An expanding family is one of the most commonly-given reasons for trading in or trading up your car. As teenagers’ legs grow and babies’ buggies expand we all so often crave or need extra seats or extra space. But how do you know the family car you’re buying is the right family car for you? Well, here’s a simple checklist you can run through to help you with that decision…
1. Can you afford it? Really afford it?
You’ve heard of the stress-tests on European banks, right? Well that’s what you have to do with your new purchase. Don’t just make sure you can afford it now; make sure you can afford it if interest rates go up and you’re paying back more on your loan. Or worse, that you can keep the repayments going if you lose your job or have to take a pay cut. As far as fuel consumption is concerned, make sure you get the calculator out and do your sums. Take the official combined economy of any car and subtract either 2.0 litres per 100km or about 20mpg to get a realistic idea of how much juice it’s going to get through, and if its CO2 emissions are at the upper end for a given motor tax band, keep in mind that those bands are liable to shift and change, and they’re never going to get cheaper… Then trawl the ads on Carzone to give yourself an idea of the likely depreciation on any model. After all, that’s the biggest single cost of car ownership; don’t ignore it.
2. Is it big enough?
This is not just a matter of taking a tape measure. One of the most often-asked questions around here is ‘can I fit three child car seats in the back of Car X?’ Without being funny, it usually depends on how big your kids are or more accurately how big their car seats are. Three booster cushions will usually fit into a space where three bulkier infant seats wouldn’t. The only way to properly tell is to bring the family, their seats and any sundry extras (buggies, dogs, bikes etc.) along for the test drive. There’s no point in you simply eye-balling the car on the forecourt and assuming it’s big enough: you’ll only know when you try and fill it up. If you’re buying new, some car makes offer 24-hour or even 48-hour test drives, so it’s well worth taking full advantage of those.
3. Is it safe enough?
This is potentially the biggie. We all like to think we’re protecting our kids from danger (surely our primary duty as parents?) so you’ll want to ensure that your car is doing the best job it can if things take a turn for the disastrous. Make sure you ask pertinent questions as to precisely what equipment the car has been fitted with (things such as rear side airbags and curtain airbags are still, sadly and frequently, on the options list) and check out the crash-test ratings from EuroNCAP to make sure that the car is as good at protecting the rear-seat passengers as the front.
Now. Quiet down back there. I mean it. Either you guys are quiet or I’m turning this car around, right now…