buying our new car.  Since we are looking at getting a 7 seater I thought that some of these points may be more relevant than others.   And if it helps you new mums and dads with that all important decision then my job is done.

First thing to do is to really sit down and think about your lifestyle and what you want to be able to do.   Do you want to be able to take family holidays or go on long trips?   Then boot space is important, you don't want to be cramming things in behind the driver and passenger seats as well as trying to get the pram and other assortments into the back.   Even if this is not your plan it's nice to be able to fit the pram and the shopping all in the boot rather than piling it up around bubs in the back seat.

Ask yourselves about the size of your family, they say it's ideal to change your cars every three years but some of us don't have that luxury!!!,   so you want to be sure you've got space enough to cope with carseats and the like if you have more than 2 children (this is our major problem at the moment!!!!).  You can't change the layout too much with a standard sedans or hatchbacks,  but there are a couple of different design choices when choosing a 7 - 8 seater car.   If you have older children at school they may be good for picking up the friends too (another issue that we have).  Try to imagine your family in your new car and see how you all fit, taking into account sporting activities etc.

The other thing I thought was really important was establishing where the anchor points are for baby seats.   I was astounded to find that one of the most popular 7 seater family cars on the market at the moment has the anchor points in very rear of the car in the roof.   This means that any babies can only be put in the very rear where there isn't much room between those rear seats and the hatch of the wagon.  Yes you could put them in the middle and run the strap to the rear but you then loose the rear seats because anyone sitting in the back would have a strap running accross the middle of their heads!!!!!!!  Not my idea of safe travel or easy access for parents with very small children.

In this day and age we also decided that fuel consumption was a biggie too.   After a little research we decided that Diesel was the way to go for us as it was a little cheaper and meant that we could probably look at a slightly bigger car.

Just one other thing before I end this little tidbit of information.   If you need to put a pram in the back of your new car take it with you and see how it fits.

Happy car hunting.   Any other suggestions to help people find the right car will be greatly appreciated.