Purchasing things for young ones can be fun. You spend a lot of time researching the car seat which you are going to purchase for your children. However, when it comes to purchasing a family car people do not always do as much research. This can see them having to sell their car after not very long as a result of it not being suitable for them. Luckily changing the car is not something we have had to do yet. We have spoken about getting a bigger car as a result of our family growing. I think this is not something which we are going to do at the moment. We now know what we want from the next car. So today I am going to be sharing with you some tips for things to look for when you are purchasing a family car.
Budget
Of course, there is the initial cost of purchasing a car however, there are also more expenses which can occur. It may be worth having a look at how much the road tax and the insurance would be for you. You do not want to get a nasty surprise when you come to pay these bills. You can actually get a quote for car insurance before you purchase the car. This may actually make you change your mind about the car if it is super expensive. You may also want to see how much the parts are should the car break because of course as parents one of the last things you want is an unexpected bill. You also need to factor in your average mileage to calculate your likely fuel costs, plus any scheduled servicing that'll need doing. It all adds up there's no point investing all your disposable income in a new car if you can't actually afford to run it.
Seating
You might want to check that your car does have ISOfix if you are like us this is something we are planning on using this time. There are some car seats which have to have ISOfix points in order to be able to use them. So this is something worth checking when you are purchasing a new car. You may also want to check that there is enough room for your car seats. I am unsure if this would be an issue if you have less than 3 children. However, I know when you have a third there are only certain car seats you can have in order to have 3 in a row. You also want to make sure that there is enough room inside the car for the whole family.
Boot Size
I know it is not as uncommon now to take your pushchair with you when you look at cars. You do not want to find out that there is no space in the boot for the pram. I know this is an issue which a few people have had in the past and had to sell their pram. We have a pretty large pram, to be honest, and this is something which we are going to have to consider. You also want to be able to get more than your pram in the boot, for example, you may want some shopping or your whole weekly shop. I would rather have more boot space than we need than to actually have to limit the things I can take our when we have a young family. As you know you need a ton of stuff to even go on a simple trip out.
Finance
It is also worth working out how you are going to pay for the car. Are you going to pay for it in cash as a lump sum? I know this is something Joe has done in the past when it has come to cars. You could even use a Personal Contract Plan. This is when you pay a deposit then you pay fixed monthly for an agreed-upon period. Then you pay a lump sum to own the car, give the car back or use equity remaining in the car to roll over to a new car on another PCP. This could work well if you need more space while your children are younger. Then plan on having a smaller less expensive car when they grow up a bit.
Interior trim
You need to think practically when it comes to the inside of the car. As we know toddlers can be messy, we constantly have to deal with sickness. Jess seems to get car sick very easily so. This is a time when you want something like dark interiors, they show less muck and marks. Also, a leather interior may be a good option as it is wiped clean. This is essential when you have a lot of spillages.
